Atmore, AL to Mobile, AL - 54 miles

Wow, I think the weather has cooled down a bit, or at least the humidity has dropped. Only time will tell. Today we are off to Mobile, AL and it is a realatively short day. There are two choices today...54 miles or 64 miles. Most people took the shorter route.

Mobile is the third most populous city in Alabama. It is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the U.S. It is the largest municipality on the Gulf Coast between New Orleasns, LA and St. Petersburg, FL.

Mobile began as the first capital of colonial French Louisian in 1702. The city got its name from the Native American Mobilian tribe that the French colonists found in the area of Mobile Bay. During its first 100 years, Mobile was a colony for France, then Britain, and lastly Spain. Mobile first became a part of the United States of America in 1810, with the annexation of West Florida under President James Madison. It then left that union in 1861 when Alabama joined the Confederate States of America, which collapsed in 1865. The city is the only seaport in Alabama. People from Mobile are known as Mobilians.

USS Alabama

USS Drum

Type 69-II Main Battle Tank from Iraq

Mobile is home to Battleship Memorial Park, a military park on the shore of Mobile Bay which features the World War II era battleship USS Alabama, the World War II era submarine USS Drum, Korean War and Vietnam War Memorials and a variety of historical military equipment.

Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Mobile, AL is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mobile.

Stained glass window depicting the Immaculate Conception

In 1962, Pope John XXIII elevated the cathedral to a minor basilica, a title bestowed, only by the pope, on churches of historical and spiritual importance. A basilica is entitled to have its own coat-of-arms. Other basilica insignia include Pope John XXIII's personal coat-of-arms installed above the cathedral entrance, the yellow and red  umbracullum (umbrella) and tintinnabulum (bell) in the sanctuary.

We are staying at the Holiday Inn, Mobile, AL.

Tomorrow we are off to Orange Beach, AL.