DREAMSCAPES FALL/ WINTER 2016
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contemplate sculptures and provocative
folk art by local artists, some of whom, such
as the late Thornton Dial, have rightfully
gained prominence at the Museum of
Modern Art in New York.
From there, I popped into the Mobile Arts
Council, a free gallery and cultural hub
where organizations like ArtWalk, a popular
downtown gallery event held on the second
Friday of each month, and Alabama's Mobile
Fashion Week are headquartered.
AMERICANA
The Old City Hall houses the History
Museum of Mobile where you can experi-
ence 300 years of Mobile history from the
area's very first inhabitants to the present.
The permanent exhibition has poignant
topics devoted to Native American history,
the Civil War, the slave trade and the Civil
Rights Movement.
Then there were whispers of the early
Canadian connection heard at Fort Conde
across the street. The recreated French
colony built to exact plans from 1723 shows
the attention to detail of Mobile's founder,
Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville.
"In a late-sixties dig to create the I-10
tunnel, artifacts relating to colonial life
were discovered," says Scott Corcoran, a
museum guide who adds that one-third of
the site was rebuilt using original plans
stored in Paris.
MARITIME BASTION
With its fanciful ship façade appearing to
sail into the busy Port of Mobile, the new
GulfQuest National Maritime Museum is
the first maritime museum dedicated to the
Gulf of Mexico. A large waterfront complex,
the size of nearly two football fields, it
showcases marine science and deep-sea
exploration at its best.
There's a vast treasure trove of artifacts
and plenty of interactive exhibits. I was fas-
cinated by real-time shipping routes
propelled on a spinning globe at the Ocean
Planet Theatre and stood inside a hurricane
simulator to experience wind gusts.
As the crowds dispersed inside the
multi-levelled exhibits, I veered to the out-
door observation deck to see a lively scene
of barges and tug boats. There, by the Mobile
River's edge, stooped on wooden stumps, a
flock of seagulls stood on patrol, waiting for
the next big catch. Mobile is indeed a road
to all kinds of riches.
The average high temperature in winter hovers around a pleasant 17 C.
For more information on Mobile, Alabama, visit:
Alabama Tourism Department:
alabama.travel
Mobile Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau: mobile.org
Alabama Contemporary Art Center: alabamacontemporary.com
History Museum of Mobile: museumofmobile.com
Mobile Arts Council: mobilearts.org
Mobile Fashion Week: mobfashionweek.com
Mobile Museum of Art: mobilemuseumofart.com
Mobile Saenger Theatre: mobilesaenger.com
Panini Pete's: paninipetes.com
The Battle House Renaissance Mobile Hotel & Spa: marriott.com
Three Georges: 3georges.com
WildNative Delta Safaris: 5rds.com
DS
T R A V E L P L A N N E R
TOP LEFT: WildNative Delta Safaris offers tours of
Mobile's flooded prairie wetland alive with osprey,
turtles and carnivorous pitcher plants.
TOP RIGHT: Enjoy a Muffaletta Panino at the popular
Panini Pete's.
