Where: Mobile, Alabama
Mobile, Alabama, is in the midst of a renaissance. In the past few years it has seen the opening of Clotilda: The Exhibition in a museum located in Africatown—one of the nation’s last surviving communities established by West Africans; welcomed its first food hall, the Insider, with six chef-driven concepts, from pizza to poke; and unlocked the doors to the Admiral, a gorgeously renovated hotel that happened to serve as one of Jimmy Buffett’s original performance venues. Of course, there are plenty of already proven reasons to visit the birthplace of Mardi Gras. Salute a soldier at the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park. Eat at the Hummingbird Way Oyster Bar, helmed by Jim Smith of Top Chef fame. And stroll seven districts, each with its own distinct architecture—like De Tonti Square, a nine-block neighborhood typifying Greek Revival and Federal style.
