There are billboards all over town advertising the Mobile Flea Market. It's advertised as one of the biggest flea markets in the country. Well, being market experts, we decided to stay an extra day in Mobile, to experience this fabulous flea market.
It's good, probably better in the summer. The produce people are there now, and are probably selling local stuff in the summer, but right now they're selling stuff they're getting from other countries. We did find a local source for little tangerines. There is also an amazing book store, used paperbacks and hard cover books. This rivals some of the used bookstores in stand-alone buildings in other places. Well worth the traffic to visit the used book seller. We also saw at least a dozen people selling puppies. Mostly pitbull puppies, proclaiming AKC registered puppies. We saw chihuahuas, and a woman selling a miniature Great Dane. A few kittens, two people selling gerbils, a couple of young/pierced/tattooed men selling boa constrictors and lizards of some kind. There were vendors selling all kinds of things that make the air smell good, vendors selling neon green t-shirts with mostly racing logos, people selling bad wigs and good tools, socks and pots, car parts and dresses, dolls and kitchen ware. We bought a pair of scissors for our Cottage kitchen, a couple of plant watering devices, the local citrus, and Stuart found four good lighthouse models for a good price. I was tempted by the lime green t-shirts, but resisted.
We fought our way out of the parking lot traffic, and headed towards downtown for lunch at Saucy Q's Barbeque restaurant, in the Oakleigh neighborhood. I had a pork sandwich, Stuart ordered ribs with collards and cornbread. The sandwich was better without the bread, the pork was good. Stuart's collards were good: a little sugar and some ham. We were thwarted in our effort to leave downtown by the Christmas parade. Of course, we parked and watched it! The high school marching bands were pretty good, and the dance school groups were well-dressed. Perfect, small town parade!
Dinner was at Michael's Downtown Cafe, and it was excellent! Courtney brought us a crab crostata to start. We took our own wine, and she brought glasses right away. We started with a local greens salad, with local oranges and pecans, and a little blue cheese. We also had a green gumbo, made with collards, red bell peppers, onions, okra in a delicious roux. Stuart ordered crab cakes, which were the best he's ever had, and I had the shrimp and grits. Tonight is the first night Michael has offered this dish, and it was simple and complex. The shrimp were local and perfectly cooked. The grits were adorned with a brown roux, red bell pepper and little bits of okra. We finished the meal with a chocolate torte, with a little cream, and hot tea. Oh, my! What a meal! It was made all the better with some conversation with both Courtney and Michael, and we enjoyed the evening.
With overly-full bellies, we thought a short walk in the downtown would make us feel better. Michael's is one block from the main downtown street, but it was so cold we couldn't stand it. Five blocks in a circle brought us thankfully back to our truck, and we drove home. Tomorrow is moving day, it's cold tonight, we went to bed soon.
With the drive we've had in the past ten days, being off the interstate, we've had the chance to look at local businesses. We can be in any city in the country when we're in the suburbs. Think of any chain business, and it's here, wherever we are. But, the small businesses are doing OK, too. Funeral homes, nail parlors, pay-day lending, pawn shops, car repair shops, hair salons, pet groomers, builders and real estate offices, asian restaurants, latino restaurants, seafood restaurants, blue-plate restaurants, thrift shops, doctor offices, and the stray quilt shop are all alive and well. As we drove, I was thinking about the chain stores, and realized that I was focused on the wrong thing. I needed to pay attention to small business,and began to see them in every strip shopping mall and in the out-of-the-way places. Stuart and I mostly avoid chain stores when a small business is at our disposal, but that's not always an option.
Grocery stores are a traveler's problem. We now have FOURTEEN grocery store cards in the glove box of the truck. We sign up for the card wherever we are, to get the sale price. So far this trip, we've added two new stores to our stack: Harvey's and Winn-Dixie. I know: how can we live in the south and not have a Winn-Dixie card? I don't know, but that's now remedied. But, if we hit a Albertson's, we're also ready!
The Jude Travel Park in eastern New Orleans is our current home. We're just north of the infamous Ninth Ward and the Industrial Canal. We drove from Mobile on US 90, a perfectly good back road that sort of parallels I-10. We drove through the bayou, amazed at the elevation of the scattered houses on the lakes and bayous. Nothing here says "dry". Fishing nets and fishing boats are everywhere. Sunday is a good day to travel; the business people are not on the road today.
Tomorrow is the Winter Solstice, and we have big plans for the day.
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