Experience the best of Mobile

Mobile rests on the western shore of Mobile Bay where the Mobile River reaches the Gulf, and it began in 1702 as the first capital of French Louisiana. Oaks hung with Spanish moss shade the streets, and the historic districts have iron-lace balconies, Greek Revival houses and the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. Alabama's only seaport still works along the waterfront.

Mardi Gras was celebrated in Mobile before New Orleans existed, and the Mobile Carnival Museum shows parade costumes and floats from its long history. The battleship USS Alabama and a submarine lie at the bay's edge, Bellingrath Gardens spread across a river estate to the south, and Fort Conde, rebuilt in part, marks the original French fort. The Eastern Shore towns of Fairhope and Daphne face the city across the bay.

Seafood defines the table, with Gulf shrimp, oysters, fried or grilled fish, gumbo and crab claws, followed by Southern desserts. Carnival builds through the weeks after Twelfth Night to Fat Tuesday. Winters are brief and mild, and the long humid summer stretches into October.