Carnival and Battleships

The day was a definite improvement over yesterday!  We had breakfast and left for Mobile by 9:30.  We wanted to visit the Mobile Carnival Museum for Jane and the USS Alabama Battleship for Ben.  The sun was shining and the temperature in the 60's.  A long sleeve shirt felt good but the sun was bright and we were certainly feeling 100% more like we were on a beach vacation than yesterday!  The trip takes about an hour and as we approached Mobile realized we were going through a tunnel. Interesting way to enter downtown Mobile.  Ben remembers being here before but I only recall traveling through on I 10.  The tunnel is under a part of the bay and long enough for you to lose satellite and phone coverage.

Waze took us directly to the Carnival Museum and they had great parking.  The downtown area has the wonderful wrought iron trim on houses looking like downtown New Orleans.  Traffic was not bad at all.  The museum was nice - small but it tells the story of Mardi Gras in Mobile - the original celebrations started here early in the 1800's.  We watched the short film and then toured two floors of displays of all sorts - some floats and lots of costumes.  They of course throw beads from floats and some years ago began throwing small Moon Pies and they were a huge hit.  Now they toss 3.5 million small Moon Pies during the Mardi Gras Season each year.  When the hostess realized we were from TN she was so pleased to connect us with the Moon Pies!  (They are made in Chattanooga).  The King and Queen Royal Trains were something else - they weigh between 30 - 40 pounds for the Queen and as much as 75 for the King.  Sometimes particularly for the Queen they put roller skates on the trains so they are not relying on the Queen to move it.  I will attach a couple of the photos - we probably saw 20 or more of the costumes.  The cost to be a royal is extensive - only 30-40 families in Mobile can afford to be queen or king.  There are several of the secret societies that host the various parades and other events each year.  The event in Mobile is more family focused than the NOLA Mardi Gras.  One interesting thing we saw was a trumpet that is a near match to Ben's old one that Daniel (grandson) is now playing.  When they had it restored for him to use - we discovered it was made in 1939 and is a really good instrument compared to some they are making today.  This trumpet was used by one of the famous players here from years past.

Ben and Jane Playing

A Queen's Dress

And the Queen's Train

A King - a bit of train to side

Even the Children get in on the fun

Trumpet like Daniel's

After enjoying the museum we looked around a bit downtown and decided to drive out towards the bay and the USS Alabama to search for a place for lunch...so back through the tunnel and we found Felix Fish Camp and enjoyed lunch looking out over the bay. Ben had "Hook Line and Sinker Oysters - Rockefeller - and two other types and a bowl of Turtle Soup that he said was excellent. Jane had saute' Red Fish and Fried Green Tomatoes.  Both were super good.  You can see from the parking lot it was busy.  With no time to search for ratings we chose it by how full the parking lot was - and it was a winner!

Hook Line and Sinker Oysters

Saute' Red Fish

After lunch we headed the short way to the USS Alabama.  There were also many planes and a submarine to look at.  We toured the Battleship watching a short film that explained how the guns were loaded and fired.  This Battleship earned I believe 10 stars for taking part in major battles during WW II and did not sustain any damage from enemy fire.  Reading the battles it took part in was like reading a list of most of the Pacific Battles you have heard of over the years.  It also served off Scotland and Norway.  Ben climbed up and down the ladders more than Jane did but it was a fun tour. 

We drove back to Gulf Shores and collapsed for a short rest before heading out for some dinner.  The first restaurant we chose had a very long line of people waiting so we moved on and had an excellent dinner of grilled Red Fish at Acme Oyster House. Yes Jane had Red Fish twice and it was great both times.

Tomorrow we plan to head east to Pensacola and see the Blue Angels.