With Fat Tuesday and the end of Mardi Gras season, we found ourselves with more time to explore the Mobile area…and we found ourselves at the beginning of Lent. John and I are not religious people but John absolutely loves Lent because of all the fish fry options on Fridays. He worked his internet magic (asked Reddit) and found a dinner option for us for Friday night – St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church. We arrived right as it was beginning and were surprised to find a line through the building and out the door! We hoped that was a good sign of the delicious food to come. We made a few friends while standing in line (John loves a good line because it means a captive audience) and things moved really quickly. In addition to the traditional fried fish, this church also offered a soup, fried shrimp, fried oysters, a different specialty entree option and different desserts every week. John had the fish but I opted for the fish & shrimp combo, which also came with grits, fries, coleslaw, and hush puppies. We also added on a Thai coconut shrimp soup and peach cobbler.
The food was absolutely amazing and the friends we made were even better. Between chatting in line and sitting with random folks to eat, we connected with a few different folks and ended up having such a great time that we came back the following two Friday nights as well. I have said it before but the thing that we really miss as we travel is COMMUNITY. The people at the church were all so incredibly friendly and welcoming – we even had the priest come sit and talk with us and we compared travel stories.
On Saturday, we decided to visit the Mobile Carnival Museum because we just hadn’t had enough of Mardi Gras, apparently. They had a float that you could climb onto and pretend to be in a parade and a hall with various krewe costumes from the past.
Most people are familiar with the different krewes and floats and have even attended a parade or seen on one television. What a lot of people don’t realize is that the Mardi Gras season is also a HUGE social season complete with parties, balls, and royalty. The majority of the museum was devoted to the elaborate costumes and fancy trains worn by the King and Queen each year. They also had musical instruments, decorations, and jewelry worn by the “royalty” over the years. We walked through room after room of breathtaking gowns covered in fur, sequins, and gemstones going back decades. We were so glad that we made the time to visit.
Following our time at the museum, we walked a few blocks over to visit The Haunted Book Shop. We did a little shopping and ended up with a cookbook with recipes from various fantasy books, a physical copy of my favorite Agatha Christie novel, and a set of Mystery book trivia cards. We also met Mr. Bingley, the book store cat.
After the book shop, we visited Lupercalia Art Society, a gallery/speakeasy on Dauphin Street. We had first stumbled upon this treasure during our visit the previous year when we were walking around killing time waiting for a table at a nearby restaurant. They had such an amazing collection of art and the staff had been so friendly- we had been looking forward to visiting again this year. We walked around and looked at EVERYTHING but I kept coming back to one painting specifically. We had really liked a piece by the same artist the year before but just couldn’t justify buying a piece of that size for our tiny home. It was a huge mistake and I thought about it all year. I decided that if we returned and the painting was still there, then it was meant to be and I would buy it. Unfortunately, the painting in question had sold a few months before our visit. Fortunately, the artist had done a new piece in the same style that I absolutely fell in love with at first sight. THIS was meant to be. We also picked up a gorgeous set of canvases with angel wings painted on them. I didn’t know where we were going to put them, but John promised we would figure something out so we bought all three pieces. And honestly, once they were hung in the house, it felt like they belonged there.
Following the art gallery, we grabbed some lunch at a small food hall just down the street. We split a pizza and some loaded chicken nachos. We also made a stop at Mo’Bay Beignets. It was all really tasty. We finished up the day with a visit to Cammie’s Old Dutch Ice Cream (thanks to a recommendation from one of our new friends from the Fish Fry). I had the American Holiday Banana Split (vanilla and strawberry ice cream covered with blueberry pie filling, whipped cream, and diced cherries) and John had the Strawberry Milkshake. It was SO GOOD. We ate until we thought we were going to explode and then we just kept on eating until everything was gone. The staff were incredibly friendly and the prices were unbelievably cheap.
We spent Sunday hanging out around the campground. We explored the old town and some of the battle field with Harley, who had just had her stitches out on Valentine’s Day and was cleared to start wearing her harness again. We didn’t do a lot of walking with her using just her collar because the little devil has figured out how to slip out of it and we didn’t want to risk anything crazy happening if she got away from us. With her harness back in place, she was more than ready to get back to adventuring with us and we walked her through several trails in the park, including a boardwalk right along the river.
We got a bonus day of fun in thanks to President’s Day. John was off work so we decided to head back across the causeway to visit the USS Alabama battleship that is now permanently anchored in Mobile and is open to the public as a museum along with a small collection of planes and other vehicles and a submarine.
The central building had planes, motorcycles, cars and an ambulance. One of the planes was even on loan from the personal collection of Jimmy Buffett.
The submarine, the USS Drum, was our next stop. It was completely on land and had stairs leading up to the top. We were able to walk around on deck then climb down the steep, narrow ladders into the belly of the beast. It was tight quarters for sure and I couldn’t imagine the men who had lived on this thing when it was in service. We were able to see pretty much every part of the sub and got to be very “hands-on” with everything.
We saved the giant USS Alabama for last. While it is very shallow, the ship does sit in the waters of Mobile Bay. A large ramp leads up to the deck where all of the tours begin. We spent the longest time admiring the giant guns and even got to look through some of the sights. At one point we looked up to the mast and there was a giant bald eagle sitting there. Talk about the most American thing ever! Unfortunately I did not take my camera (naval vessels are ENORMOUS – why would I possibly need something with a zoom lens?) so there aren’t any clear photos but man, talk about setting the mood.
We started by entering the main level of the ship and going down. The ship was divided into different color coded sections with clearly numbered exhibits and directions to make touring this massive space easy and effective. We, of course, did NOT follow the directions but ended up wandering aimlessly back and forth throughout the ship, going up and down different ladders and stairways at random. I think we still managed to see most of the key points of interest despite our random path. Some of my favorite parts were the brig, the mess hall, the medical bay, the post office, and the dentist.
When we returned to the main deck, we decided to head up into the upper levels to the bridge. We climbed up and up and up until we finally reached the limit of where guests were permitted. There were still a few levels above that but I was glad that we had to stop- we had done so many ladders and stairs that I my legs were shaking!
Between the museum, the submarine and the battleship we walked over 3 miles worth of steps. We stumbled back to the car, grabbed some Chinese food on the way home, then passed out as soon as we managed to drag ourselves into the house. The following week was spent recovering our strength.
We wrapped up our final few weeks in the Mobile area attending the weekly Fish Fry, indulging in Cammie’s Ice Cream a few more times, and preparing for a few year of adventures. We did FINALLY see our first alligators just randomly going about life. One was in a small pond on the side of the highway (we happened to be in the right time thanks to one of the tunnels into Mobile being closed when we were going out for breakfast one day) and the other was along a boardwalk area right under the main road we had been using in Daphne for regular trips to the grocery store and to pick up fast food. Of course, I didn’t have my good camera with me (I never have it when I actually need it!) but I managed the best I could with my cellphone.
The one month in Foley and the one month in Mobile had been a good opportunity to rest and reset but the next several few months would see us going back to moving every 2 weeks – it was time to get back into adventure mode!
