Okay, I’m just going to say it.  Birmingham, Alabama isn’t a place many people think of for a final vacation destination.  It’s more of a “passing through” kind of place – it’s one of those cities on the trip south on I65 to the beach or on the trip east on I20 to Atlanta.  It’s a foothill town.  Not a mountain town.

That said, from all accounts, Birmingham is a nice city.  I have yet to make it my destination, but from the first time a few years ago that I passed through and stopped, I fell in love.

Kenny and I met up with my friends Lydia and Andrew.  I was in the sixth grade when I met Lydia and Andrew. My family had just moved to Mobile, Alabama, and their family welcomed us to our new church. Almost immediately we were friends. For the next eight years we spent hot summer days at the pool, Halloween parties bobbing for apples, and Christmas breaks designing and eating gingerbread houses.

Upon graduation from Auburn University, Lydia moved to Birmingham, Alabama to pursue her career in interior design. A few years later, her brother Andrew completed his degree in industrial design at Auburn, and also moved to Birmingham.

Eighteen months ago during a road trip, Kenny and I caught up with them in Birmingham over dinner one night. They introduced us to my new restaurant crush – The Fish Market Restaurant.  Last month, I was lucky enough to catch up with Lydia and Andrew again while passing through Birmingham.  At my sheepish request, it was at the Fish Market. (Seriously, I dream of this place at night!)

Set in a quirky old red brick building on South 22nd St., the Fish Market is very simply decorated inside to resemble serene postcards of the Greek Islands. In addition to the incredible restuarant, the market is also a small grocery. It is owned by a George Sarris, a Greek man who sells an array of wines, olives from his hometown in Greece and fish flown in daily from around the world. Some fish at the restaurant are so fresh they are literally still swimming in the tanks on display.

What are you craving?  Amberjack, Orange Roughy, Flounder, Snapper? Maybe mahi-mahi? Or crab, shrimp or lobster?   This is only a list to whet your appetite.  The complete menu is incredible!  The prices are a wower too.  The entrees start at $8 a plate and are complete with a comprehensive picklist of Southern and Greek veggie dishes.

Kenny is pretty adventurous.  On our first visit, he picked a live fish and the cooks killed it and cooked it in front of him.  (Watching is not required!  My curious husband wanted to have the FULL experience.) 

This time he ordered the frog leg dinner. Do not be fooled!  Frog legs DO NOT taste like chicken.  From this initiation to frog leg consumption, my assessment is that they taste like salty marshwater. Interesting, but not impressive.  Maybe it is an aquired taste?

Me?  Both times I ordered the grilled red snapper.  Perfectly seasoned with a spicy salty rub, the fillets were crisp on the outide and tender and flaky on the inside.  Lovely!

So the next time you’re near Birmingham, even if it is not your final destination, do take time to stop.   

My sister is leaving Mobile, Alabama. Her husband accepted a new job in Atlanta, Georgia. They’ve sold their home and in a week they’ll move. She is my final link to my hometown.

Kenny, Titus and I stopped in Mobile for the night on our roadtrip from Keller, Texas to Valdosta, Georgia.

We headed out of town by way of Dauphin Street. Dauphin Street is a fabulous street, rivaled in town only by Government Street in my opinion. Gracious old antebellum homes and old stone churches line miles of the street. The lacy Spanish moss dances with the breeze in the limbs of the old oak trees arboring the road. As Dauphin Street enters downtown, the architecture changes to the French brick row houses with wrought iron porches, made famous by the French Quarter in New Orleans.

Kenny and Titus kindly agreed to accompany me in my determined mission to eat a final time at Spot of Tea on Cathedral Square. This unassuming establishment offers incredible fare and outside dining under the shade of oak trees with a view of the beautiful cathedral and fountains in the square.

The decidous trees on the square, still bare of leaves for the winter, were adorned with the glittering beads remaining from the recent Mardi Gras parades. Did you know Mobile is actually the first city in the U.S. to celebrate this holiday?

What to eat at Spot of Tea? Definitely the Bananas Foster French Toast. Imagine the decadent desert of bananas flambéed in butter, rum and brown sugar, until the mixture combines to form lightly browned bananas in a warm sweet syrup poured over thick slices of french toast. Wow, it is simply amazing.

The only rival on the menu is the crab bisque. The large chunks of crab infuse a salty taste of the sea into every bite of the rich creamy bisque.

I figured this was my last meal. Well, at least possibly my last meal in Mobile, Alabama. So I had both.

After our meal, I figured I was due for a walk. Kenny and Titus relaxed in the shade of Cathedral Square while I headed further downtown on Dauphin Street to buy some pralines for Kenny’s mom at Three George’s Candy Shop. Along my walk, I noticed a curious art gallery with bright Van Gogh-like paintings in the window displays. I was intrigued and entered the Cathedral Square Gallery. This cheerful home to 50 local artists is fantastic. I easily chatted with the ladies keeping the gallery, and purchased several notecard watercolor prints of local scenes I plan to hang in a collage at home.

“Where are you from?” an older lady in the gallery asked me.

“I grew up here, but I’m from Keller, Texas now.” I replied, as it would be too tedious to explain to her the details of my current life-in-transition.

“Oh…one of my good friends lives in Keller. What a small world.” she enthusiastically replied.

“He’s getting married next month in Oregon. He’s 85 years old. I’ve been invited to be the matron of honor in the wedding. I’m 81.” she informed me.

“Do you know him?” she asked.

“Well, no.” I had to admit.

I guess the world is not quite that small.

I returned to Kenny and my baby son and we headed out of town. To return to Interstate 10 east across Mobile Bay, we had to continue on Dauphin Street past Bienville Square, a Mobile iconic destination, named for one of the city’s founders. A multi-tiered wrought iron fountain is banked by wrought-iron fences in this square surrounded by interesting shops and restaurants. A lazy group of people relaxed in the shade of the huge oak trees on the square.

We also had to pass Fort Conde, the restored historic fort from the city’s origins. I was thrilled to see the block surrounding the fort booming with the life of revitalization. A science museum, new in the past ten years, stands nearby, and many of the neat old buildings near the fort have been restored to now house inns, shops and businesses.

I tried to look hard and commit my final look at Mobile to memory. I guess the vision in my mind’s eye will always be blurred by the tears I cried in goodbye.

I don’t think this route will claim national renown, and speeders beware! It’s a big trap! But for me it’s a looking glass into the old and gracious world of the coastal deep south, and it’s home. It’s the one place I repeatedly go over the years to remind myself that all will be right with the world. It’s the one place I visit in my mind’s eye to feel at peace.

First take Interstate 10 east out of Mobile. On the long causeway across Mobile Bay, note the USS Alabama, a retired World War battleship, open for daily tours. Then breathe in the sky and the open views on the water and feel the stress of life melt away. You are headed to the beach.

Take the exit for 98 and follow signs for scenic 98. Watch out. The fork in the road is easy to miss. You’ll travel through several sleepy Alabama coastal towns. Colorful homes and inns dot the way. Seafood shacks and praline candy shops are plentiful. The streets are shaded by the lacy branches of old live oak trees adorned with Spanish moss.

Fairhope is a fine town for shopping, eating and playing. Watch there again for the fork in the road to stay along the coast. Take a moment to see the Fairhope pier. In season, the rose garden at the pier has a fantastic display.

Continue on the road to Point Clear, making a stop again at the Grand Hotel. This hotel offers lovely grounds and beautiful views.

Merge with 59 at Foley and continue south to Gulf Shores. Gulf Shores is largely commercialized, but the beaches are a pristine white and the blue Gulf waters are beautiful.

We continued on to Florida, but if you plan to return to Mobile, head west to Fort Morgan along 180. This old fort offers nice views of the Gulf and Mobile Bay as well as an interesting history tour of the area. From Fort Morgan you can catch the ferry west across the bay to Fort Gaines on Dauphin Island. These two forts guarded the mouth of Mobile Bay. Imagine the doom of long past civil war battles – “Damn the torpedos, full speed ahead.” Do you know that quote? Well, you’re at the famous site of the Battle of Mobile Bay. From Dauphin Island you can meet up with 193 or Dauphin Island Parkway back into Mobile.