Visiting Mobile from Tampa Bay (Gulf Shores, Dauphin Island: houses, neighborhoods, theater) - Alabama (AL) -Mobile County - City-Data Forum

romes591 · 06-19-2013, 07:09 AM

I am heading to Mobile this weekend from St. Petersburg and I wanted to get an idea on some fun things to do.

I am in my late 20s and I'm heading there with a friend to visit someone who just moved there. Anything to do besides the bars?

Also, I am flying into New Orleans and driving over (way cheaper than flying direct)... how bad is that drive from New Orleans to Mobile?

How does Mobile compare to St. Pete/Tampa/Clearwater as a city?

Thanks!

PortCity · 06-19-2013, 08:03 AM

You guys can check out saenger theater live Friday. Its a concert with local bands downtown there will be a second line street party in front of the saenger theater with comedy. If you are into art you guys should check out space 301, Mobile history museum, Mardi Gra museum. You can check out the battle ship and if you like out door activities you guys can take an air boat or canoe cruise through the Mobile delta . Also Bellengrath Gardens is worth looking at as well. They are filming a new action movie downtown so that may interest you, and the Dauphin Island Sea Lab.Bonkerz Comedy club at Joe Cain Café has shows and Acme has comedy also. One of my favorite music venues in the city is the Soul Kitchen Music Hall they will have a concert on Friday and Saturday , they always have great music.

Mobile as a metro has over 600,000 so I assume it would be tiers below Tampa which has over 3 million.

The drive from Mobile to New Orleans is probably 2 1/ 2 and it is a smooth ride.

Welcome to Mobile and explore our historic streets and neighborhoods in midtown!

romes591 · 06-19-2013, 09:08 AM

Thanks Port! The live music and ship sound like cool ideas.

PortCity · 06-19-2013, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by romes591

Thanks Port! The live music and ship sound like cool ideas.

Any more questions feel free to ask.

romes591 · 06-21-2013, 06:34 AM

I understand that it doesn't have what Tampa has to offer, but I know every nook and corner of Tampa Bay, this should be something exciting and new! Especially for just 3 days? I'm sure I will have a good time in Mobile... I'll get back to you guys after my trip and let you know about my experience.

PortCity · 06-21-2013, 02:17 PM

Great! I'm always looking for feed back from visitors who come from larger cities I take the criticism to construct.

Keeper · 06-23-2013, 06:01 AM

I am from Mobile originally and I lived in Tampa for 30 years. The one thing that is different is the seafood. I love the fried crab claws, west indies salad and the shrimp you can get in Mobile. I have always loved the old houses on Gov't street under the oak canopy. Interesting fact.. 'Love in the Library' by Jimmy Buffett was written about the Public Library on Gov't street.

Mobile's summer time is not kmuch different from Tampa, hot and humid. Go to Gulf Shores and visit LuLu's (Jimmy Buffets sister) for lunch. There will be a lot of tourist there too..

Keep an eye out for Nicolas Cage he is in Mobile making a movie.

Most of all have fun

romes591 · 06-25-2013, 07:19 AM

So I just got back late Sunday night. It was a fun time, the most impressive part about Mobile to me was the food. I really didn't have anything I didn't enjoy. I stayed with a friend downtown in The Tower on Royal Park, so almost everything was in walking distance.

Went to Moe's BBQ: Had a great pulled pork sandwich, along with a hash brown casserole that was delicious. One of the bartender's mentioned the casserole was his wife's mom's recipe... You don't find home made southern cooking in Tampa, definitely some small town southern charm there.

The Hungry Owl: We went there just to get The Ultimate Burger that we saw on Man vs Food. It was everything it was hyped up to be. Hands down the best burger I have ever had.

Spot of Tea: Had breakfast here the last morning. Heard great things about their Monte Cristos. It was good but nothing to write home about. Their hash browns were just okay.

We also visited some bars, the downtown strip reminded me of a college town bar area. Somewhat like Tallahassee but without all the hot coeds. Some of the bars we visited were the Haberdasher, O'Daly's, Royal Street Tavern, and The Garage. All the bars are pretty similar in that they are small, serve a decent beer selection, and have moderately priced drinks. However they seem to all have the same crowds, not a lot of diversity as to what 'type' of bar each one is, they all had the same feeling.

On the last day we went to the Garage bar in the day time. They were having a all you can eat crawfish cook out and a live band was playing. Music was great, good food, good drinks good time, good looking staff... this was my favorite bar in Mobile.

One thing I noticed was the lack of darts, pool, and bar games. Also everyone was dancing to country music and southern rock. Not what I am used to in Tampa with all the hip hop dancing.

We did see some streets blocked off for the Nick Cage movie. Stuck out like sore thumbs at most of the bars, we definitely dressed a bit more 'urban' than the locals. (No, not meaning our pants down to our ankles, but also no the khaki shorts up to our arm pits and fly fishing shirts that seem popular there.) Had a very hard time getting anyone to change the TV from NASCAR to baseball and hockey. One bar wouldn't put the Rays game on. A few girls told me I talk fast and asked if I was a yankee. But even with all of that going on I never felt unwelcome, the people of Mobile are extremely nice.

In conclusion I had a great time, ate some great food, and enjoyed my trip. I don't think I would ever live in Mobile, but I wouldn't mind visiting again for a weekend.

Strangejelly · 06-25-2013, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by romes591

So I just got back late Sunday night. It was a fun time, the most impressive part about Mobile to me was the food. I really didn't have anything I didn't enjoy. I stayed with a friend downtown in The Tower on Royal Park, so almost everything was in walking distance.

Went to Moe's BBQ: Had a great pulled pork sandwich, along with a hash brown casserole that was delicious. One of the bartender's mentioned the casserole was his wife's mom's recipe... You don't find home made southern cooking in Tampa, definitely some small town southern charm there.

The Hungry Owl: We went there just to get The Ultimate Burger that we saw on Man vs Food. It was everything it was hyped up to be. Hands down the best burger I have ever had.

Spot of Tea: Had breakfast here the last morning. Heard great things about their Monte Cristos. It was good but nothing to write home about. Their hash browns were just okay.

We also visited some bars, the downtown strip reminded me of a college town bar area. Somewhat like Tallahassee but without all the hot coeds. Some of the bars we visited were the Haberdasher, O'Daly's, Royal Street Tavern, and The Garage. All the bars are pretty similar in that they are small, serve a decent beer selection, and have moderately priced drinks. However they seem to all have the same crowds, not a lot of diversity as to what 'type' of bar each one is, they all had the same feeling.

On the last day we went to the Garage bar in the day time. They were having a all you can eat crawfish cook out and a live band was playing. Music was great, good food, good drinks good time, good looking staff... this was my favorite bar in Mobile.

One thing I noticed was the lack of darts, pool, and bar games. Also everyone was dancing to country music and southern rock. Not what I am used to in Tampa with all the hip hop dancing.

We did see some streets blocked off for the Nick Cage movie. Stuck out like sore thumbs at most of the bars, we definitely dressed a bit more 'urban' than the locals. (No, not meaning our pants down to our ankles, but also no the khaki shorts up to our arm pits and fly fishing shirts that seem popular there.) Had a very hard time getting anyone to change the TV from NASCAR to baseball and hockey. One bar wouldn't put the Rays game on. A few girls told me I talk fast and asked if I was a yankee. But even with all of that going on I never felt unwelcome, the people of Mobile are extremely nice.

In conclusion I had a great time, ate some great food, and enjoyed my trip. I don't think I would ever live in Mobile, but I wouldn't mind visiting again for a weekend.

You weren't going to get that different of a crowd in those bars. Habadasher would have been the only one to give a more "hipster" feel, but all the other were just bro bars.

southernnaturelover · 06-25-2013, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Stuck out like sore thumbs at most of the bars, we definitely dressed a bit more 'urban' than the locals. (No, not meaning our pants down to our ankles, but also no the khaki shorts up to our arm pits and fly fishing shirts that seem popular there.)

Had to laugh at this. That's the "preppy redneck" attire, usually complimented with a Alabama Crimson Tide visor and Costa shades on a string.