Monday, March 21, 2011

Mobile Historic Homes Tour

On Friday morning, Randy, Terry, Judy, and I departed Rainbow Plantation heading for Fort Conde which, also, serves as Mobile’s Welcome Center.

South Royal Street

You couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather for a walking tour of historic sites along Government Street.  It was a two mile walking tour (four miles when you walk back) plus we parked about a half mile away from the first stop on the tour.  We got our “steps in” to say the least.

Since we were beginning our tour from Fort Conde and the welcome center we stopped for a “rest” break and a quick tour of the fort.

Fort Conde Around The Parade Grounds Enlisted Quarters Diorama Of The Spanish Attacking

Spain was America’s ally during the Revolutionary War and declared war on Great Britian in June of 1779.  The Spanish attacked the British at Fort Charlotte (Conde) in February 1780 resulting in its surrender and subsequent capture of the City of Mobile on March 14th.

The Mardi Gras Carnival Museum is located on Government Street as well.  We snapped a picture but did not stop in as we had more than enough territory to cover before day’s end.

The Carnival Musuem

We decided to walk the south side of the street first visiting the sites on that side of the road and return on the north side (me thinks we may have bitten off more than we could chew – oh well, it was what it was).

Government Street Methodist Church  All Saint's Episcopal Church Grace Lutheran Church  McElhaney House Mobile's Debutantes Hosted Many Of The Sites  Oooo La La!! Bobby Williams and Hany Moustata House  Townhomes of Mike Lee and the Calloway Blacksher Hall

The churches were beautiful, but we were disappointed in the “Historical” side of this tour.  The only place with some real history, other than the churches, was Blacksher Hall (last picture above).  It is a Neoclassical Revival Mansion that was built in 1901 and is ten thousand square feet with eight bedrooms and twelve fireplaces.

As far as tours go, we all agreed that this one was not very well planned and kind of a disappointment, especially since we paid for this tour.  The Dauphin Street Historic District Walking Tour is a “freebie” and you can get a tour map at the Welcome Center.  There are 52 sites along this tour and, although you can’t go inside any of the sites, you can get a good flavor of Mobile’s history and architecture.

Other than that, Saturday was pretty much a recovery day and Sunday was typical with church in the morning and Ice Cream Social in the evening.  We did manage to get the two stage water filtration system installed as well as our closet cleaned out and organized.  Three weeks before departure, so we are attacking the Ol’ Ta Do List with a vengeance.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - -

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