15 things of the crazy city I was born in Mobile,Al. 1. What is the correct way to pronounce the name of the city? Oh, how I have waited to be the Authority on this one. It’s Mo-BEEL. Say it with me, now. (And that includes you, TV news anchors.) It’s not MO-buhl. It’s not MO-beel. And it’s definitely not Mo-BILL. Mo-BEEL. There you go. 2. Did Mardi Gras really start in Mobile? Yes. ‘Nuff said. Next question. 3. Well, then, who is Joe Cain? Joe Cain is credited with re-igniting Mobile’s Mardi Gras celebration after the Civil War. He paraded through the streets of downtown Mobile dressed as the fictional Indian chief Slacabamorinico (thus, his nickname, “Old Slac”) with six other Confederate veterans, pulling a decorated coal wagon and playing drums and horns. The group became known as the “Lost Cause Minstrels.” Today, Joe Cain is honored with his own daylong celebration on the Sunday before Fat Tuesday, starting with a procession of his “Merry Widows” from his grave at Church Street Graveyard to the house where he lived on Augusta Street in the Oakleigh Historic District. 4. Why is there a MoonPie hanging from the second-tallest building in downtown Mobile? Mobile is known for throwing MoonPies during Mardi Gras parades, that’s why — and you won’t find MoonPies at parades on the Mississippi coast or in New Orleans. MoonPies replaced Cracker Jack boxes, which, as you can imagine, were pretty dangerous, what with those sharp edges and all, in 1952. MoonPies are nice and soft by nature, being filled with marshmallow-y goodness, and Mobilians consume some 4 million of them annually, according to the CVB’s Hamilton. Anyway, we became so well known for our MoonPie madness that in 2008 Mobile City Councilman Fred Richardson decided we ought to drop a MoonPie on New Year’s Eve, as a symbol of everything Mobile. At first, the MoonPie was dropped from a crane stationed across the Mobile River, but then Retirement Systems of Alabama wanted a piece of the action and offered to have it hung from the top of its 34-story bank building. The 12-foot-tall, 600-pound, lighted faux confection is now permanently attached to the RSA Trustmark building, and it drops during the countdown to the new year as well throughout Mardi Gras. 5. Hey Azalea City, what is the Mobile Azalea Trail? Once upon a time, Mobile had a pink stripe painted down many of its azalea-lined roadways, thanks to the Azalea Trail, which was started by the group now known as the Mobile Jaycees in 1929 to plant azaleas on major thoroughfares and to encourage residents to plant them at their own homes. In 1930, the Azalea Trail opened, following a 15-mile path that started at Bienville Square. By the 1970s, the stripe, followed by so many people on driving tours to see the azaleas, was outlawed because Government Street was a state highway, according to the Mobile Jaycees Chapter Secretary Cheryl Stewart. “It would be wonderful to reincarnate that in some way,” said the MBCVB’s Hamilton, who added that last year she attempted a virtual reincarnation of the idea by asking people to submit photos of their azaleas on the bureau’s Facebook page. Both the Azalea Trail Maids and the America’s Junior Miss program evolved from the Azalea Trail, and the annual Azalea Trail Run brings thousands of runners to Mobile. (The 37th annual event takes place on March 22.) 6. Why do girls wear antebellum dresses? All girls don’t wear them. The girls in the pastel dresses are our Azalea Trail Maids, who represent the city as gracious ambassadors at all sorts of events. They’re high school seniors who are outstanding students, and whose parents pay a lot of money to have those dresses and accompanying accessories made. (They even wear old-fashioned pantaloons underneath.) 7. Have you ever seen the Crichton leprechaun? No, most people haven’t. The leprechaun story took off after Local 15 News did a story in 2006, in which several Crichton residents claimed to see it in a tree, and the video went viral, spawning all kinds of parodies revolving around the “special leprechaun flute,” the amateur sketch and phrases like “I wanna know, where da gold at?” Head out to Crichton, a part of town along Springhill Avenue between Mobile Street and I-65, and look for him yourself, like comedian Daniel Tosh did once. 8. What’s so great about a Dew Drop hot dog? If you’ve had one, you know. Sure, it’s a pink weenie, but it’s topped with that great chili that soaks into the toasted bun, and it’s also got sauerkraut and a slice of pickle on top, if you know what you’re doing and you order it “all the way.” Not good for you, you say? Well, maybe not. But here’s something that is good for you: Walking into a place that’s been there for ages, where you’re likely to see someone you know, but even if you don’t, the place has a familiar, homey appeal. It also does many of us good to bring our children into a place where our parents ate when they were kids—and knowing, even though the prices are higher, the food tastes the same as it did back then. 9. Why doesn’t Dauphin Island Parkway lead to Dauphin Island? “D.I.P.,” as it’s commonly known, once did lead to the island—thus its name. But in 1981, when the Theodore Ship Channel was dredged, it cut right through the thoroughfare. Rather than build a high-rise bridge to connect the two sides of the parkway, a detour takes motorists around the channel on a circuitous route. 10. Airport Boulevard: Why? We hate it as much as you visitors do. And we wonder, as you must, why everything new must be built on Airport Boulevard. (I’m looking at you, Mobile’s first Dunkin’ Donuts and Chipotle and Whole Foods Market.) The traffic is a nightmare, the lights are never in sync, the service roads are confusing and fraught with danger. If you stay on it long enough and pass our oddly located Mobile Regional Airport, you’ll see how far west Mobile stretches—and before you know it, you’ll be in Mississippi. 11. Why does Mobile have two tunnels? Well, aren’t two better than one? The original tunnel, the Bankhead, opened in 1941 to great fanfare and excitement. At last, Mobilians could cross Mobile Bay to the Eastern Shore in their own cars via a direct route. And they paid a price to go through the old tunnel, dropping coins into a toll booth at the east entrance. Eventually, when I-10 passed through Mobile, the George C. Wallace Tunnel was built to move three times as many cars through, to meet demand (which marked the end of the toll). And now, there’s a lot of talk about building a bridge across the Mobile River to help with the traffic that gets bottlenecked in both of our tunnels. Meanwhile, on behalf of Mobilians everywhere, I implore all visitors: DO NOT honk your horn, or you might inspire road rage, and that’s especially uncool when you’re driving through a tube that’s 40 feet below the Mobile River. Oh, and remember that you’ll lose your cell phone reception in the Bankhead, but not in the Wallace. And you’ll lose your radio signal in both. 12. Why do people honk their horns in the tunnels? Because people are idiots. No other reason. 13. What’s the difference between the Bayway and the Causeway? When you go through the Bankhead Tunnel, you’ll emerge on the Causeway (Highway 90/98). When you go through the Wallace Tunnel, you’ll come out on the raised Bayway (I-10). No offense, but when visitors cause the Bayway to back up, locals will maneuver onto the Causeway and usually go zipping on toward Spanish Fort. The Causeway is the more scenic route, by the way. It’s where you go for a quick fishing or crabbing trip, or to grab a bite of good seafood. 14. Why is there a real battleship in the bay, and is it going to fire at me? The Battleship USS Alabama’s firing days are over, though it does still have cannons on its deck. The ship earned nine battle stars during 37 months of active duty during the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean campaigns of World War II, according to ussalabama. It was “mothballed” on Puget Sound in Washington until the Navy decided it should be scrapped. Then, in 1964, Alabama school children raised more than $100,000, mostly in quarters, nickels and dimes, to save the battleship and bring it to Mobile, where it was turned into a unique memorial to veterans in 1965. Next year, the Battleship USS Alabama will mark 50 years at its permanent home in the shallow waters of Mobile Bay, just off the Bayway. 15. What’s with the French street names? Mobile was founded by a pair of French explorers, the LeMoyne brothers Bienville and Iberville. (Doesn’t Bienville translate into “pretty city”? Oui? Well, there you have it. Mobile is certainly pretty, so the name fits.) So we have Bienville Square in the heart of downtown, and we have Dauphin Street extending from Water Street to Spring Hill, and we have the barrier island named Dauphin Island (not “dolphin”). We have Beauregard, Conti (“Cont-eye”) and Joachim (“Jo-ACK-um”) streets. You French majors should just swallow hard and pronounce the names our way, or else we won’t understand you. But we’re polite Southerners, bless you visitors’ hearts, so we won’t point it out to you. And anyway, all you really need to remember is this: Mo-BEEL.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Apr 2014 00:19:50 +0000
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