Mobile's Magnificent Bellingrath Gardens

Mobile is a happening city, thanks to business and convention travelers, thousands of new jobs, and new residents. They're moving to Mobile thanks to the new steel mill and shipbuilding contracts. The Port of Mobile is vibrant; the new cruise terminal hosts the Mobile-based Carnival ship and others visit. Hotels have than 6200 rooms in the city.

We took a walking tour of and driving tour along quiet streets lined with Live Oak trees, their branches spreading out and providing shade up and down the street. The houses were Victorian gems, ornate with fancy latticework and turrets, and our guide, Bill, pointed out a rare yellow Azalea bush. The bush behind it was an orange Azalea. "You won't see many of those," he said.

Dauphin Street’s historic wrought iron balconies and architecture reminded us of New Orleans. Government Boulevard runs to the Mobile River. It too was lined with huge houses many of which had been converted into law offices. Bienville Square Historic Homes ranged from modest Cajun and Creole cottages to grand mansions.

At the Mardi Gras Carnival Museum we saw elaborate capes and crowns from past kings and queens and learned that Mobile, Alabama was the first city to hold Mardi Gras carnivals and Parades. This is a big event in Mobile and anyone lucky enough to get invited to the Battle House Hotel’s Presidential balcony has a bird’s-eye view of the floats, revelers and king and queen.

Back to the Battle House Hotel for a tour with the effervescent Bill Lang, Public Relations Director for the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail and Resorts. The historic and beautifully restored Battle Hotel is a gem that was closed for 31 years. Two years ago, in 2007, the retirement systems of Alabama invested into many tourism facilities such as the new cruise ship terminals and hotels in the region. This hotel's lobby has a round stained glass glass ceiling and balconies so you can walk around and look down on the lavish lobby. Debutantes make their debuts strolling down the wide staircases of the Crystal Ballroom, and the balconies that face North Royal Street are cherished especially during the Mardi Gras parade.

We toured the presidential Suite, with its own outdoor fire pit and hot tub, with views of the river and the vast downtown. At an elegant dinner, we ordered Kobe beef, diver scallops, and fish flown in from Europe.


Monday -- We toured Bellingrath Gardens and Plantation on the Fowl River. Walter Bellingrath, who owned the first Coke bottling plant, built a beautiful house that he and his wife filled with priceless antiques and opened the gardens to the public in 1934. The 73-acres grounds are stunning, paths lined with blossoming azaleas and other spring flowers; the beds are changed with the seasons. Fountains, benches, stairs down to the Fowl River and an on-site porcelain museum complete the grounds. In spring and summer, visitors can take a 45-minute cruise along the Fowl River aboard the Southern Belle and learn about birding habits, ecological systems and civil war history of the area. Magic Christmas in Lights features millions of twinkling lights over the grounds and mansion, with giant swans, toy soldier’s and. Open Friday after Thanksgiving through Dec. 31.

In the afternoon, reluctantly leaving our two-hour tour of the mansion and gardens, we drove back to Mobile. Mobile has an international heritage as both the French and Spanish held the city at various times. After lunch at the charming Spot of Tea, 605 Dauphin Street, just across from a lovely park, we toured the city's downtown, stopping at an old-fashioned peanut shop, and other unique stores. Dauphin Street is lined with French-inspired wrought iron balconies and beaux-arts buildings. A cathedral looks out on a grassy square, one of the city’s many pocket parks.

Oakley, Church Street East, is lined with huge sagging limbs of live oaks, Spanish moss flowing off of them with stately clapboard mini-mansions and Creole Cottages. On one street, we saw a rare yellow Azalea bush. The bush behind it was an orange Azalea.


Our Monday dinner feast was at Wintzell's Original Oyster House in Mobile was a hoot. Wintzell’s has been serving some of the best seafood on the Gulf Coast since 1938. My favorite cooked oyster dish? Cheese covered.