Mobile, Alabama
Established in 1702 by Jean Baptiste le Moyne, Mobile is Alabama’s largest port city. It is known for shipping, ship building and numerous manufactures and industries like paper, petroleum products, textiles, food processing, and woodworking. However, Mobile is still every bit the southern city. As you tour its historical district you will find antebellum homes surrounded by azaleas and ancient oaks.
 Do
you love ships? Then Mobile has just the thing for you.
The Alabama State Docks has berths for 35 ocean-going vessels
of up to 45 feet draft and 1,000 feet wide turning basin.
Or, you can take a tour at the Battleship Memorial
Park and the U.S.S. Alabama. Here you can see the
35,000 ton USS Alabama, which is a memorial to the states
veterans from WWII, the Korean Conflict, Vietnam and Desert
Storm. Also on display is an A-12 Blackbird Spy Plane.
If you love to visit historic homes, then Mobile has plenty to keep you happy.
The 20 room Greek Revival Bragg-Mitchell Mansion’s
restored interior has extensive woodwork, stenciled moldings
and period furnishings. Also in the Greek Revival style
is the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and the Melbas
Orthodox Church. At the Condo-Charlotte Museum House, you
will see period antiques and artifacts on display in what
was once a jail. The Mobile Medical Museum, located in Vincent
Doun House, is the largest of its kind in the Southeast.
The museum showcases medical artifacts and photographs as
well as Civil War memorabilia.
Bragg-Mitchell Mansion
Perhaps the most renowned historic home is Bellingrath Gardens and Home. The 905 acre historic estate is a bird sanctuary and home to a myriad of flowers and flowering plants. There are over 250,000 azaleas of 200 varieties, camellias, roses, and many others. The Bellingrath House has the world’s largest display of Boeh porcelain, as well as antiques, fine china and rare porcelain. You can take a 45 minute cruise on the riverboat Southern Belle, or enjoy a meal at the restaurant.
Other attractions in Mobile are the reconstructed 1724-1735 French Fort Museum and Welcome Center, the Greyhound Racing Park, the Mobile Museum of Art which displays American and European 19th century prints, the Museum of Mobile with its ship models, antiques, carriages, costumes and collections, the Italianate Richards-DAR House, the Oakleigh Period House and Museum, the Phoenix Fire Museum and the University of South Alabama.
While in Mobile area, you may chose to stay at one of the chain hotels or at the full service resort, Marriot Grand Hotel which features a restaurant, bar, a children’s activity area, indoor and outdoor swimming pools and many other ways to indulge in fun and relaxation.
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