*I sorta promised to finish our Mobile travelog--wouldn't want to leave nobody wishin' fer more Deep South, ya' know. T'wouldn't be mannerly.
The hitchin' warn't due to commence at the Church afore 6:30, so, Uncle an' me wandered around most of the day.
Y'all, thar's not much more pleasantry on a trip than plenty of spare time to poke around an' jes absorb a place. Mobile ain't a stranger to Aunty, but it's been a long spell since I visited. I wuz overwhelmed wif' nostalgia--long ago in the mists of this marriage, Uncle an' Aunty went, wif' starry eyes, to N'awlins to hunt us up some wrought iron in hopes to put it to good use on the house we wuz buildin'. Ever' place we inquired suggested we go to Mobile instead. Looky heah to see why:
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Y'all, thar's not much more pleasantry on a trip than plenty of spare time to poke around an' jes absorb a place. Mobile ain't a stranger to Aunty, but it's been a long spell since I visited. I wuz overwhelmed wif' nostalgia--long ago in the mists of this marriage, Uncle an' Aunty went, wif' starry eyes, to N'awlins to hunt us up some wrought iron in hopes to put it to good use on the house we wuz buildin'. Ever' place we inquired suggested we go to Mobile instead. Looky heah to see why:
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I could show ya' pages of the lovely stuff...
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I could show ya' pages of the lovely stuff...
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Or photo after photo of these charmin' Creole cottages...but fer a change from this moss-draped pace, we drove out on the causeway to a piled up heap of rusted corrugated metal, the fabled Felix's Fish Camp, to git our crab fix.
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Or photo after photo of these charmin' Creole cottages...but fer a change from this moss-draped pace, we drove out on the causeway to a piled up heap of rusted corrugated metal, the fabled Felix's Fish Camp, to git our crab fix.
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The place is a first rate dump--a cleverly assembled jumble of local lore kitsch--and the world's greatest crab cakes. Underneath Felix's is a football field of "hair booms"--yep, Hanes sent 50,000 pairs of flawed pantyhose that folks stuffed wif' animal hair--all the better to soak up the BP oil spill gunk, to protect yore beaches, ya' see?
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Later, stuffed to the gills (heh) we moseyed back onto the mainland whar' I wish't I could yank this copper lantern off a building an' bring it home.
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Later, stuffed to the gills (heh) we moseyed back onto the mainland whar' I wish't I could yank this copper lantern off a building an' bring it home.
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We stopped in a church built in 1830 and admired it American Gothic architecture...
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An' then we stopped in a drugstore to pick up some Advil fer Aunty's plantar fasciitis, whar' I thumbed through a book about local history....oh mah goodness! Did y'all know that in 1600's explorer Henri de Tonti ( Italian workin' fer the King of France), a confederate of of La Salle's, wuz a top dawg wif' the Choctaw an' Chickasaw bigwigs, 'cause them Indians admired his courage an' his IRON HAND?? Seems he lost his hand in a grenade blast, replaced it wif' an iron "appliance" that some described as a hook??
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An' then we stopped in a drugstore to pick up some Advil fer Aunty's plantar fasciitis, whar' I thumbed through a book about local history....oh mah goodness! Did y'all know that in 1600's explorer Henri de Tonti ( Italian workin' fer the King of France), a confederate of of La Salle's, wuz a top dawg wif' the Choctaw an' Chickasaw bigwigs, 'cause them Indians admired his courage an' his IRON HAND?? Seems he lost his hand in a grenade blast, replaced it wif' an iron "appliance" that some described as a hook??
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Look at this painting of Henri--do he remind ya' of anybody??
Yep, me too!
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8 comments:
I do love wrought iron, and crab cakes, and lots of what you are on about. Though I must admit, it's the tale the sells the whole package.
I love the wrought iron and gas lanterns on old Southern homes. Thanks for taking us on your trip through Mobile - it's a beautiful city and you captured it perfectly.
And I never knew about Tonti - very interesting!
The "Hook" hooked me. My other half played the villain Crocodile in college production of Peter Pan 40 some years ago, brought the house down apparently. Our daughters gave him a Disney croc figurine years ago in commemoration of the event. They have only heard of it, good Daddy story for them.
My oldest brother lived in Mobile and Fairhope many years ago; I always loved to visit him as both were such lovely places. Seeing these pictures makes me realize how much I miss him still.
When I read the part about Henri De Tonti, this is what immediately came to mind:
Tripper: It's a weird moon. Moon kills, you know. It feeds off the earth. On a night like this, one of us could get up in the middle of the night, grab an axe and cut someone's head off. [Fink laughs and howls] I remember a night like this a few years ago. A guy and a girl went out driving, it was one of their first dates, started out kind of casual, but they ended up deciding to go park. Not too far from here, as a matter of fact. Well, they were going at it listening to the radio, all of the sudden a news bulletin broke, "Dangerous lunatic has escaped from the hospital of the criminally insane at Two Pines."
A.L.: Oh, come on, Trip.
Tripper: They described him as a monster, six and a half feet tall, two-hundred and sixty pounds, with one horrible distinguishing feature: a sharpened-stainless steel hook... where his right hand use to be. That was enough for the guy. He slammed the car into gear, floored it, bounced off a tree, didn't stop until they got to the girl's house, got out of his side, walked around to her's. There, hanging in the door covered with blood was a stainless-steel hook.
Bwahahaha - they describe me the same way.
Hi Auntie! Long time no see (hear?) Thanks for stopping by! Not really blogging too much lately....not been by to see anyone either (shame on me!) Kind of just bored with the expectation of blogging and time has been very limited....so I'm happy to find you still on dee porch!
I loved all the photos on your trip. I just love beautiful old houses and interesting little towns and villages. It's so fun to explore, read about local history and find little dives to eat in! That crab shack sounded just perfect! The church is beautiful but I like the pink house the best....so pale and gorgeous! Hope you are keeping cool! xo
That's La Diva! Don't know why it's coming up unknown......
Hi Auntie! Long time no see (hear?) Thanks for stopping by! Not really blogging too much lately....not been by to see anyone either (shame on me!) Kind of just bored with the expectation of blogging and time has been very limited....so I'm happy to find you still on dee porch!
I loved all the photos on your trip. I just love beautiful old houses and interesting little towns and villages. It's so fun to explore, read about local history and find little dives to eat in! That crab shack sounded just perfect! The church is beautiful but I like the pink house the best....so pale and gorgeous! Hope you are keeping cool! xo
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