Welcome to Mobile, AL.

Hello from Mobile!After 3 full days, I have picked up a few things about the city, but I still have a lot to discover. Here is what I have learned to far:

• Mobile was the first site of Mardi Gras in the United States. As in New Orleans, when you drive down the parade route you can see beads glittering from the tree branches.
• Mobile is the rainiest city in the US. While Seattle has more rainy days per year, Mobile wins out with an average annual rainfall of 67 inches (Seattle's average is 52 inches). I saw evidence of this first hand today, it started storming around 2-3am and didn't let up until around 9am. Fortunately, as an adaptation to this and other forms of excessive water collection, many houses are raised up on stilts.
• Culturally, Mobile resembles the Gulf Coast region more than the rest of Alabama. This is seen in the effects of occupation by the Spanish, French, and British at different points in history, as well as the food culture which prominently features seafood. As the coastal region of Alabama is quite small, and, due both to the absence of reliable roads and the presence of a large swamp, was physically inaccessible to the rest of Alabama for decades, the northern portion of Alabama is culturally distinct.
• On New Years Eve, as a unique local tradition, instead of dropping a giant glittering ball, in Mobile they drop a giant Moon Pie.

The discovery of these and other fun facts about sunny (and sometimes rainy) Mobile have delighted me for the past few days.

I hope all is well in your part of the world! :)
Bethany