Crying over a city

I’ve been offline for a few days. But I have good reasons – spending time with my family, especially my husband. We had a family night Thursday – played games and watched a movie. Friday, my son went out of town to see his great grandmother for the weekend so we went to Bayfest. It is our local music festival, which is now in its 14th year. I generally don’t attend things like that – I’m a homebody, and prefer to watch performances on TV or the Internet (you always get a front row seat, you don’t have to fight the crowds, and you don’t have to pay a fortune for cold, bland food). But my hubby really wanted to go, so I said OK. And actually had a good time. Still prefer staying home and watching, but had a good time with him anyway.

Bayfest is just one of the many wonderful things that Mobile has to offer. Mobile sits on a bay, and if you get off the interstate and take Highway 90 (called Government St. in town) you get a much better view of the bay, and you can drive through Mid-town and see all the beautiful old houses. Driving through is very reminiscent of New Orleans, but having lived in both cities I can tell you that Mobile is not only less populous, but it is also MUCH cleaner. We even have a small version of Bourbon Street, but it just has the restaurants and bars, not all the ‘other’ entertainment. And it doesn’t stink like Bourbon. Oh, and it is called Dauphin Street, in case you ever get the chance to visit.

Anyway, Thursday, I had been across the bay and driving back I took Hwy. 90. Crossing the bay, I got to thinking about how much I love Mobile. It just feels like home. I got so emotional (over a city, mind you) that I started crying! Now I admit, Thursday was a trying day for me and I started my period that day as well, so I was already pretty emotional. But it was thinking about how much I love my city that pushed me over the edge and got me crying. You guys ever cry over your home? This is actually the 2nd time we have lived in Mobile. We’ve been here 2 years (and hopefully forever) this time, and were here 1 year before. Last time, Mobile was having its tricentennial celebration. I wrote a poem in honor of that. I am in the process of typing up all my poetry and will be posting it on my wordpressblog. For this particular poem, I plan on placing the text on top of some pictures from around Mobile (they will be partially translucent), and it will be bordered by the six flags that have flown over Mobile. As soon as I finish it and get it posted I will put a link to it.  But the point is, if you ever looking for a new vacation spot, consider the Mobile area. We have beautiful gulf beaches, tons of history, MardiGras,a fabulous art museum, a place called the Exploreum which is sort of a hands-on science museum, and right now we have the perfect weather (summer is EXTREMELY hard on people who are not used to our humidity). Right now it is in the 60’s at night and upper 70’s / low 80’s in the day with low humidity. Lots of sunshine. Perfect.