Mobile, Alabama

Older than New Orleans, the original capital of French Louisiana and the home of America's oldest Mardi Gras celebrations: Mobile has a long history, but unfortunately little of it is on show.

Not counting Atlanta, Mobile was the biggest city we'd seen on the trip so far and the skyline was an impressive sight when approaching along the Mobile Bay causeway. We arrived soon after sunset, because we'd made a quick detour to see this Greek Orthodox cathedral which is just off Interstate 10, near the town of Malbis.

Once in Mobile, it took an age to find the hotel and we were in no mood to explore, so we drove down the strip mall aways for some homemade Mexican food before turning in.

First stop the next morning was the visitors centre in downtown Mobile, which can be found inside a reconstruction of Fort Conde, first built by the French in 1724. It was the friendliest visitors centre of the trip and the staff went out of their way to load us down with maps, give us ideas and answer our questions.

The original fort is long gone and the current building is only a quarter of the size, dating from 1976. Here's a gaslamp at the fort with Mobile's Manhattan-style skyline in the background.

Out front of the visitors centre we caught the free shuttle bus into downtown. I don't know, maybe visitors to Mobile are especially lazy, but it was the shortest bus ride we'd ever been on. Two minutes later we reached the cathedral square and asked ourselves what was the point of the shuttle service?

The cathedral on the square is Roman Catholic and had some lovely feaures inside and out...

...including this lamp on the wall which caught my eye.

From here strolled into the business district, which felt like it was on the rebound, although still a bit quiet with several empty lots and closed shops.

The wrought iron balconies gave it an Olde Worlde feel though and we tracked down a good independent bookshop...

...and had the best coffee of the trip at this cafe.

A short walk from here brought us to one of the several historic residential districts you can find in the city. All the wrought iron grills, shady verandahs and palm trees made it feel like a Caribbean port.
Though not as extensive as Savannah or as stunning as Charleston, we really warmed to the place.
And while the local convention and visitors bureau won't be buying any of these photos soon, you can tell the place is full of character with lots to catch the eye.

Anyone else hungry? Our last stop in town was an old diner on the outskirts of town called the Dew Drop Inn which came with lots of word-of-mouth recommendations. Christian complained his gumbo was too salty and I added corndogs to the list of the things that taste the same everywhere in the USA (along with sausage and pancakes). At least the onion rings were homemade and there wasn't a golden arch in sight.

Time to hit those country roads and explore the backwoods of Alabama and Georgia! Check back soon to visit the courthouse from To Kill a Mockingbird, the town built inside a meteor crater and a 'left-wing' art collection which caused a national scandal.