MOBILE AND THE GULF COAST
In many ways, Mobile is a city of contradictions. On one hand, Mobile is like an overgrown small town – friendly but closely knit, fun-loving but proud of a long tradition of living life in the slow lane. On the other, one needs only to brush aside the magnolias and azaleas to find a city that is zooming up the fast lane. More than 500,000 citizens call the Mobile area home.
With tourism on the rise, popular sights such as Bellingrath Gardens and Battleship Park are being joined by a growing list of cultural attractions.
The city is also a hotbed for sporting events, such as Minor League baseball and college football bowl games. The Mobile Bay Bears, Class AA baseball affiliate of the San Diego Padres, just finished their eighth season of action. In addition, two college football bowl games are held in Mobile: the Senior Bowl and the GMAC Bowl.
When it comes to play, Mobilians have a wealth of gorgeous beaches, world-class golf courses, sailing, seafood and historic sites enhanced by a climate that allows everyone to enjoy the outdoors all year round.
CLIMATE ALONG THE GULF COAST
The Mobile area has 219 days of sunshine every year. That makes it sunny 60 percent of the year.
Clear Days 103
Partly Cloudy Days 116
Annual Average Temperature 67.4
Coldest Month January Avg. 51.4
Warmest Month July Avg. 81.8
Annual Average Rainfall 63.7"
Annual Average Snow 0
Prevailing Wind Direction North
MARDI GRAS
In French, Mardi Gras means "Fat Tuesday" and is celebrated the day before Ash Wednesday as a last "fling" prior to the 40 days of Lent, which precede Easter.
Mobile is not only recognized as celebrating the first-known American Mardi Gras celebration in 1703 (yes, even before New Orleans), but also as home to the "America's Family Mardi Gras" delighting both young and old from around town and across the nation. This magnificent celebration lasts for nearly two weeks and culminates on Fat Tuesday, the day before Lent.
For weeks, the streets of downtown Mobile are filled with the sights and sounds of live marching bands, brilliant-colored floats and of course teeming crowds of parade goers. The floats are glowing spectacles manned by masked riders festooned in satin and sequins, and armed with crowd-pleasing "throws" such as beads, moon pies, doubloons and candy. Mardi Gras must be experienced to be fully understood and Mobile is the perfect place.
Information courtesy of the Mobile Bay Convention and Vistors Bureau.
For more information on the Mobile area, check out the following websites:
City of Mobile - www.cityofmobile.org
Mobile County - www.mobilecounty.org
Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce - www.mobilechamber.org
Mobile Convention and Visitors Corporation - www.mobile.org
