Disclaimer: All of the pictures are taken via droid. They may not be the best quality pictures you’ve ever seen on this blog, but you gotta do what you gotta do.
I have a confession to make.
There are certain parts of city living that I miss.
All my friends are laughing because I didn’t like living in the city at all. And I admit, I didn’t. The traffic, the crowds, the noise, the smell, the crime…all things I could live without. When I lived in Philadelphia I couldn’t wait to leave and go to a place where I didn’t have to walk with my groceries 6 blocks back up to my apartment, where I didn’t have to make my schedule revolve around traffic and finding a parking spot in my neighborhood, where I could walk somewhere quiet and still feel safe, where I had a driveway! and my commute didn’t involve a bus, subway and train every single day. Those were the cons.
The pros: There was always a lot to do so I never was bored. A lot of my friends lived there so some weekends felt like I was in college again. Happy hour without having to worry about driving home afterwards was always a treat. Access to a lot of culture, food, and things that you can’t find in the middle of nowhere Florida. And what I miss most is seeing the skyline of the city at sunrise while I waited for my bus in Manayunk.
So I got a little nastalgic when we ventured to Mobile this weekend. Mobile is probably the closest “city” to us. We live near Pensacola and Panama City but they don’t have much of a city feel.
Mobile is small, but the downtown area is really cute. It has a lot more to do, more entertainment, restaurants, and some charms of the city life that I really enjoyed without as many cons. For one, the traffic was practically nothing on Saturday night. Which was great. The downtown area is clean and well kept. It also has a great French vibe similar to New Orleans.
And there’s a battleship hanging out on the edge of the city.
Fun, right? And the reason we went to Mobile was even more exciting.
I had a good friend when I was little. We’ve known each other since before I can remember. While I stayed a country girl in high school, she followed her dreams and went off to New York City to dance after our sophomore year of high school. She dances for the New York City Ballet Company now. No seriously, she’s kind of a big deal. Check it out. Our families are friends and we’ve kept in touch through the years. Well I found out from the local news (we actually only get Pensacola or Mobile news stations because we don’t have our own. I’m telling you. Middle of Nowhere) that NYC Ballet dancers were coming to Mobile. I managed to find out Gina would be there so of course, I jumped at the chance to see her. And for a chance to enjoy some city life for a night.
Our first stop was dinner at Felix’s Fish Camp.
A Mobile native recommended it to us. It’s right on the water (practically in the water is more like it) and has nice views of the city a few miles away.
The hubby also had bought the droid just a few hours before this, so we spent some time playing with the camera.
He loves me. Actually, I think he loves oysters more. So naturally he couldn’t leave without trying them all.
He got a sampler of oysters prepared 3 different ways. He liked the one with chili sauce the best, but he said they were all great.
Since I’m not much of an oyster fan…and by no much, I mean not at all…I decided to try the sampler of soup instead.
One little cup of 3 delicious soups! The soups were crab, turtle and gumbo. I liked the crab the best, but they were all really good. Definitely the best part of the meal.
And sadly, it went a little down hill from there. Their “Camp Salad” was a sloshy mess of lettuce drowned in a watered down Italian dressing. Not so great.
For entrees I got the grilled Mahi-Mahi with Green Beans Almondine.
I don’t really consider myself a picky eater or one who’s very snotty about seasoning. I’m definitely not the person who says there’s “too much salt” or “could have used a sprinkle of paprika”. Hubby does that, but I’m usually good with the seasoning being a bit off. But this was definitely over seasoned. It was cooked ok, but the seasoning was caked on even though it said if it was grilled it was “lightly seasoned”. The green beans were canned green beans soaked in butter with bacon and a spinkle of almonds on top. I could have made both of these at home and they would have tasted a lot better. Not impressed at all.
The hubby got crab cakes.
I may have snuck a bite. They were pretty good. I would have been happier with his meal probably.
Overall, we liked the restaurant. It was cute, nice view, a perfect fall evening to enjoy it and we definitely didn’t let the mediocre food spoil the night. The soup and oysters were great, but we both agreed the main dishes were not the best we’d ever had.
Then it was off to the Mobile Ballet. It’s right downtown so that gave us the chance to stroll around downtown a little and see the sites before it got too dark. The ballet was great. I may be biased but I think Gina was the star of the show. Afterwards we peaked in backstage to say hi and snap a quick picture.
Seeing old friends is the best. It just brings back all of my favorite memories as a kid.
We had a wonderful weekend and I was actually a little sad to leave the city and head back to the country. We will have to go back to Mobile again soon. Anyone want to go see the Nutcracker next month?
For Sweets Sake 