To walk the grid-lined streets of Mobile’s historic midtown is to walk the lined pages of an old journal; the ink is dried, the pages worn and stained, but yet the preservation of the words and the structure of the sentences still lead you through the story of a time that has passed, passed and yet still celebrated whole-heartedly.
There are three canopied streets that splinter out of downtown’s historic trunk –Springhill Avenue, Dauphin Street, and Government Street. Between these streets, and the very large antiquated homes that line them, is Midtown. Nestled amongst the live oaks of Midtown are narrow grid-lined streets, the asphalt fractured by strong hidden roots that push the rock to the surface. And that is just like Mobile – a city full of secrets. Concealed between the more popular areas of Gulf Shores and it’s sister-city New Orleans, Mobile often goes unnoticed. Travelers often pass through the underwater tunnels and continue their paths along I-10. Why stop in Mobile? There can’t be much to do there.
But a walk down the streets of Midtown will reveal that certainly there is something to do. When in the winter months the northern states are sleepy with cold, vibrant colors paint Mobile into a festive canvas. To look closer is to watch the unveiling of secrets a quiet town holds, secrets found in the roots and pushed so arduously they, for a few weeks of the year, burst into a city-wide celebration of merriment and tradition.
Purple. Gold. Green. These colors hang most prominently around the homes and shops in Midtown.
Jester hats and faces of Drama and Comedy rest on wreaths or windows, while more garland is wrapped into pretty arrangments on gas lanterns.
Midtown owns up to the culture that it was founded on, even as most houses are inhabited by new residents from other states. In my next blog, I'll go deeper into the Mystic Societies that the residents represent.
There are three canopied streets that splinter out of downtown’s historic trunk –Springhill Avenue, Dauphin Street, and Government Street. Between these streets, and the very large antiquated homes that line them, is Midtown. Nestled amongst the live oaks of Midtown are narrow grid-lined streets, the asphalt fractured by strong hidden roots that push the rock to the surface. And that is just like Mobile – a city full of secrets. Concealed between the more popular areas of Gulf Shores and it’s sister-city New Orleans, Mobile often goes unnoticed. Travelers often pass through the underwater tunnels and continue their paths along I-10. Why stop in Mobile? There can’t be much to do there.
But a walk down the streets of Midtown will reveal that certainly there is something to do. When in the winter months the northern states are sleepy with cold, vibrant colors paint Mobile into a festive canvas. To look closer is to watch the unveiling of secrets a quiet town holds, secrets found in the roots and pushed so arduously they, for a few weeks of the year, burst into a city-wide celebration of merriment and tradition.
The Mardi Gras shop downtown has opened its doors to (big) business
Purple. Gold. Green. These colors hang most prominently around the homes and shops in Midtown.
Typical Midtown house, festively dressed
Stringy garland, big puffy garland, shiny garland, you name it, meets you at the doors of many houses. 
Jester hats and faces of Drama and Comedy rest on wreaths or windows, while more garland is wrapped into pretty arrangments on gas lanterns.
Midtown owns up to the culture that it was founded on, even as most houses are inhabited by new residents from other states. In my next blog, I'll go deeper into the Mystic Societies that the residents represent.
