It's News to Mobile...

                                           Kurt Thomas, Mobile Museum of Art  2024  CityofMobile.com 

Want to feel smarter? Visit a museum: it works every time, and it's not a figment of your imagination or a fake smarter - you are smarter. Viewing, experiencing the art of our world is an educational experience. It's also soothing to the mind. So imagine how much smarter you'd feel if you were able to gain access to behind the scenes at an art museum - you'd feel like a genius. That's exactly what The Mobile Museum of Art offered members and the public this week: A Behind the Scenes tour with the museum's Art Logistics director Kurt Thomas. This rare tour is offered twice a year and I arrived at the museum located in Langan Park early enough to be greeted by the museum's Curator of Art and Audience Engagement, Stan Hackney. I sipped on a glass of red wine and soon the other 11 guests for the 5:00 PM tour arrived. There were three tours yesterday - 5:00, 6:00, 7:00 PM. The tour was free to museum members and only $5.00 for non-members. Of course I am a member - aren't all Mobile residents who can tell a Monet from a Degas? 

I was super-excited about this tour, like some people get stoked before attending a major football game. Yes, I just admitted that...  (I am attending the Senior Bowl on Saturday, February 3, and more news about this annual event coming soon...so, I am not 100% nerd, just a percentage of me...)

As in most museums, all the work it takes to make exhibits happen takes place in the belly of the beast - in the basement, and this is where we found the administrative and support offices, and treasure after treasure troves of fine art. Kurt began the tour in the main administrative office, beginning with architectural to-scale models ( 1:12 ) of the exhibit halls and rooms.  These models allow staff to plan exhibits in real time using mock-up pieces and prints. We visited the graphics office where museum art signage is designed and cut on a vinyl cutter, and rooms in which matting and frames are stored for possible use in future exhibits, or as needed. Some of the rooms house display cases and all the materials needed to fashion an exhibit of the caliber required in an accredited museum. Kurt explained the accreditation process - there is a mountain of work involved in being certified to house and exhibit extremely fine art, some in the permanent collection and often art from other museums and traveling art shows that transport art around the world. 

We received a tour of the loading dock to see how art arrives (and departs) , and the various temperature and security-controlled rooms where art is stored based on its type. For example paintings, textiles, ceramics each have their own storage rooms. The doors of these rooms are, if memory serves me, 119 inches tall. Off the loading dock is an elevator tall and large enough to host a Mardi Gras float. We took a ride in this behemoth, to see ( and feel)  how the art is brought from the dock or storage to the main exhibit floors above - or back down to storage or on to some other show...Someone asked if there was ever a time when a piece of art did not fit in the elevator, to which Kurt explained there was a Monet that needed another inch or two for a fit, and try as they may by tilting it, etc. the piece would not fit and therefore was not able to be exhibited.  Being an Alabama boy I inquired as to why they just couldn't take a chainsaw and cut off the top of it, but no one seemed to hear my question...

                                                             CityofMobile.com  2024

I was struck by the fact that in museums across the country - the world - more than half of the art in their possession will rarely, if ever, see the light of an exhibit floor. When I suggested during this tour that perhaps this museum could be expanded, I was reminded by another guest on the tour that it takes money to do that - a fact that perhaps had momentarily escaped me as I suddenly found myself feeling sorry for archived art. I thought about the poor artist who spent months - perhaps years in some cases, creating a piece, only for it to end up in a museum basement. But before I pulled out my handkerchief I reminded myself at least the piece was catalogued and stored, and protected for longevity, unlike the multi-million dollar piece that travels from attic to yard sale and then finally ends up in a thrift store with a five dollar price tag on it. (By the way, if any reader is aware of any such art piece, let me know. I have a weakness for unrecognized masterpieces...) 

So the next time you visit a museum, while you are pondering the brush strokes and masterfulness of that rare piece, also consider all the work that went into getting that painting hung on the wall. Behind the scenes of fine art exhibits is steady and hard work. This exclusive tour arranged by Stan Hackney, Kurt Thomas and their co-staff  including Joe Lett, Jr. the Media Marketing Specialist, was a perfect one hour that made me glad I don't just scroll through certain emailed newsletters. If you are not already a member of The Mobile Museum of Art I ask what are you waiting for? 

Next up, the museum hosts a Family Mardi Gras Day, Saturday, January 13, 1-5 PM when the educational team will guide you through art-making activities including making masks and floats out of shoeboxes (bring a shoebox!)  There will be dancing with Gloria Petit Williams and live music. Admission that day is FREE, including all the activities. It doesn't get any better than that...

There are events throughout the month and year, with a whopping ten events scheduled for this month alone. If you are interested in clay and pottery, there are several events in this genre this month...

                                                             CityofMobile.com  2024

It's News to Mobile...

Believe it or not, there is bigger news than the retirement of Saban yesterday, although his throwing in of the towel after an unmerciful beating by the Michigan Wolverines did send shock waves around the world. I believe all colleges in Alabama are closed today while everyone ponders and frets over the biggest question facing college football in over a decade: who will replace him, or can he even be replaced?...

No, the bigger news was the line-up announcements of the various summer music festivals around America. Hangout Fest released their line-up yesterday and on the beaches of Gulfshores, Alabama from May 17-19th will be Zach Bryan, Lana Del Ray, Odesa, The Chainsmokers and Cage The Elephant will play this event as well, along with Dominic Fike, Renee Rapp, Jessie Murph and a few dozen other soon-to-be major headliners themselves such as A Day to Remember, All Time Low, Koe Wetzel, and Megan Moroney. Hangout has a variety of cool beach and concert packages including VIP and Super VIP, which always sell out pretty early...and they also have a payment plan...they often make other surprise guest announcements so tune in here for any updates...and on X @gulfshores...

The Bonnaroo folks in idyllic Manchester, Tennessee announced their four day event on Tuesday, with headliners Pretty Lights, Fisher, Post Malone, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Fred Again... yes Fred, again...with  Pretty Lights closing the Sunday evening party...this event will feature dozens of other established and up and coming bands, including the stellar Cage The Elephant who I caught at the Gulfshores Hangout Festival a few years back...

Shaky Knees Music Festival in Central Park Atlanta, GA blasted their May 3-5 line-up to include headliner Noah Kahn, with names like Young the Giant, Weezer, Queens of the Stone Age, The Offspring, Foo Fighters, Billy Idol and Portugal the Man...

As you can see I will be spending the month of May in a musical paradise set in the deep of the South, and if you follow or like me, or if you even maybe love me you will catch a few exclusive chats with some of these bands, insider info that I will not charge you for and which you can utilize at various gatherings by throwing out your own breaking news tidbits such as did you know Matt Shultz of Cage the Elephant has perfected the art of flying off a stage and also flying back onto the stage and still remain in one solid piece? (Seen it with my own eyes at Hangout...)   No, I promise to give you better, so keep listening...and be aware all three venues offer lodging plans and packages which usually sell out long before the event, or you can just pretend you are a regular dude and buy general admission tickets. Who cares as long as you can be there at the happening, right? 

I have been to the Hangout event several times and there's nothing that says summer days on the beach like being at this event surrounded by cool music, great food and folks...and just because you may be older than 18 doesn't mean you can't reignite your youth another time and show how cool you are for swinging and swaying in front of the stage G Flip is playing on, or The Taylor Party....just please don't wear Bermuda shorts and a throwback Hawaiian shirt..

I finally made it to Pizzeria Delphia yesterday... It's located inside a little co-op of eateries called the Insider, 518 Dauphin Street,  and I found their pizza to be among the best I have tasted in a long time...I kept reading they have great pizza so of course I needed to find out for myself...call 251-458-1100 to order ahead ( or confirm their hours ) if you like, but they do serve individual slices as well if you want to eat in the dining area and do as I plan and check out some of the other restaurants in that little hopping collective (teeming with people yesterday...) Some of the downtown restaurants roll with their own special opening/closing hours so best to call and confirm if you are driving downtown...

Another place I checked out yesterday is Red and White, also on Dauphin but further down in the 1100 block. This place looks cool and has a floor cellar of wine I am sure I have not seen at this level of choice anywhere else in Mobile...their menu includes a number of "exotic" cheeses to have with your wine, and they have a snack and entrée menu which they bring into force beginning at 3:00 PM. I was a bit early so a go-back is in order. The staff told me reservations not required...

For those in the Mobile area, we could get some more rough, rainy/windy weather tomorrow...and then by Monday night the temps could drop below freezing, with a projected low of  29 Monday night and a burr-worthy 19 degrees Tuesday night...pets and plants folks. The ground plants I can't bring in I cover with straw and leaves, and the taller ones cover with something to keep the frost bite off...

I'm always on the hunt for those off the beaten track restaurants and venues anywhere in the Mobile area, feel free to share via email to gulfshores@gmail.com...

It's News to Mobile...

 

                                             JD Crowe, January 9, 2024,  CityofMobile.com 

World-famous - probably even galaxy famous because cartoonist JD Crowe might say other planets are aware of us but that doesn't mean they are going to put out the welcome mat just yet - was yesterday's guest and first speaker at this years' Government Street Presbyterian Church Lunch and Learn series that runs through April 2024. If you don't know who JD Crowe is then you don't live in Alabama and you've never read a newspaper. His pen is often searing hot on Alabama and national politics, but his humor doesn't stop there, or at AL.com where they are very fortunate to have him as the resident cartoonist. His work has appeared in newspapers across the world. As JD pointed out yesterday, newspaper cartoonists are a dying breed, (but JD is not dead - more about that in a minute)  with only about 30 left in the country. The newspaper industry doesn't have a logical reason for dwindling the numbers, but just say they are more focused on local news. Don't rack your brain trying to figure that one out. 

I arrived in the cafeteria of the church and was soon joined by Julie and Babs, two other guests who each arrived separately and we quickly became a friendly table of three.  We chatted about the previous nights' fierce storm and Babs said her only damage was a geranium  tumped over.  Imagine my delight at hearing that old term of endearment, tumped, which I had not heard in decades. Thank you Babs. 

Included in the $12.00 admission was a lunch prepared by the church culinary staff, a delicious pot roast over rice, corn bread muffin and desert. JD began by telling us that he's not dead, but had been out of circulation for several months with a rare but curable illness that made him so skinny he was afraid to take a shower 'lest he he slip down the drain.' He felt like he was "stuck in a 24/7 David Lynch movie."  But he was definitely back with this presentation, in a monologue that included stories of his Kentucky roots and his cartoonist family (several siblings are also cartoonists.)  He read a letter he received from an anonymous source who ranted/pouted about cartoons that poked fun at Alabama politicians....and took us back through some of his more famous cartoons such as "The tragic irony is, I thought the mullet was hiding my red neck," and "Where I come from, reading anything out loud is considered showing off."  He brought along one of his books "Half-thunk Thoughts (Rivers Edge Media 2014) where he takes a much needed break from political cartoons. It can't be easy being the only journalist in the state of Alabama who stands up against Montgomery...

A generous crowd showed up for JD Crowe,  (including former Mobile Press Register reporter Eddie Curran, who now runs Curran Research Services) and besides his book he brought along his 2024 calendar of sunsets in Fairhope and a special Happy Birthday wish personally inscribed on my date. I definitely made the right decision to put this event on my calendar, got way more than my money's worth. I signed up for his newsletter at AL.com, "Welcome to Crowe Jam" by simply typing his name in the search box and scrolling down to sign up for newsletter. Next up in the Lunch and Learn Series is author and radio talk show host Cam Marston on January 16th, and in a timely presentation here near carnival season on January 23, Cart Blackwell of the Mobile Carnival Museum will be the guest speaker. Reservations not required, just show up.  Lunch is served between 12 and 12:30 and the presentation starts at 12:30. For the full schedule you will find The Government Street Presbyterian Church on Facebook or just Google them and call. Parking was free right across the street from the church. This one was an easy, enjoyable afternoon...

After a stormy night the sky decided to shine all blue and sunny and I strolled downtown in search of the best pizza in Mobile...although I found what is supposed to be the place, it was closed...I messaged them and asked if they are open this Friday and they replied "yes," so we'll see if I can make this happen...if I do you'll read about it here...there is a new restaurant trying to open in the 200 block of Conti Street...as soon as they have their licenses in place I was told, they will open, hopefully in the next week or so...

I made a few new acquaintances during my walk, including Gerald and his loving pooch Buddy...turns out Gerald and I co-existed during a time in San Francisco way back when...and a friend of his stopped and we chatted about restaurants in the area. It should be no surprise everybody is a restaurant critic, and one new friend fired off various reviews of nearby restaurants that would have made Julia Child blush..."oh, it's o.k. - your everyday café food... but the seafood gumbo is excellent..." and about another, "it's over-priced,"  and yet another..."really good food..."  After I suggested one restaurant I have tried once, a friend messaged back and said "Yeah it was OK, not our favorite, how about...." We already know from Yelp that people will and do rant and rave about restaurants...sometimes you just have to go and find out for yourself because our tastes and expectations can run different, and sometimes a restaurant experience goes south because of extenuating circumstances...people have off, or bad days - you included so open up that heart and let your goodness shine...

In closing, and in the words of JD Crowe remember, "Where I come from, farm animals are 1.Pets, 2. Dates, 3. Dinner."

It's News to Mobile...

 

                                                  J.D. Crowe, Gov. St. Presbyterian Church

If you are going to try and have your hand on the pulse of your city, then you listen to the current chatter, which this morning seems to be the wild weather we had last night. As I sit here now the sun is peaking out from behind the left-over clouds, offspring of much darker and vocal, colorful clouds that swept through beginning at 3:30 this morning. No doubt phones across this great city pinged with the instantly detectable horn of the National Weather Service around that time - I know mine did. I checked the radar, which clocks the red cells up to a certain timeframe, and it showed the long, skinny, fast-moving band of clouds passing over us around 4:10 AM...I slept-walked to a lower level bathroom and pondered the situation.  Not to ignore the warning but my body navigated me back to the bed where I  soon heard the winds pass through. Spoiler alert: when the wind chimes start making a lot of noise that means it's very windy. I heard a thump on the roof, likely a small tree branch detached from it's parent, flying through the air and later confirmed to have found its way to the ground. I peeked outside and immediately saw a thin, spiky branch in the front yard. Now fully dressed with coffee brewing I walked outside and there were small branches scattered here and there, with one sizable but man-hand-able one way in the back, where there are lots of pines and oaks. The sun has once again been outplayed by the clouds and has retreated until further notice. Our area is still under a tornado watch until around noon, I think...we may hopefully be good for  now, until this Friday when another large storm threatens a big part of the country, leaving the kind of cold behind that causes you to bring in any potted plants and cover the ones that remain and might freeze next week. I saw one low reading of 21, which hopefully will be upgraded as days pass, to something more reasonable, something I can deal with...neighbors sometimes see me walking with an aviator hat flapping around my ears, when it's only 50 degrees outside. I kindly smile and remind them I don't do cold. I thermal up and retreat like a turtle dug in the ground, warm under the blanket of dead loblolly pine needles...

There is news that someone lost their life before light this morning, on a bicycle near Moffett and Wolf Ridge Road, perhaps trying to cross Moffett Road. It is reported this was not a hit and run and one can only imagine the remorse and mental pain felt by the driver in what was a tragic, unavoidable accident, and any loved ones of the victim.  I always hate to see people on bicycles anywhere except in a park or the beach. These roads are not made for bicycles, and even motorcycles face a much greater risk than do motorists in cars and trucks...especially when it's raining...

Some roads are still closed, some people lost power, and even though there is visible signs of damage caused by the fierce wind, trees and tree limbs, overall we came out much better than the potential that was there for very destructive tornadoes....

Om tap today, a luncheon with political cartoon satirist J.D. Crowe at the helm at the Government Street Presbyterian Church, 300 Government. $12.00, lunch served at noon, J.D. starts at 12:30. Parking is in the Jackson Street lot. No reservation required, just show up...but the number is 251-432-1749...this is part of a speaker series the church offers...

Someone posted that Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page is 80 today...wow, how time...but I can imagine his great-grandfather Keith Richards is very proud of him....who can resist a Keith Richards joke? Not me...

Shout out to the young, bearded fellow behind the seafood counter at Fresh Market, who walked me over to the Asian food section where I was gathering the final ingredients to make Tom Yum soup... I had been to the Oriental Food Market on Azalea Road and had just about everything, but I was holding out for fresh galangal instead of the frozen they had at the Oriental market...no one had it fresh so I followed the tip from the recipe and substituted fresh ginger with black pepper to make it simulate galangal...(which I am betting you did not know) I bought fresh Gulf shrimp from Fresh Market, and the soup turned out pretty good. The fresh lemon grass shoots are what really make it, but there are a ton of ingredients from fish sauce to roasted Thai chili pepper...I like, but am not a huge fan of all mushrooms, so I substituted fresh bean sprouts, which is what I ask for when I buy Tom Yum at a restaurant...the nice thing about making it at home is you control the spiciness,  and I like mine in-between, a medium hot...in case you are wondering Tom Yum is a Thai soup invented by a man named Tom, and it's very yum. Trust me, it is...and as a dear friend Sherri Marston is fond of saying...I am leaving the room now....

Be safe!

It's News to Mobile...

 

                                                           CityofMobile.com   2024

In almost every entertainment district in the world, great minds struggle to create something unique but appealing, to fill a void they first have to recognize and then figure out the construction materials needed to build it.

 Mobile's Jim Pennington did just that beginning about eight years ago , and the result is The People's Room of Mobile. 

The building was already there: it's what he made of it, that is the story. Nestled over in the second block of St. Francis Street, downtown, a few blocks from what I found to be off the chart busy as heck Dauphin Street on a recent Saturday night, is a small venue that manages to provide the ultimate performance experience for both the audience and the performer. There is probably no better performer in our area to show first hand how The People's Room of Mobile "works."  than Eric Erdman. First, there's room for about 50 people, and the stage is right there with you - it's like he is in your living room...

You know how you attend some shows and a few guests are not really there to see the performer but rather to socialize, to chat throughout the show? Well, there's bars and restaurants for that now, but at this venue there's no chit-chat during the performance. What? The performer does not have to compete with someone's kind-of vocal replay of their parking experience or how many times they had to send the steak back at a restaurant to get it burnt? Afraid not: it's just the performer on stage, and in this case Eric Erdman, who blended his array of old and new songs with just enough conversation to make this more than just a concert, but rather a visit with him. All he needed was an acoustic guitar to make his Mobile grown lyrics come to life with this sold out crowd. 

I would say he's another Bob Dylan except he didn't get stuck inside of Mobile - he's from here, from the D.I.P. and for those who are not from here that's Dauphin Island Parkway, that long strip of parkway that eventually leads to the beach, but in the city it's where a service station can be a gathering place and the neighborhoods are working-class and real...speaking of D.I.P., if you are one of the few Mobilians who have not heard Eric's DIP song, then you probably also don't know what the Azalea Trail is and never tasted turnip greens next to a scoop of lima beans neither...we've almost all heard of the band Ugli Stick (one of Eric's projects) and you can visit Apple Music to find The D.I.P. Song...

Another song that stood out for me was Overseas in Oklahoma...and the story behind it, ha! Eric updated us on his current projects and having just finished a recording session at Mobile's Dauphin Street Sound we can expect some super-quality engineering and talent coming together in what should certainly be a stellar album release soon. He's been helping out in the Muscle Shoals area, and just got back from Los Angeles where we can only guess music moguls were fighting over him...seriously, if he just stayed a hometown Mobile boy we'd all still be lucky as heck, but my talent radar tells me Eric will continue to go big places, which brings me to hey if you have not caught his for real act yet then maybe you should before you have to compete with everyone else to get a ticket at a much larger venue....His 90-Minute plus-an-encore set was a nice Saturday evening, allowing me to be back home by 10:30 ( I didn't "do" late night Dauphin Street because 1: I was by myself, 2. I did not have a designated driver 3. I didn't take Uber.  One night I'm going to see how it works to take Uber to and from, and maybe get a little dizzy over several beers and my trademark vodka martini with extra bleu cheese olives...)

If I were you (and I know, I'm not but wish I could be)  I'd check out The People's Room of Mobile - up next this Wednesday is An Evening with Pat Byrne...

And, as if meeting Jim and seeing Eric were not enough, I found myself sitting next to Mobile's Ryan Balthrop, another buzz-word songwriter name we happily continue to see all over the local music map...He's gearing up for what promises to be a one of a kind jam session called Eslava Creek Sessions on the weekend of March 23-24, 2024, with an array of performers including Corky Hughes, Grayson Capps, Cary Hudson, Katrina Miller, Rollin in the Hay, and the Krickets...and like the name says the party will be on Eslava Creek in Mobile...

What a Saturday evening...also got stopped by Bike with Mike (call, don't text 251-554-9910) who offered a free ride around downtown - there is no set fee you just give him a reasonable tip. I enjoyed the ride, it brought back old memories of being on a Tuk-Tuk in Bangkok,,, He said around 4:00 PM and after are the best times to call or stop him for a ride. His two seater is covered when it's cold outside...

I began Saturday night by attending the lighting of the Mardi Gras tree in Mardi Gras Park at Government and Royal...there was a brass band and hundreds of people there, proving once again there is absolutely nothing to do in Mobile...I ran into Mobile's one and only Gayrita Wright, reminding me that great minds do think alike...

If you are one of those who can't imagine a bookstore being crowded, then you haven't seen The Haunted Book Shop on Joachim Street on an early Saturday night. Tons of folks inside and there is of course an entire section dedicated to haunted books by Mobile writers...with over 300 years of worldly history there are bound to be a lot of ghosts hiding amongst the Spanish mossed oak streets...admit it, you've had that moment walking down a dimly-lit Mobile Street by yourself, towering oak trees and chirping cicadas, and thought perhaps you were not alone.... 

Are you sitting down with you seatbelt on just in case? Pulitzer Prize winning Mobile political cartoon satirist J.D. Crowe has announced to the world "I am Not Dead."  He got a weird but nagging illness for a while but with witty, often searing pen in hand, he is back.  Don't ask him to sketch you, he just might and you just might not like what you see...Tomorrow , Tuesday January 9th J.D. will be guest speaker at the Government Street Presbyterian Church at noon, $12.00 tickets and includes lunch...call 251-432-1749 for more info (free parking is in the Jackson Street lot...) but when I called they said no reservations required just show up in your hoops skirts and tuxedos...seriously, just wear some clothes (this ain't the Bass Pro Shop...)  The location is 300 Government Street...

Welp folks, that's a wrap for today...if it's any consolation to the rest of the country our weather, like yours, will be turning foul in a day or so with either a whole lot of wind, a whole lot of rain, or one of the other or both. I say protect the fur babies and anythang that might blow around in the yard...and don't drive like this is the Daytona Speedway when the streets are wet...if you haven't seen a car hydroplane I can tell you I have - it spun like a top, around and around and lucky for me it regained composure before passing by me...the look on that driver's face: PRICELESS....

It's News to Mobile...

 

                                                           CityofMobile.com  2024

People who know me know that I am prone to exaggerate at times, overreact, even underreact, like when I first set eyes on the Statue Of Liberty I fainted, but when I saw Taylor Swift in the Tokyo airport and she offered me her autograph I thanked her but said "I don't collect paper..."so imagine my reaction visiting Mobile's Gulf Quest National Maritime Museum of the Gulf of Mexico the first time yesterday - for the first time in my life I do not exaggerate: I found it to be a masterpiece of nautical present and past, an interactive super-adventure featuring five stories of absolutely cool and stunning stuff. 

Never mind that I learned a lot about the Mobile Port, cargo and container ships, military and passenger ships, steamboats and tug boats, Gulf of Mexico seafood (loved the Fishing Rodeo film (we have the biggest in the country!)  and history of Oysters) and even more about planet earth and other planets, moons and stars, during a 3-D presentation by Gulf Quest's Stuart...ticket prices vary based on your age and I was able to convince them I am a "senior" (hate that word but love the perks?) and paid $11.00 admission....

Up on the fifth floor "ship deck" where Elaine and Sharon guided me through a ship navigation simulator - I was a tugboat captain and was supposed to park a load of cargo containers on the dock. If they won't tell how I did, I won't either...the simulator has several options for navigating different classes of ships through fair or even foul weather, and these activities are included in the price of the admission ticket... From here you can walk outside to the aft deck and see real ship operations on the Mobile River. I saw the Bob Hope Navy supply ship and the Comfort Mercy ship. Next door at the Cruise Terminal I looked for the ship that is supposed to take me on a world cruise, but I couldn't find it....anybody?

On the bow of the "ship" you are outside with a very nice, close-up view of the city skyline and most of downtown and beyond... (I am an old salt at this point...) I spent a few hours inside and outside Gulf Quest, enjoying the many simulators and interactive kiosks that bring you inside various operations conducted by and on ships, especially on the Gulf of Mexico...

There is also a new exhibit in the name of Alabama born E.O. Wilson, an ecologist and entomologist of international acclaim...without giving away everything let's just say in this exhibit room on 3A of the ship you can feed candy to ants....did I feel like a kid in a candy store? I did, but rest assured there is lots to enjoy and learn for adults as well. I didn't catch every single exhibit but in two hours got to most....you could spend all day here...the museum is open Wednesday-Saturday 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, children under 5 get in free....if you are driving I-10 East just get off at exit 26A and this takes you directly to the museum, bypassing downtown traffic. The exit signs even tell you Gulf Quest and Cruise terminal - the cruise terminal is right next door...

Having worked up an appetite, I went downtown in search of lunch. A neighbor had asked me if I had been to Rooster's and I had not. He didn't say any more, perhaps thinking I must not know everything there is to know about downtown Mobile, so I stopped in around 2:30....what first impressed me was most of the tables were occupied. I will share one of my culinary dining secrets if you promise to keep it just between us, but if a restaurant is still busy after the official lunch hour, there's a very good chance the food and service are excellent...I began with one of their house margarita's, meaning they make their own mix (confirmed with the waitress.) She asked if I wanted salt or sugar on the glass rim and I said yes - sugar on one side, salt on the other because I couldn't decide. It tasted like the real thing and went well with a Guy Fieri recommended Surf and Turf burrito - his recommendation is stamped on the menu. The waitress had to drive a forklift out of the kitchen to deliver the burrito, as it was large enough to feed everyone currently in the restaurant and at least half of the Tabernacle Choir...fortunately it was split in half, so I ate half and took the other half home for dinner. You don't need me to confirm that it was delicious, with Guy's stamp of approval I'm just some guy who agrees...another unusual, cool thing about Rooster's is their in-house literacy program - they bring the check out in a paperback book. This place! Well, it's right on Dauphin Street and besides burritos there are a lot of taco items, a bunch of Latin food entrees including some vegetarian, so if you are a connoisseur of Latin food, Rooster's will be on your restaurant dream list...

USA Today readers voted The Africatown Heritage House as one of America's top 10 new museums, and I can confirm during a recent visit it definitely is...

After some stormy weather last night nature decided to bless us with a gorgeous blue sky if not cool day, just in time for the lighting of the Mardi Gras tree today at 5:30 PM in Mardi Gras Park downtown...and King Cakes are selling like hotcakes (hey, somehow that analogy worked...) 

Everybody including The Mobile Rundown , is talking about a Forbes magazine article that names the Port of Mobile as the second fastest growing port in the U.S. over the past 10 years...I knew all my hard work would finally pay off...I want to thank the Mayor, City Council, Alabama Port Authority and local businesses for all the help - I couldn't have done it without you...

After a successful, roaring in Mardi Gras celebration last night, Braided River Brewing Co. is determined to keep the momentum going and they have The Cordial Brothers performing Dark Side of the Moon Pie live on St Louis Street today at 5:00 PM, giving you enough time to watch them and head over to the lighting of the tree at Government and Royal...

WKRG threw a big retirement part of weathermeister Alan Sealls, who doesn't know that even though he is leaving the station we still expect regular weather updates from him on social media...Alan has at least three published books in bookstores everywhere and it would be very unweatherly of you not to check in to those...also at WKRG News Five morning host Jessica Taloney is taking a sabbatical from hosting to focus on family...I definitely know getting up before the crack of dawn is about as exciting as canned sardines on crackers...

If you didn't already buy at ticket for The People's Room of Mobile's  An Evening with Eric Erdman, (tonight)  then you waited too long and you will now have to meander along Dauphin Street wallowing in self-pity because you realize old habits die hard and the one where you wait too long to buy tickets to hot events still sticks to you like corn on a cob...but there are four - count them - four beer breweries downtown and plenty of clubs, bars, restaurants and even a movie theater on Dauphin showing the new "The Color Purple"...

In Langan Park the Mobile Museum of Art will feature "Behind the Scenes with Kurtis Thomas" on Thursday, January 11th with tours at 5, 6 and 7PM. It's an RSVP event only and free for members or $5.00 for non-members. Email marybeth.lursen@mobilemuseumofart.com for details...

Looking forward to more day trips, exploration of Mobile and beyond...so much to see and do in our own backyard, which really makes the brow wrinkle and eyebrows raise when you hear someone say there's nothing to do in Mobile....huh?...

It's News to Mobile...

 

                                                            CityofMobile.com   2024

I can't help but wonder how much more revenue would be flowing into the Dauphin Street area if a few more establishments were open in the afternoon. My daily forays into the world of lower Dauphin and surrounding environs found several places closed until 5:00 PM.  For example The Royal Scam restaurant opens at 5:00 PM, so no lunch served.  The Haberdasher bar opens at 4:00 on weekdays and 5:00 PM on Saturday and Sunday. Some of the beer breweries do not open until 2:00 PM or after. Oyster City does open at noon on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Braided River Brewing opens at 3:30 PM weekdays, 2:30 on Friday and noon on the weekends. Iron Hand Brewing on the other hand opens at 11:00 AM on Friday and Saturday, 10:00 AM on Sunday (closes at 4:00 PM on Sunday) and closed Tuesday and Wednesday, open 4:00 PM on Wednesday and Thursday.... ..and finally, the fourth brewery downtown - Wingman Brewing, opens at 1:00 PM Monday-Thursday , noon on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It closes at 8:00 PM Monday-Thursday and Sunday, 9:00 PM on Saturday and Sunday....if you are making a special visit to a business downtown it's best to call first and confirm hours...

I can remember many years ago when friends visiting from another country were in town and I took them downtown on an early Sunday evening in hopes of finding an open restaurant. None were to be found. Things have of course drastically changed since Mike Dow created the String of Pearls and the next mayor Samuel Jones added a few beads, but it's the current mayor, Sandy Stimpson who has knocked those pearls out of the park with amazing energy into downtown the likes we have never seen. I'm not saying it's all been without a few hiccups, and even those of us who may have different political views in general still have to give credit where it is due. Long strides have been taken and words and promises have been fulfilled. He's going to make us love downtown Mobile whether we like it or not...

As a native Mobilian I think I have a hand on the pulse of our native social habits...and while there is a robust younger crowd who patronize the pubs, bars  and restaurants downtown after work and into the night, a significant number of Mobilians  - and here is a term that was very popular about 30 years ago - they don't care if you roll up the sidewalk a bit after dark and on Sunday. They are going home and putting on a pot of lima beans... But if they are off work a day or so during the week, or out of school, who is to say they wouldn't ride downtown and have lunch at some of the places that are currently closed except for dinner? A quick look at popular restaurants in New Orleans, for example Brennan's and Antoine's show both open in the morning...I'm not trying to encourage anyone to actually drive to New Orleans...they tried to take Mardi Gras from us and I have never forgiven them...

While recently in Paris (yes, I say that a lot, as if I'm the only Mobilian to ever visit Paris) I found a lot of restaurants open for lunch but then close around 3:00 and open again at 7:00 for dinner. This seems like a profitable, logical schedule...and this is not to say there are not a very fair number of excellent restaurants who are open for lunch downtown, (Grace, Slurp Society and Squid Ink immediately come to mind) so it's not like you are going to go hungry...maybe there is already enough business to support evening hours only for these exclusive businesses...

Speaking of breweries like I was, don't forget Braided River is throwing a huge part starting at 4:30 to 8:00 today...it's all about kicking off Mardi Gras and if you are a true, a real Mobilian then you are already over New Year celebrations and ready for the next party... and while you are downtown you will have a chance to see Poseidon's Kiss at Moe's BBQ,(the one downtown)  to see Lagniappe's co-pub/editor  Rob Holbert strut his stuff as a musician...

For you Eli Howard and The Greater Good fans, the band will slip into Mobile after a show in Oklahoma City, performing on January 18 at Callaghan's...

Is it just me or has Facebook slowed down like an old country mule with it's "up-to-date" algorithms?... I typed "Dauphin Street" and received a post for the Brickyard Dauphin Street from 2015...and several other posts for various businesses were lagging behind...don't tell me it's my cache because I have plenty of money...

Today is the last day for college kids to apply to be a paid intern with the City of Mobile (unrelated to my site. Their web site is cityofmobile.org...) 

I saw a joke on social media that seemed funny at the moment.. from Culinary Anarchy..."Breaking News: Kid Rock fans cheer as he chokes on his beer mistaking it for his new single..."   You know you laughed...

The City of Mobile announces it's 10th annual MLK Day of Service on January 13, 2024. This will be a city-wide community clean-up in all seven council districts, beginning at 8:30 AM to 11:00 AM...Visit the city's web site www.cityofmobile.org for more information....

Speaking of cleaning up, I'm going to put a wash rag to my underarms and rake a brush through my hair real quick and take a walk...for those of you reading from other parts of the world, you may need Google translator to understand that...

The featured photo reminds me of a street in Paris but it's one downtown Mobile taken the other day...