A Lunch Stop That Became a Highlight: Mobile, Alabama
We weren’t planning to fall for Mobile.
It was supposed to be a lunch stop, a place to break up the drive from Gulf Shores,AL to Bay St. Louis, MS. But the ferry from Fort Morgan to Dauphin Island was down for maintenance, so we had to drive through Mobile anyway.
And we really liked it.
Through the Bankhead Tunnel
Coming into Mobile from the east, you go right under the Mobile River.
The Bankhead Tunnel. Built in 1941. Not something you see every day. A vintage underwater tunnel painted bright aqua blue, still handling traffic all these decades later.
The Bankhead Tunnel, under the Mobile River and into the city.
Downtown
We parked and walked around downtown. Lovely old architecture, wide sidewalks, a real city feel without the chaos.
Downtown Mobile.
We wandered to a couple of parks. One of them — Bienville Square — had a beautiful single-tiered fountain at its center, surrounded by live oak trees covered in what we can only describe as… tree hair.
Spanish moss, technically.
Bienville Square's fountain, and overgrown live oaks.
The 'hairy' trees of Mobile. Spanish moss.
Mobile’s Spanish Fountain
The other park featured something special: Mobile’s Spanish Fountain, a gift from Spain. The design was inspired by famous fountains of Spain and features multiple spouts, ceramic benches, friendship arches, and mosaic tiles — each representing one of twelve Spanish cities and provinces connected to Mobile’s history.
The plaque at Mobile's Spanish Fountain — a beautiful connection to Spain's cultural history along the Gulf Coast.
A relaxing and calming sound with multiple spouts going all at once. Worth watching for a few minutes.
Lunch
We found a Mediterranean restaurant for lunch. Very good.
Mobile earns more than a lunch stop. We’d go back.
The Pelican
Before we headed out, we spotted this on the wall at the restaurant.
A 3D metal wall hanging of a pelican.So appropriate.
Not a painting. A 3D metal wall hanging. Pelicans perched on pilings, situated on the Mobile Bay.
Mobile surprised us. The good kind of surprise — the kind where a lunch stop turns into an interesting and a more-than-expcted kind of stop.
Next stop: Bay St. Louis, Mississippi — along the most beautiful stretch of Gulf shoreline we’ve driven yet.