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Mobile - Part 4
Written by: Dominick A. Miserandino
Photography by: Margherita Miserandino
Wintzell’s. I say this name first because it’s a rather hard name to remember. Wintzell’s. I said the name again so hopefully, Wintzell’s, it has a Wintzell’s subliminal effect and, Wintzell’s, you remember it. It’s a hard name to remember so I felt that if I throw the name in the last sentence a few times it would help you not forget it. It was our best damn meal in Mobile and thereby deserves mentioning a few times. Wintzell’s.
Wintzell’s is not pretty, it’s not fancy. It’s just damn good. They serve oysters, "Fried, Stewed and Nude." It’s pretty self explanatory, but I would avoid nude because raw oysters just looks yucky. We had the stewed and I was quite happy having my food cooked. I don’t need to see what it looks like before it enters my belly.
Wintzell’s has to be seen to be experienced. It just has the feel of a place that is run by people who are real people. Not a corporation. For example, almost half a century ago, Mr. Wintzler started writing down funny sayings that people told him and posting them on the wall. Now the walls are covered like wallpaper with literally thousands of sayings that he liked. It’s the original, "hang things on the wall to make people feel comfortable" feel that TGIF and Ruby Tuesdays attempts to do.
"Wintzell’s", don’t forget it!
After Wintzell’s we had one more stop. This was a perfect ending as it brought everything full circle in my "pleasant surprise" theory. We went to the Mobile Museum of Art. Don’t laugh, Michael my assistant laughed and it’s not a joke. He said, "Mobile, what kind of art do they have... a broken down trailer in the front yard?" He found the joke rather funny, although I found it a bit tasteless and inaccurate. I mention his joke, more so because it relates to the overall point of this story.
There are pre-conceived rumors and notions, and of course reality. Mobile suffers from a vast discrepancy between reality and rumor. The Mobile Museum of Art is one of my favorite art museums that I’ve ever visited. I’m not just saying that.
First, it’s location is alongside this lake in a park which gives it a really great feel. One wall of the lobby is this three storied, curved glass wall, which looks out onto the park. In that lobby is free coffee and tables to hang out at. And since the acoustics are really good you can hear people whispering 100 yards away. But the topper to me was that they had an exhibit from the Vatican. Yes, Vatican religious art was here in Mobile, Alabama. I could wander an art gallery like that for hours, but unfortunately we had a plane to catch and could only stick around for a little bit.
Anyway, that was our adventure in Mobile. What did we learn? When we have kids we’re coming back to experience Mardi Gras. Maybe we’ll do it before that as a double date with friends. It’s a nice alternative to New Orleans’s raunchiness. There’s a lot to see in Mobile so that you can make quite a bit of an adventure out of it. They are actually quite far from the representation that the bad jokes imply, but instead have gorgeous mansions, beautiful live oak lined streets, great food and some great attractions. It’s a great example of a nice, southern city.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
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