Mobile Bay Magazine - April 2020

MOBILE BAY BRIDE SPECIAL WEDDING SECTION

Mobile Bay April 2020

THE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE FOR MOBILE AND BALDWIN COUNTIES

DELTA TRIP

OVERNIGHT CANOE EXPEDITION

BLAZING TRAILS 22 MILES OF WALKABILITY IN BALDWIN COUNTY

GET DIRTY

BRINKLEY HUTCHINGS’ OUTDOOR CLASSROOM

CHEERS TO ADVENTURE BOB BAUMHOWER’S

CUBAN SPEAKEASY DOWNTOWN MOBILE

+

KREIS BEALL CREATOR OF BLACKBERRY FARM GETS PERSONAL

SUNSET CELEBRATIONS

AFTER OUTDOOR ADVENTURES AT FAIRHOPE’S MUNICIPAL PARK

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CONTENTS | VOLUME XXXVI / ISSUE 4

A TEACHING MOMENT WITH BRINKLEY HUTCHINGS, FOUNDER OF NATURE CONNECT ALABAMA. PHOTO BY MATTHEW COUGHLIN

APRIL 2020

40

The Bayous of Our Backyard

Tag along on an overnight paddling excursion through the MobileTensaw Delta

46

A Good Start

Nature Connect’s Brinkley Hutchings is awakening a love for the outdoors, one child at a time

52

Let’s Get Away to Ocean Springs Don’t cross the state line without MB’s itinerary for the perfect day in this charming coastal town

 Believe it or not, the first permanent French outpost in French Louisiana was established near present-day Ocean Springs, Mississippi, in 1699. On page 52, plan your day trip to the lively, historic town.

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CONTENTS | VOLUME XXXVI / ISSUE 4

APRIL 2020

23 93

ON OUR COVER Katarina Monteiro, left, and Katelyn Williams enjoy a spring sunset by the Fairhope Pier. Clothing by Adrenaline Surf and Skate.

Jewelry by Sway.

PHOTO BY ELIZABETH GELINEAU

63

9 EDITOR’S NOTE

CYCLISTS ENJOY THE EASTERN SHORE TRAIL / PHOTO BY MATTHEW COUGHLIN LOCAL BRIDAL INSPIRATION / PHOTO BY ELIZABETH GELINEAU KREIS BEALL AT BLACKBERRY FARM / PHOTO BY BY MIKE BELLEME

10 REACTION 13 ODDS & ENDS 15 THE DISH

84 APRIL CALENDAR

16 TASTINGS Peek behind the vault door into Las Floriditas, Mobile’s new speakeasy

28 BAY TABLES Plop down in the sand for a sunset dinner designed to complement outdoorsy days

18 SPOTLIGHT Take a gyroplane flight with Gulf Shores’ BeachFlight Aviation

36 SPOTLIGHT Brandon Finnorn’s unlikely journey from med school to wildlife artist

89

90

23 SPOTLIGHT The Baldwin County Trailblazers and their 22-mile walkable trail

63 MOBILE BAY BRIDE Local trends, design inspiration and weddings of real Bay-area newlyweds

93 LITERATURE Kreis Beall, cofounder of Blackberry Farm, discusses her new book

LITERATURE Author Audrey McDonald Atkins is so tough she can drink gasoline ARCHIVES John Sledge tells of a War of 1812 recon mission

96 ASK MCGEHEE What’s the story behind Morrison’s cafeteria chain?

98 IN LIVING COLOR A colorized image of Booker T. Washington on a fishing trip to Coden, 1905

 El Floridita, the inspiration behind the name of the new Las Floriditas in the old bank vault of the RSA Trustmark Building, is a bar in Havana known for inventing the daiquiri. Turn to page 16 to learn more about Mobile’s newest haunt.

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Mobile Bay VOLUME XXXVI

No4

APRIL 2020

PUBLISHER T. J. Potts Stephen Potts Judy Culbreth

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Maggie Lacey MANAGING EDITOR/WEB Abby Parrott

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Amanda Hartin PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Virginia Mathers

ART DIRECTOR Laurie Kilpatrick

ASSISTANT PUBLISHER

EDITORIAL CONSULTANT

ADVERTISING S R. ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Joseph A. Hyland Anna Pavao ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Jennifer Ray

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

ADMINISTRATION CIRCULATION Anita Miller ACCOUNTING Keith Crabtree

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Audrey McDonald Atkins, Eleanor Inge Baker, Mallory Boykin, Catherine Dorrough, Jill Clair Gentry, Lawren Largue, Tom McGehee, Breck Pappas, John Sledge, Giles Vaden, Hanlon Walsh CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS

Summer Ennis Ansley, Mike Belleme, Gary Berdeaux, Matthew Coughlin, Elizabeth Gelineau, Hanlon Walsh ADVERTISING AND EDITORIAL OFFICES

3729 Cottage Hill Road, Suite H Mobile, AL 36609-6500 251-473-6269 Subscription inquiries and all remittances should be sent to: Mobile Bay P.O. Box 43 Congers, NY 10920-9922 1-833-454-5060 MOVING? Please note: U.S. Postal Service will not forward magazines mailed through their bulk mail unit.

Please send old label along with your new address four to six weeks prior to moving.

Mobile Bay is published 12 times per year for the Gulf Coast area. All contents © 2020 by PMT Publishing Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of the contents without written permission is prohibited. Comments written in this magazine are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the ownership or the management of Mobile Bay. This magazine accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, photography or artwork. All submissions will be edited for length, clarity and style.

PUBLISHED BY PMT PUBLISHING INC .

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EXTRAS | EDITOR’S NOTE

Happy Trails

I

love going to the beach. My family has spent many long weekends on Cotton Bayou, an area that was once a backwater cul-de-sac but is now surrounded by the hustle and bustle of Orange Beach. Even in my short years vacationing there, I thought I had paddled most every inch of its waterfront and knew the many ways to find an adventure in that part of the coast.

Boy, was I wrong.

Over the last few weeks, as the days grew longer and the sun shone warmer, I began to feel an unstoppable spring fever. Last weekend, I dragged the kids and all our bicycles down to Orange Beach to ride the Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail, which more or less originates at Cotton Bayou and winds its way to Highway 59 in Gulf Shores.

As we peddled slowly through cattails, under massive live oaks, past beautifully sleepy benches and even a kids’ climbing rock, we had to admit we were amazed. Neither my husband nor I had any idea the trails were so extensive, well-designed and breathtaking. But isn’t that the way it always goes? We are the worst tourists in our own backyards, rarely taking advantage of the assets right underneath our noses.

And wow, does our landscape have assets. From beaches and bayous to marshes and woods, with trails and campsites galore, there are many ways to get out and breathe in some fresh south Alabama air. Personally, I have been hankering to follow the Bartram Canoe Trail — highlighted on page 40 — where you can meander with paddle in hand down the same stretch of water once plied by naturalist William Bartram in 1795. The thrill of adventure awaits, as you camp on platform shelters along the muddy river banks where alligators sun themselves. Alas, with toddlers in tow these days, deep Delta camping does not seem to fit the bill. For now.

We do make sure, however, to get our weekly dose of the wild outdoors as a family, in whatever small way we can. Be that bike rides at the beach, sunset boating or a walk down the short but sweet trails at Five Rivers, I think it is important not just for my sanity but for my children’s growth to get plenty of time in a place a little more wild than our grassy lawn. As Brinkley Hutchings, the founder and director of local kids’ outdoor school, Nature Connect, (page 46) told me, “Who’s going to be the next generation that protects the air, water and land? If kids don’t have a connection to the outdoors, who’s going to want to protect it?”

We certainly have a lot around here worth protecting and enjoying.

Now put the magazine down and get outside!

Maggie Lacey EXECUTIVE EDITOR

maggie@pmtpublishing.com

FLY AWAYS WITH NOT MUCH MORE THAN A CHAIR AND ROTOR, THE GYROPLANE FLIES ABOVE THE BEACHES. I’M WORKING UP MY COURAGE TO TRY IT OUT! PHOTO BY GARY

BERDEAUX

LOVE THIS ISSUE ¡SÍ SEÑOR! THE LEGENDARIO MOJITO FROM LAS FLORIDITAS HAS MY NAME WRITTEN ALL OVER IT — AGED RUM, LOTS OF HONEY AND FRESH MINT. I’LL TAKE TWO, PLEASE! FISH OUT OF WATER THE LINES AND COLORS IN DR. BRANDON FINNORN’S SKETCH OF A SPECKLED TROUT ARE THRILLING! KNOCKS YOUR BORING OLD WILDLIFE ART RIGHT OUT OF THE WATER.

BLOOMING WE ARE TOTALLY AMAZED

BY THE RESIN INITIALS FILLED WITH FLOWERS MADE BY LOCAL ARTIST SAHAR K. ALFORD. SHE TAKES BLOOMS FROM YOUR BOUQUET AND PRESERVES THEM, CREATING A TREASURED MEMORY WITH PLENTY OF COOL.

I GOT MUGGED OUR “RESEARCH” TRIP TO OCEAN SPRINGS PROVED A RARE CHANCE FOR ME TO GO SHOPPING. I WAS ENTHRALLED WITH THE ART SCENE AND AM LOVING THE HANDMADE MUG I PICKED UP AT SHEARWATER POTTERY.

 Thousands of years ago, Native Americans travelled hunting paths through the brush of what is now Orange Beach.

In the 1700s, those paths became logging roads for European settlers, and centuries later some of those roads, including Catman Road, were “rediscovered” and converted into the Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail.

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EXTRAS | REACTION

Tell us how you really feel ...

YOU REALLY, REALLY LIKE US!

HOOFIN’ IT

MR. GREEN GENES

On February’s Feature, “Hoof Beat,” about the Mobile Police Mounted Unit

On MB’s February issue

One of my favorite parts of Mobile and Mardi Gras. A few months ago, I got to meet Officer Jason Martin, Epona, Officer John Schaffer and Murphy, and let me tell you, they were something special. Another great piece.

On February’s excerpt from Audrey Atkins’ book, “They Call Me Orange Juice,” about two February staples, love and collards

Love, love, love the February issue. The mystic restoration of a Mobile Dame is a great collaboration. From “Love & Collards” to the Southwood recipes, I am a fan. Yet my favorite article was written by Emily Blejwas — a fascinating read on Creoles in Mobile. And who doesn’t love horses?!

- Ashton Creel Hennig Great article. Love my mounted family.

Collards are good for your skin, too, as are all foods with that “earthy” odor as they simmer in the pot. The rhyme goes, “If the smell makes you squirm, your skin will be firm!”

- Steve Walton

- Sallie Williams Martin

PRESIDENTIAL SEAT

- Mimi Woodham

HUNT-TO-TABLE

On February’s History piece, featuring President Woodrow Wilson’s 1913 breakfast at the Battle House Hotel

Best issue ever! Informative, educational, entertaining.

On February’s Bay Tables, featuring Southwood Kitchen’s Chef Jeremiah Matthews

- Tanya Di Stefano

I was one of the lucky ones to have met Jeremiah Matthews out West at the Spotted Horse Ranch. His culinary skills were amazing, and I was very surprised, as I had been to another ranch in Jackson Hole where the meals could not even come close to his delicious and skillful combination of great ingredients. So proud of you.

SHE’S A BEAUT On February’s Feature, “Mystic Restoration,” about the regeneracy of The Kennedy-Cox House So glad they saved that beautiful house.

They did a great job.

- Cyndy Call Uncapher

- Louise McClelland Gorgeous architecture! I love all the beautiful buildings in Mobile.

- Amelia Rose Zimlich

MEMORY STREET

This place is awesome — fresh, yummy and priced right.

- Cindy Hale Erickson

- Rick Gable

- Barbara Blount Crawley

A HANKERING FOR THE ISLANDS On February’s Tastings of Ohana Poke

- Ginna Inge

On January’s End Piece, featuring a colorized photo of a mule-drawn streetcar, circa 1901 The article brought back memories of many years ago. The mule-drawn streetcar displayed by the Civic Center Theater was restored by Bill Martin who worked as a carpenter for the City of Mobile. I remember him bringing a dilapidated streetcar, barely recognizable, on a trailer to his shop behind his house, sometime between 1960 and 1965. In his spare time he restored it.

Bill and his wife, Mary, built our house in 1957 on Marydale Drive, which was named after her.

It was so exciting to see the home last night. The restoration was thoughtfully done. What a blessing for the community.

Loved your article about the Battle House and this event. This picture (excerpt seen below) hangs in my office.

The man directly on Woodrow Wilson’s right side is my great-great-grandfather, Will Armbrecht. He was the state attorney at the time, and he was responsible for bringing the president to Mobile. There are lots of interesting things he did during his term, including trying to bring a lynching trial to the Supreme Court via the post office in the early 1900s.

WILL ARMBRECHT, LEFT, AND WOODROW WILSON. PHOTO COURTESY HISTORY MUSEUM OF MOBILE

 Want to share your thoughts and reactions to this issue? Email maggie@pmtpublishing.com.

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[MORE ONLINE]

Find additional local stories on mobilebaymag.com.

Here’s what’s new on the website!

The Great Outdoors

PHOTO BY ELIZABETH GELINEAU

Hello spring! Get your outdoor space ready with tips from exterior designer Catherine Arensberg and stylish decorating ideas from local designers and homeowners.

Easter Brunch Recipes Treat your family to a fresh new menu featuring some of our holiday favorites: Honey-Glazed Pork Tenderloin, Baked Macaroni & Cheese, Carrot Cake, Chess Bars and more.

Share your Proposal Did he pop the question? We want to hear about it! Go online to share your proposal story with us, and we’ll post your engagement online and on social media — for free!

Join Our Email List Finally, an email you actually want.

Get the latest in fashion, food, art, homes, history and events delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for our email list at mobilebaymag.com.

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EXTRAS | ODDS & ENDS

The Great Outdoors text by MB EDITORIAL STAFF

“Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher.”

HAPPY TRAILS

– English poet William Wordsworth, born 250 years ago this month On page 46, read about the Eastern Shore’s Brinkley Hutchings, whose Nature Connect program is using the natural world to teach children valuable life lessons.

$12

approximate gas cost of a round-trip drive from Mobile to Ocean Springs, Mississippi

OF F R ESH A I R can provide the brain an energy boost equivalent to one cup of coffee, according to one study

THIS MONTH IN HISTORY Naturalist William Bartram is born in Pennsylvania, 1739. An account of his travels through southeastern North America during the 1770s is considered the first classic of environmental literature.

WALKING SCHOOL BUS DEFINITION: A large group of children who walk to school together accompanied by a few adults

According to the “Encyclopedia of Alabama”:

“Bartram reached Mobile in July 1775 and sailed up the Tensaw and Tombigbee rivers on a route now called the Bartram Canoe Trail.”

On page 40, follow along on a modern-day venture down the canoe trail.

NEW DISCOVERY In 2018, two Auburn Ph.D. graduates discovered a new aquatic salamander species, the 2-foot-long “reticulated siren.” Although the animal was caught in Lake Jackson, on the Alabama-Florida line, the scientists speculate that the Mobile-Tensaw Delta is a haven for the slimy giant.

13%

of kids in the U.S. regularly walk to school, down from roughly 50 percent in the 1960s.

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FOOD | THE DISH

Bite of the Bay MB’s contributing food fanatics share the local dishes that made them hungry for more.

VICKIE BAILEY, Owner, The Happy Olive

P.S. TACO COMPANY’S BRISKET TACO. PHOTO BY SUMMER ENNIS ANSLEY

SHRIMP LINGUINE AT THE ALLEY BISTRO “After a pecan arugula salad with dried cherries, oranges and a maple balsamic dressing, I was served the most delicious entree since our trip to visit our daughter in Chivasso, Italy. The wild mushrooms were sauteed in a rich cream sauce, which included garlic and red bell peppers for a light and delicious flavor. Smoked Italian sausage was added to the sauce, and this wonderful concoction was served over thin linguine and topped with blackened shrimp, garlic and shallots.”

THE ALLEY BISTRO • 312 FAIRHOPE AVE., FAIRHOPE • 517-7225 • THEALLEYBISTRO.COM

BURRITO BASKET AT TACO MAMA “I have a quote that works every time: ‘When in doubt (about lunch or dinner), go to Taco Mama in midtown Mobile.’

Vegetarian options work best for me, and their tree hugger burrito basket is the perfect meal. It’s loaded with veggies and comes with a side of chips and salsa and my choice of Mexican mac and cheese.”

JOE SIMS, The Shoe Guy, McCoy Outdoor Company

TACO MAMA • 2534-A OLD SHELL ROAD 333-6262 • TACOMAMAONLINE.COM

BO NICHOLS, Real estate agent, BHHS Nichols Real Estate

CHARCUTERIE BOARD AT SOUTHERN NAPA FINE WINE HOUSE “Our Friday afternoons frequently lead us to Southern Napa Fine Wine House.

A little-known treasure is their gourmet charcuterie board, which can be paired with any wine you choose from their wine stations. Plentiful portions of unique meats and cheeses, not found elsewhere, are a great way to wrap up your week.”

SOUTHERN NAPA FINE WINE HOUSE • 2304

SHERRI BUMPERS, Senior Advertising Account Executive, Alabama Media Group

BRISKET TACO AT P.S. TACO COMPANY “The slow-cooked brisket taco at P.S. Taco Company in the Tanger Outlets is a new favorite of mine! The brisket was perfectly tender and rich in flavor, and the house BBQ sauce was sweet yet smokey. What I loved most was the fresh taste of the ingredients and the vibrant, colorful atmosphere. It’s a locally owned restaurant, and I’m looking forward to visiting their second location that opens in Saraland this month.”

MAIN ST., DAPHNE • 375-2800 • SOUTHERN-

P.S. TACO COMPANY • 2601 S MCKENZIE ST.,

NAPA-FINE-WINE-HOUSE.MYSHOPIFY.COM

SUITE 442, FOLEY • 943-1237 • THEPSTACO.COM

 What dishes made you drool and left you hungry for more? Share them on our Facebook page! april 2020 | mobilebaymag.com 15

FOOD | TASTINGS

Las Floriditas text by MAGGIE LACEY • photos by ELIZABETH GELINEAU

PICADILLO BOWL

M

“

y mojito in La Bodeguita, my daiquiri in El Floridita.” Ernest Hemingway knew how he liked his booze, and more specifically, where he liked to drink it. The famous author allegedly scribbled these words, which are now framed above a bar in Havana, in homage to the original “most interesting man in the world.” Larger than life, Hemingway loved to fish, to write and to enjoy a good time with a good drink.

Mobilians now have the perfect spot to enjoy both of these famous Cuban concoctions, as well as others … but only if they know how to find it. Tucked away in the old bank vault of the Trustmark building sits a cozy corner full of Hemingway books and memorabilia. There, reading in a guayabera shirt and Panama hat, sits Rosie (above) — larger than life in both personality and stature. Give him the daily secret password (found on social media), and the bookshelf slides back to reveal a secret door into a dark and tropical speakeasy, ready to welcome you with authentic Cuban cocktails and snacks.

Owner Bob Baumhower, who has opened a number of restaurants since his days as an NFL nose tackle with the Miami Dolphins, had the idea for a Cuban speakeasy, no doubt influenced by his time in Miami. He recalls fishing in big game tournaments in Bimini, in the same waters that Hemingway once wrote about in “Islands in the Stream,” and feeling entranced by the legend of Hemingway. Las Floriditas pays tribute to Papa’s Cuban legacy.

Baumhower’s culinary team spent hours behind the bar at El Floridita in Havana, learning how to make the proper daiquiri.

“They shut the place down for us!” Baumhower remembers. These daiquiris are the real deal, with hand-crushed ice and plenty of booze. Cane sugar cokes and Havana Club rum round out the authenticity — at least as far as the Treasury Department will allow.

The menu is small but tasty, with just the right amount of snacks to fill you up while you enjoy the Caribbean tunes. Authenticity is the name of Baumhower’s game. Well, I guess technically football is the name of his game, but you know what I mean. MB

 Las Floriditas • 107 Saint Francis St. • 444-0201 • lasfloriditas.com 4 – 10 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 4 – 11 p.m. Thursday, 4 p.m. – 11 a.m. Friday and Saturday 16 mobilebaymag.com | april 2020

[ ON THE MENU ]

LEGENDARIO MOJITO

PICADILLO BOWL

GUAVA FLAN

LA PIÑA DE PLATA

The mint hits your nose as you sip aged rum with honey, muddled mint, fresh key lime juice and a splash of club soda. You can almost hear the ocean.

Sweet and smoky Caribbeanspiced ground beef is served over black beans and rice — a comforting bowl inspired by traditional food of the Cuban people.

Baumhower’s corporate bar chef shared this recipe, which came over from Cuba with her mother. The guava and cream cheese flan is accented with guava coulis.

Pink and purple, but not annoyingly sweet, this rum cocktail has prickly pear, pineapple, hibiscus, and fresh key lime, and is garnished with dried hibiscus blossoms.

LEGENDARIO MOJITO

LAS FLORIDITAS DAIQUIRI

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PEOPLE | SPOTLIGHT

Come Fly with Me A unique aircraft affords a bird’s-eye perspective of the coast. text by GILES VADEN • photos by GARY BERDEAUX

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“THIS IS PROBABLY THE SAFEST AIRPLANE YOU WILL EVER RIDE IN. EVEN IF I LOSE THE ENGINE, I CAN USE THE ROTOR TO AUTOGYRO TO THE GROUND AND MAKE A SOFT LANDING. AS LONG AS THE CRAFT IS MOVING FORWARD, IT CAN BE FLOWN.” – pilot Gary Berdeaux

I

t’s a sunny spring day, and a salty breeze is blowing across the Jack Edwards National Airport in Gulf Shores. I’m about to meet pilot Gary Berdeaux, owner of BeachFlight Aviation, and it’s a perfect day for flying.

I first learned of Berdeaux when I came across a YouTube video about gyroplanes. Upon reading that he takes passengers for introductory flights along the coast, I was hooked; gyros shot to the top of my bucket list. I’ve been around aircraft much of my life, but I had never seen a vehicle like this.

The “bird” is perched outside Salt Air Aviation Center, ready to fly. At my first glimpse, I’m taken aback. The airship is smaller than I expected, and it looks more like an oversized tricycle than a plane. The minimal composite fuselage has no doors, windows or roof and sits only a few feet off the ground. There’s a rotor mounted on top, and the engine and propeller sit behind the passenger. To top it all off, one word is stenciled on the rudder in bold, black letters — EXPERIMENTAL. What have I signed up for?

Our pilot rounds the corner, smiles and extends a welcoming hand. He must have noticed my wide eyes because he doesn’t miss a beat. “This is probably the safest airplane you will ever ride in,” he explains. “Even if I lose the engine, I can use the rotor to autogyro to the ground and make a soft landing. As long as the craft is moving forward, it can be flown.” I learn a gyro can take off using just the length of a football field and can land in as little as 30 feet. My anxiety turns to awe.

After a preflight briefing, it’s showtime. I don flight gear — headset, helmet, jacket — and climb in canoe-style. With one leg over the side, I shoehorn myself in. The fuselage cradles my hips like a race car. Berdeaux cranks the engine and begins our taxi. Through the headset, I hear his voice slide into

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business mode. Since this is a non-towered field, the pilots manage traffic themselves with terse “here’s who we are and what we are doing” language. His head swivels, clearing the airspace before he taxis onto the active.

The motor roars, and the engine pushes us forward. The pilot engages the rotor and borrows some of the motor’s power to pre-rotate. As it reaches liftoff speed, the rotor becomes a free-spinning wing. Through the miracle of airflow and aerodynamics, the unpowered rotor will keep us aloft for the rest of our flight.

A fixed-wing aircraft would be going faster at this point, and we would be pushed back into the seat, but takeoff in a gyro is much gentler, a sensation similar to riding an elevator to a higher floor. Berdeaux banks right and leaves the pattern, pointing the craft toward the coast as he climbs to 1,000 feet.

Our shadow, off to the right, tags along and banks as we do, following the contours of the land.

As we go higher, 360 degrees of landscape come into view. A golf course with manicured fairways and greens passes beneath. To the south, the emerald beach stripe that gives our coast its nickname hugs the shore. Waters of the Gulf stretch to the horizon in three directions.

I’ve traveled the county for years but am amazed at the arrow-straight roads that point north. Rivers and bays I’ve never seen are everywhere. All this time, Berdeaux, in his tour-guide persona, is pointing out sights I have missed. Groups of sharks offshore. A camouflaged Army chopper below, almost invisible against the vegetation.

I’m seeing land I thought I knew, but today I have a bird’s-eye perspective.

Too soon, it’s time to return. Can the landing be as exciting as takeoff?

Berdeaux transitions again into business voice. He points out traffic in the landing pattern and broadcasts our position and intentions. The pattern shifts to accommodate our size and speed.

When flying commercial, landing can be a tense moment. I tighten, anticipating the “commercial thud” of landing and the quick blast of thrust reversers.

How is this little bird going to land?

Berdeaux crosses the end of the active and abruptly cuts power to the prop. I wonder if something is wrong. No, this is how a gyro lands. When he cuts the engine, he lowers the nose a bit to maintain forward momentum and autogyros our bird to the tarmac. Instead of a thud, we land like a feather floating down to kiss the runway. Riding a gyro is the gentlest, least scary flying I have ever done. MB To learn more, and to see about taking your own gyroplane flight, visit beachflight.com.

Opposite, top Pilot Gary Berdeaux of BeachFlight Aviation, part aviator and part tour guide, takes writer Giles Vaden for a ride.

Opposite, bottom A gyroplane ride offers a great opportunity to see familiar locations from a different perspective.

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PEOPLE | SPOTLIGHT

Trailblazers The Eastern Shore is on the right path thanks to a trail blazed two decades ago. text by CATHERINE DORROUGH • photos by MATTHEW COUGHLIN

T

he Eastern Shore Trail begins where the Bayway touches down in Daphne, sloping under the interstate toward the reptilian waterscape of Gator Boardwalk. Underneath the rushing roar of traffic, the natural world sits placidly, waiting to whisk the curious off along a 22-mile path that cuts through towns, meanders down scenic tree-lined streets and breezes alongside the Bay. The Baldwin County Trailblazers began building this trail piece by piece more than 20 years ago, led

by founder Teko Wiseman. “At the very beginning, it was a mass movement,” says Wiseman’s daughter, Valery Smith, herself a past president of the Trailblazers. “Nobody was riding bicycles, nobody was walking. It was a totally different world than what is developing now.

“When I grew up, Mama and Daddy used to rent a house down the Bay around Bailey’s Creek.

Daddy and I would jog every Saturday because he had heart problems. We were always jogging when I was a teenager, everywhere we went, because of

april 2020 | mobilebaymag.com 23

Daddy’s heart. And we had to jog in the weeds along the side of the road … If the highway department didn’t happen to come by within a week and cut the side of the road, it was up like that,” she says, gesturing to her knee.

Smith describes her mother as a driving force in the early heyday of the Trailblazers.

“She worked 60 hours a week on it. She was full-time, unpaid, that’s all she did.”

Wiseman wrote grants, raised funds, coordinated with the Baldwin County Highway Department as well as the cities of Daphne and Fairhope and drummed up community support to bring her vision to life over a span of decades. Upon her passing in 2011 at the age of 83, the Mobile Press-Register described her as “one of the best-known figures in civic betterment in the Mobile area for nearly a half-century.”

“MY HABIT OF STAYING ACTIVE MEANS MY OPTIONS IN LIFE ARE MULTIPLIED: I’M STRONG ENOUGH AND HEALTHY ENOUGH TO PLAY SPORTS, CLIMB MOUNTAINS TO GORGEOUS VISTAS AND KEEP UP WITH MY KIDS. IT FEELS GOOD.” – Nancy Johnson

Natural Respite As the Eastern Shore Trail begins its southward journey, it whizzes through Lake Forest, dashes across U.S. Highway 98, then slows down to soak up the view along Scenic 98 on its approach to Olde Towne Daphne. After a bustling interlude through old Daphne’s main corridor, the trees arc overhead in a protective cocoon, traffic grows more intermittent, and the landscape begins to wind and roll through Montrose.

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“There’s a meditative quality to walking and biking because you get into a rhythm,” says Trailblazers board member Nancy Johnson. “In any community, you are so much more integrated into your surroundings when you’re not in a vehicle. All your senses are so much more exposed to the life and sights of your surroundings.”

From there, the trail follows Scenic 98 into the heart of Fairhope, then cuts west along Fairhope Avenue and rejoins Scenic as it jogs south again to parallel the Bay. This is where, if you catch it at just the right moment in the late afternoon, the sun casts a rim of molten gold around the edges of the Spanish moss that wisps from the trees, the horizon begins to blush and a warm glow rises from the Bay as one of the Eastern Shore’s famous sunsets begins.

Half a mile to the east, another Trailblazers initiative takes place like clockwork early each morning. Students, parents and teachers from Fairhope Elementary School and Fairhope Intermediate School gather at designated meeting spots for the Walking School Bus, making the half-mile trek to their respective schools in two groups. Trailblazer board member Charlene Lee founded the group in 2013. It has grown now to the point where on a fine day, more than 100 children will participate.

Lee credits collaboration with the schools and the participation of teachers — some of whom have walked since day one — for enabling the program to thrive.

“I thought ultimately what I wanted to do was help establish a daily pattern where walking to school was just a normal thing you did,” Lee explains. “It affects health, and it affects kids getting to school ready to learn.

“I love the joy I see between the parents and the kids, and the fact that it is actually a community that walks to school every day — for the majority of people, regardless of the weather. It’s become its own living creature.

I never dreamed that so many parents and grandparents would walk.”

Informative Route Back along the Eastern Shore Trail, the path flattens out and drifts closer to sea level as it cuts through Point Clear on its way to the Grand Hotel. Its southward trek continues past the resort until it veers back east to rejoin U.S. Highway 98. Those who trek across the finish line are rewarded with a postcardperfect view of the shore, a reward that begs to be savored.

Though this is the end of the trail, the

Opening portrait From left to right, Carol Stickney, Nancy Johnson and Charlene Lee enjoy a brisk morning walk along Scenic 98.

This page, top to bottom The Eastern Shore Trail isn’t just for walkers. Bicyclists like Bill Beck and Dan Bourbon can also take advantage of the 22-mile path. Molly Spain enjoys running along the route with her son, Jack.

For Charlene Lee, Nancy Johnson and Carol Stickney, exercising is certainly more fun with friends.

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Trailblazers’ work continues. If anything, it only seems to be gearing up.

“For a long time, we couldn’t find the energy that my mother had,” Smith says.

“The Trailblazers have gone through a huge reawakening and reimagining in the past year or so, with new vibrant board members, younger visions, more energy.”

For months now, the Trailblazers have been working to enhance the experience along the Eastern Shore Trail by updating the informational kiosks that dot the route.

“If you’re not from around here, riding through Daphne, and you want to get to the Bay, you need to know that if you take a right on this street you will end up at Mayday Park,” Smith says. With help from Thompson Engineering and Watershed, the group has been creating custom maps for each kiosk, detailing the various sections of trail.

The Trailblazers plan to use each kiosk to advertise cyclist-friendly businesses.

“You can buy little medallions to name your own businesses if you’re interested in bringing cyclists to them,” Johnson says.

Off the trail, the group is further promoting cycling by installing bike racks around Fairhope, as well as offering bicycle valet service at the Fairhope Arts and Crafts Festival, Earth Day Mobile Bay and Alabama Coastal BirdFest.

Trails Take Off The founding ethos of trail-building lives on in the group.

“Walkable, bikeable communities are absolutely where people are going,” Johnson says. “It makes a community sellable, it impacts property values.

Especially the younger generation, this is what they’re wanting. We have 14 municipalities in Baldwin County, and all of them are building out trails — all of them. Because this is what citizens are looking for.”

The Trailblazers have gotten behind a larger initiative to build a Rails to

Trails pathway from Foley to Bay Minette. Rails to Trails projects convert old railroad trailbeds to cyclist and pedestrian pathways.

“Where there’s Rails to Trails, you end up with a street-wide highway corridor for cyclists. And so little towns open up — little bakeries, bike shops — it creates its own little culture,” Smith says.

“It’s an economic generator,” Johnson contributes.

This Rails to Trails project is still in its infancy, with hurdles to overcome (not the least of which is that some of the proposed trail route crosses private land). However, the Trailblazers have been meeting with Baldwin County’s city planners and highway department to develop a master plan to create cyclist-friendly corridors between towns, including what it could look like to connect the Eastern Shore Trail to an eventual Rails to Trails route.

“Development occurs,” Johnson says.

“They do constant maintenance and upgrading of the streets. There’s protocol and a schedule every year for roads to be improved. You have to keep up with that.

So if we decide that Highway 54 is the way to connect, and they’re paving it this year, it might be 10 years before we ever get back to it. Now’s the time to figure out how to get that connectivity.”

“Back when Mama started this, all of these cities were not writing transportation grants,” Smith continues. “Nobody was. Mama wrote them. Now, the cities have their own grant writers. And all of these cities, especially in the south of the county, have urban planners who are trying to figure out how to move people in ways that are fun and not just in a vehicle.

“Really just in the past few years, the talk has been: How do we connect? How do we get from Fairhope to Loxley? How do we get from Loxley to Silverhill? How do we get from Spanish Fort to Daphne, on a bicycle?” MB

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At the End of the Day Mobile Bay and its surrounding waters, woods and swamps offer bountiful opportunities for adventure. Sometimes, though, the best memories are made sharing a sunset meal once the adventures have all come to a close. MB joined Katarina Monteiro, manager of Adrenaline Surf and Skate in Fairhope, and her good friend Katelyn Williams for a meal made in Mobile Bay heaven, complete with a painted sky and plenty of laughs.

text by MAGGIE LACEY • photos by ELIZABETH GELINEAU

BARBECUE SHRIMP COOKED OVER AN OPEN FLAME TASTE BEST WITH YOUR TOES IN THE SAND.

All clothing and outdoor gear generously provided by Adrenaline Surf and Skate. adrenalinesurfandskate.com Jewelry provided by SWAY. instagram: shop_sway • Shot on location at Fairhope Municipal Park.

april 2020 | mobilebaymag.com 29

Always have a few store-bought snacks on hand, like these colorful vegetable chips, for simple outdoorsy dinners.

Today’s boxed wine is worlds away from the old. Ser ve it in plastic tumblers that look like glass for easy, beachy dinners.

Turkish towels work double duty as tablecloths when laid on beachfront picnic tables. Always keep a few in your boat bag!

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BARBECUE SHRIMP ON THE GRILL SERVES 4 juice of 2 lemons 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 2 teaspoons cracked black pepper 2 teaspoons Creole seasoning 1 tablespoon minced garlic 3 sticks cold unsalted butter, cubed 1 lemon, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds 3 bay leaves 2 pounds jumbo head-on shrimp, unpeeled French bread, for serving

1. Light a charcoal fire in an outdoor grill and let cool to medium heat.

2. In a large cast-iron Dutch oven, combine lemon juice, Worcestershire, salt, pepper, Creole seasoning and garlic, stirring to combine. Add butter, lemon slices and bay leaves to the pot and set over a medium fire. Bring to a boil and add shrimp, tossing occasionally until the shrimp are pink and cooked through.

3. Remove from heat and place shrimp in serving bowls, then top with juice from Dutch oven. Serve immediately with a hunk of French bread for dipping.

Above Katelyn Williams tosses a Fairhope 51 beer to Katarina Monteiro.

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Pack all the essentials in a backpack for long walks down the beach to the perfect picnic spot. A wagon to haul the Dutch oven is highly recommended.

A waterproof Polar Bear cooler goes straight from boat to party filled with local beer, mini Champagnes and boxed wine.

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KALE AND GRILLED HALOUMI SALAD SERVES 6

Lemon Tahini Dressing 1/2 cup olive oil 1/4 cup lemon juice 1 tablespoon tahini 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper

Salad

1 bunch curly kale, washed and dried 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced 1 package haloumi cheese olive oil

1. Add dressing ingredients to a small bowl or glass jar and combine thoroughly. Set aside.

2. Remove kale stems and spines, and roughly chop the leaves into large bite-sized pieces. Place in a large bowl and top with red onions.

Add dressing and toss to combine.

Set aside. (This can be done up to several hours before serving and held in refrigerator.)

3. Heat a charcoal grill to medium heat. Slice haloumi lengthwise three times into long flat slices, and then halve each to make six rectangular slices total. Brush both sides with olive oil. Place cheese over the hot fire directly on the grill and cook until char marks appear and cheese is soft, approximately 2 minutes per side. Remove from heat and place over prepared kale salad. Serve.

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Hand pies are the perfect grab ‘n go dessert, but the flaky made-from-scratch pastry here is next level and oh-so-easy.

STRAWBERRY HAND PIES

MAKES 9 PIES

Adapted from a King Arthur Flour recipe

Crust

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon sugar 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pats 2 tablespoons cold milk 1 large egg

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar and salt. Add cold butter and work into the flour quickly with your hands until small lumps form.

2. Combine milk and egg in a small bowl and whisk. Add to flour mixture and combine until it forms a cohesive dough.

3. Divide the dough in half, shape each into a small rectangle, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.

4. Combine all filling ingredients, except the egg and sugar, in a saucepan set over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook until the mixture starts to thicken, about 5 minutes.

Strawberry Filling

1 2/3 cups fresh strawberries, trimmed and quartered 2 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon cornstarch 1 teaspoon lemon juice 1 large egg, beaten Demerara sugar, optional

Transfer to a bowl and cool to room temperature.

5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

6. Place one piece of dough on a lightly floured work surface and roll into a 9-x-12-inch rectangle. Trim the edges to make straight. Use a sharp knife to cut into nine 3-x-4-inch rectangles. Remove each pastry rectangle to the prepared baking sheet. Roll out the second piece of dough and cut into nine rectangles.

Cut three slashes across each rectangle for venting, or use a decorative cutter or pattern of your choice for vents.

7. Place a heaping spoonful of strawberry filling on each rectangle of dough on the baking sheet, leaving the edges clean.

If the filling is runny, try to remove some of the juice before placing on the pastry.

Brush the edges of the pastry with some of the beaten egg. Top each with a vented rectangle and press along the edges with the tines of a fork to seal.

8. Brush the tops of the pies with the remainder of the beaten egg, and sprinkle with Demerara sugar, if desired.

9. Bake the pies for 30 minutes or until they are a light golden brown.

Remove from oven and cool in the pan.

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PEOPLE | SPOTLIGHT

From Patients to Patience A Mobile native talks deep sea fishing, artistic inspiration and the decision to go from prescription pad to paint palette. text by JILL CLAIR GENTRY • illustrations by BR ANDON FINNORN

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Rodeo print. He has since created work for several well-known retail lines sold at Bass Pro Shops and Dillard’s.

Finnorn, a Mobile native and graduate of the University of South Alabama’s College of Medicine, lives in Louisiana with his wife, Bonnie, who works for Chevron as a petroleum engineer. He says his favorite place to fish is still Dauphin Island.

MB put him on the hook, asking about fly fishing, making tough choices and a desire to keep learning.

ARTIST BRANDON FINNORN

L

ooking through Brandon Finnorn’s illustrations, you’d probably assume he studied fine art and spends most of his free time fishing. You’d be right about the fishing.

But Finnorn never received any formal arts education. In fact, he’s a doctor.

After a terrifying battle with Lyme disease in 2016, just as he began his pediatric residency at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Finnorn was placed on medical leave for several months.

During that period, he made the decision to leave the medical profession and pursue art full time — a decision he says he hasn’t regretted once.

“That time period was very difficult for me. I started reevaluating my goals, and with the time off, I realized I no longer had a passion for medicine,” he says. “At the same time, I started drawing fish to pass the time. It was my connection to home, and it was one of the few things that relieved the stress of being sick.”

Finnorn’s illustrations began gaining popularity, and soon he was receiving commission requests. In 2018, Finnorn was commissioned to illustrate the 85th Alabama Deep Sea Fishing

Your work makes it obvious you love the outdoors and art. Which passion came first, and what do you love about each of them?

I have always loved learning, and both art and spending time outdoors offer plenty of opportunities for that.

My love for the outdoors and fishing along the Gulf Coast certainly came first.

At age 2, my dad took me to the Dauphin Island Pier for the first time. We’ve always spent a ton of time as a family on the water. My family instilled in me an immense curiosity about the outdoors and environment of coastal Alabama, and I’ve spent my entire life learning about everything from species of coastal birds to habitats of speckled trout. My love for the outdoors is about more than fishing — it’s not uncommon for me to leave my rod and reel at home and walk the beach or Audubon Bird Sanctuary with my camera.

The same is true with my work. When I first started, I made sure to find as much material as I could to help hone my technique. I have never stopped learning. I probably spend an hour a day learning about something related to my business because it’s what I love to do, and I want to continue to improve.

Can you share your most memorable fishing experience? What’s the most interesting fish you’ve caught, and what’s still on your fishing bucket list?

My most memorable fishing experience is catching our first tripletail out of my family’s old 1979 Chaparral. My dad was the one who caught the fish, but I can claim the credit for spotting it as we sped by a crab buoy in Mobile Bay. I remember the excitement we felt finally getting it in the boat. We didn’t have the fanciest boat or the most expensive gear, so it was really rewarding to catch fish that were sought-after.

A Lake Erie steelhead is the most interesting fish I’ve ever landed. When we lived in Pittsburgh, I had to learn a whole new

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Above This illustration of a bonefish was created as part of Finnorn’s “Moments of Tension” series. “This was my first attempt at painting a bonefish, and I wanted to show off its legendary speed in the shallow water,” he says.

Right Part of the same series, this digitally painted piece depicts “the critical first few moments when a brown trout takes a dry fly, much like I experienced in Pennsylvania streams.”

fishery. Fishing with the fall colors in full bloom and trying to learn the technique behind tricking a big salmon-size fish into eating a fly was incredibly challenging and rewarding.

As far as a bucket list fish, tarpon is at the top of my list. I would love to catch one on the fly someday.

perspective in Photoshop, so I get the opportunity to make each piece exactly as I wanted. As I’ve delved further into photography, my understanding of light and composition have also heavily influenced the development of my work. All of my pelican and lighthouse pieces come directly from my own photographs taken from the boat or walking the beach.

Tell us how you thought of the name for your Etsy shop.

I named my Etsy shop “The Bonnie Fly” after my wife. Without her support through my Lyme disease and the lowest points during medical leave, I don’t know how I would have made it.

There were periods where neither of us were sure my memory and health would return to normal. She was amazing.

Changing my mind from being set on becoming a pediatrician to wanting to completely leave the medical profession was huge for us as a couple. She showed unwavering support for me through that time, and I feel very lucky to have her at my side.

What is a digital illustration, and what kind of work do you do?

Digital illustration can range from logo design to Photoshop painting and can be used for a variety of applications. I work as a graphic artist to create graphics for commercial apparel brands and outdoor companies, as well as a fine artist creating charcoal and pastel works, focusing on the fishing and the outdoors. I have been fortunate enough to design for brands like Louisiana Sportsman and the Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo, as well as many of the local captains in the Mobile Bay area.

Describe how you create a piece of art. Where do you find inspiration and ideas, and what materials and processes do you use?

My work is largely influenced by my experience fishing the Gulf Coast and fly-fishing Pennsylvania. I usually try to think of perspectives that are impossible to catch on camera — moments of excitement and tension that I want to convey and relate to the viewer. I am always actively thinking of how to recreate experiences I’ve had on the water and how I wished I could have seen them. I usually just start sketching directly on my Wacom digital tablet, developing thumbnails of the composition I’m trying to accomplish. I can always undo, warp and change the

What’s the most popular piece in your Etsy shop? What’s your personal favorite?

My most popular piece is a redfish digital painting I created a little over a year ago. It depicts a redfish tailing in marsh grass, just before a fly hits the water. I painted it from memory, and it represents all the time I have spent in the marsh around Bayou La Batre hunting redfish with a fly rod.

My personal favorite piece is more recent, a 24-by-36-inch brown pelican. I recently began creating more large-format charcoals. This pelican was my first large piece and was drawn using a photo taken at the end of the Fairhope Pier in March of 2019. It

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combines photography with my favorite medium, charcoal.

Tell us why you still include “MD” in your title, even though you don’t plan to practice medicine?

Many of the skills and life lessons I learned as a physician-in-training are extremely applicable to running my business and improving as an artist. My training in a professional environment continues to be used through the way I handle following up with clients and listening to their needs. I think that training also helped me gain a lot of confidence in myself and my ability to adapt and learn skills in depth.

I’m not sure that I would have had the confidence to share my work and display it for others without the prior experience of being a confident caretaker of patients.

Have you received any formal artistic training, or is this just a natural gift you’ve honed over the years?

I have never had artistic training, outside of an advanced prep class I took my senior year at McGill-Toolen. I have always sketched photos of my favorite football players and fish, but up until 2016, it was only in the margins of textbooks and notepads during class. Most of my current knowledge comes from reading, watching online classes and learning from traditional and digital artists I admire. I have learned a great deal from random YouTube videos and classes by other artists, like former Disney artist Aaron Blaise who helped create “The Lion King” and directed the movie “Brother Bear.” He now teaches online classes in fine art and digital illustration. I have found that applying skills learned from these various sources relates back to my days as a medical student, where I had to apply classroom studies to clinical practice. MB Find Brandon’s work online at FinnornIllustrations.com or in person at Island Fire Glass Art Gallery on Dauphin Island Parkway.

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THE BAYOUS OF OUR BACKYARD

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text and photos by HANLON WALSH with contributions from YAEL GIR ARD

A firsthand account of the ups, downs, twists and turns when five friends embark on an overnight paddling excursion in the Delta

april 2020 | mobilebaymag.com 41

O

n a chilly Friday afternoon in November, my friends and I met at Rice Creek Landing. As I drove down the secluded winding road in Stockton to reach our put-in, I couldn’t help but glance at the weather app on my phone for what seemed like the 10th time that day.

Cloudy, 51 degrees, strong afternoon winds and an evening low of 40 degrees — not exactly the prime conditions we had expected for our first overnight paddling adventure in the Delta. “Is it really that important to leave today so we can get back in time to go Downtown tomorrow night?” I asked myself as I opened the car door to greet Yael, David, Robert and Eamon. Given the stark difference between this and the next day’s weather forecast, I wondered if they were thinking the same thing but weren’t saying it out loud. I’ve learned, however, that you’ll end up staying home a lot if you let our unpredictable Gulf Coast weather dictate your plans.

After filling our dry bags to the brim, putting our cartography skills to the test, piling on extra layers and doublechecking our supplies, the five of us hopped in our canoes and kayaks and set off along the dark, narrow waters of Rice Creek. Our destination — a 14-mile loop along the lower Bartram Canoe Trail in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta.

Sweet Home Alabama Though it’s located in our own backyard, I’m often surprised at how little many of us know about the Delta or how seldom we take the time to explore this special place, beyond driving over the Dolly Parton Bridge on I-65 or looking into the distance from the Causeway.

Often referred to as “America’s Amazon,” the Mobile-Tensaw Delta is one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems in North America, spanning 250,000 acres with more than 50 rare and endangered species and numerous 42 mobilebaymag.com | april 2020

rivers, lakes and tributaries that feed into Mobile Bay. Rich in history, the Delta’s first human settlements date back nearly 5,000 years.

It has since been home to numerous Native American tribes, Spanish and French explorers, and the last major Civil War battle at Fort Blakeley in 1865. In the last decade, the Delta has also been the subject of much debate between residents, environmentalists, businesses and civic leaders on the best approach to manage and preserve this resource for the future.

In 2018, efforts by the Alabama State Lands Division made the Delta more accessible than ever with the extension of the lower Bartram Trail system.

Collectively, the full Bartram Trail offers more than 170 miles of overnight- and day-use trails with a variety of floating platforms and traditional campsites.

Why not take advantage?

2 p.m. – Against the Wind The trip started off smoothly in the sheltered waters of Briar Lake, Tensaw Lake and Bayou Tallapoosa until

Top Robert and Eamon slowly wake up on their floating dock after an adventurous trek home from the campfire Bottom The adventurers ride with the current down the Tensaw River.

Opposite Robert, Eamon and Yael tell jokes and try to stay warm while waiting on hot chocolate.

we passed the east side of Richardson Island and entered the more open and wind-exposed Tensaw River. It was here that the uphill — or rather upstream — battle began.

It also didn’t help that David and I weren’t exactly in sync with our canoe strokes at first. Whether it was our initial zig-zags or the box wine weighing down the canoe, we found ourselves quickly falling behind the group. We pushed on against the wind and meandered past abandoned houseboats, rustic Delta fishing camps and towering bald cypress trees. David, wise beyond his years among most birding aficionados in their 30s, also managed to spot more than 10 different types of bird species along this stretch — great egrets, belted kingfishers and northern flickers, to name a few.

This may have been the real reason we

were holding up the group.

With daylight dwindling, we paddled a total of four miles before stopping to camp at Dead Lake Island, where two floating platforms stood tucked away from any signs of civilization in a quiet cove off Tensaw Lake.

“Often referred to as

4 p.m. – Should I Stay or Should I Go

biologically diverse

After unpacking our boats and settling into our respective platforms — Robert and Eamon on the first and David, Yael and I on the second — we all sat around the dock together with a similar feeling of “now what?” Anyone who has spent time in the woods knows that the hardest part of camping can be filling the hours between setting up camp and bedtime.

Food is always a trusted time killer, so naturally we dove into Yael’s bag of caramel M&M’s and cracked our first brews of the afternoon. With no fires allowed on the platform, we then faced our next decision — do we stay on the platform and bundle up for the night or paddle over to the island and start a fire? Given that it was only 4:15, going to bed this early seemed

‘America’s Amazon,’ the Mobile-Tensaw Delta is one of the most ecosystems in North America, spanning 250,000 acres with more than 50 rare and endangered species and numerous rivers, lakes and tributaries.”

april 2020 | mobilebaymag.com 43

“Collectively, the full Bartram Trail offers more than 170 miles of overnight- and day-use trails with a variety of floating platforms and traditional campsites.”

unrealistic, even for 30-year-old aspiring birdwatchers.

With the temperatures dropping, we decided to brave the “maiden voyage to the motherland,” as we later so eloquently referred to it, and headed to the island to build a fire. Luckily, the distance between the island and our platform was short enough that we could use our canoe as a makeshift bridge to get across. Quite the voyage, right?

Robert and Eamon, being further away, did not have it quite as easy and were forced to paddle over. While they made it to the island in one piece, returning several hours later with a hint of liquid courage would prove much more difficult.

5:30 p.m. – We Didn’t Start the Fire Before we knew it, we were enjoying a crackling driftwood fire with snacks galore, campfire games, jazz and oldies, and plenty of box wine to go ‘round. The only obstacle at this point was trying not to trip over the cypress knees and end up facedown in the poison ivy vines that surrounded our swampy campsite when we left the fire to use the bathroom.

We listened to the coyotes howling in the distance and wondered how far away they were. We heard the owls hoot and birds chirp and even tried our hand at a few birding calls ourselves. We kept passing the wine

and attempted to give our best campfire karaoke performances when the grapes kicked in. It was a pleasant reminder of how freeing it can be to unplug and simply enjoy the moment without text messages to check or social media feeds to scroll through.

Eventually, it was time to call it a night, so we embarked on the voyage back to our platforms. David, Yael and I managed a smooth (and dry) return as we boogied across our makeshift canoe bridge. The other boat didn’t fare quite as well, making a splash that even the biggest Delta gator would envy. Luckily, we all packed extra clothes.

6:30 a.m. – Delta Dawn At a nippy 38 degrees, I didn’t dare leave my sleeping bag but managed to sit up in time to watch the morning fog roll off Tensaw Lake. With not a soul or sound in sight, it was as peaceful as I’d ever seen the Delta before.

We piled our driest layers back on and enjoyed some gourmet hot chocolate courtesy of Chef Yael while we scarfed down breakfast, packed up our things and waited for the sun to rise over the trees. If yesterday’s weather was reminiscent of a Delta murder mystery, today’s forecast was a light-hearted “rom-com” with clear, sunny skies, a high of 68 degrees and the ever-present outside chance of an impromptu singalong. It was one of those days that reminded us how lucky we are to call this place home.

10 a.m. – Rollin’ on the River We began the day paddling upstream through the scenic twists and turns of Bayou Tallapoosa until we came across Left Yael Girard a jumble of massive paddles along a stretch of trees directly in our creek where path. With no room cypress knees form the bank to go around, it and sunlight was time for a little dapples old-fashioned game through the leaves. of canoe limbo. We 44 mobilebaymag.com | april 2020

lay flat in our canoes and kayaks and shimmied our way under the trees with only inches to spare. With only one hat being lost to the clawing tree bark and a few entertaining videos to tell the tale, it was a successful maneuver.

From here on, it was cruise control.

We kicked our legs up and enjoyed the warm sunshine as the current effortlessly moved our boats down the Tensaw River.

We continued to float through lunchtime and feasted on smoked tuna, summer sausage and Ritz crackers paired with our last few lukewarm beers to wash it down.

After a few miles on the Tensaw, the river veered once again, and we ventured off into the quiet bottomland hardwood swamps of Bayou Jessamine, which made for some of the most scenic paddling of the trip. Many of the trees still held their leaves, and the sunlight crept in softly through the green canopy.

4 p.m. – The Final Countdown With limited daylight and a few important evening obligations to attend to (mainly nap time and the second half of the Alabama-LSU game), we pushed on to the finish line. We cruised out of Bayou Jessamine and enjoyed a relaxing final stretch on the glasslike waters of Briar Lake. The warm hues of autumn radiated through the red maple and sweet gum trees as we paddled our final strokes back to the starting point.

Twenty-seven hours and 14 miles later, we returned safely to our put-in at Rice Creek Landing. Our boats were covered in mud and our clothes reeked of that unique Delta stench, but we were all in good spirits from the journey we conquered.

If you have a free weekend this spring and get the itch to explore the Delta, why not give the Bartram Canoe Trail a try? You don’t have to be Bear Grylls in the making to do it either. With a little planning, preparation and persistence, everyone should take the opportunity to experience the magical bayous of our backyard. MB april 2020 | mobilebaymag.com 45

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A GOOD START Through Nature Connect, Fairhope’s Brinkley Hutchings is using the woods of her childhood to build lasting connections to the great outdoors. text by BRECK PAPPAS photos by MATTHEW COUGHLIN

B

rinkley Hutchings says that most Baldwin County residents don’t know about Red Gully, so named for the occasional banks of red clay found along its winding path north of Montrose. Its obscurity is hardly surprising; gullies are, by definition, tucked away deep into the landscape. Looking at a satellite image, you’d never know the stream exists, obscured as it is by the oaks and pines growing along its banks.

And so, just for knowing about Red Gully, six preschool-aged children splashing through the shallow waters are off to a good start. After all, giving children a good start was why Hutchings founded the outdoor program Nature Connect Alabama in 2017, and today, she grins as she watches the toddlers stomp through the water, scoop up a rock or bring her a blade of grass. One little boy loses his balance and ends up face-first in the gully, but he comes up smiling.

“You really get to see their coordination develop over time,” Hutchings says.

The morning started half an hour earlier up the hill at Fairhope’s Church of the Apostle, Nature Connect’s home base.

After healthy snacks and a singsong in the church’s pavilion, the

class followed “Ms. Brinkley” towards the gully like a row of slightly distracted ducks.

Wearing a backpack, a gray Nature Connect T-shirt and with her brown hair pulled back in a bun, Hutchings looks fully in her element. “There’s not one day I don’t want to go to work,” she says, smiling.

Stepping through the trees in a pair of green rainboots, Hutchings has a lot to smile about. It’d be hard for her not to see a bit of herself in her students; her childhood home around the corner was the jumping-off point for countless similar forays, often accompanied by her dog, Belle.

“I was allowed to watch one show on TV after school, and then I had to be outside the rest of the time, which I didn’t mind,” she remembers. “Oftentimes, I didn’t even watch the one show. I would just tell my dad which direction I was going — either towards the pipe or towards the well.”

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Individual excursions to collect clay or to play in a creek were paired with expeditions with adults: attending the Fort Morgan bird banding with her father or hiking with her mother. “I’ve just always had adults around me who pointed out the beauty in the outdoors and then took me to experience it,” she says.

Through Nature Connect, Hutchings is trying to give her students the childhood she had, a childhood of boundless curiosity, exploration and a healthy dose of silliness.

“This is my pirate ship!” declares one girl atop a leafy mound.

“Pirates are a very popular theme,” says Program Facilitator Holly Langston with a smirk. Langston, who also works as a substitute teacher, joined the staff last fall after seeing what the program did for her children. Today, she and Hutchings are supervising the six preschoolers as they ogle bugs and slip on dry leaves.

The preschool class, Hutchings later explains, is all about discovery. “It’s a lot of exploration,” she says, “learning about the place where we live. At that age, they’re meant to be in the outdoors. They just naturally know what they want to do, they know where they want to explore, and so we see ourselves as facilitators of their experience. We have a curriculum in mind, but as soon as we get into the woods, if we discover a lizard or frog or salamander or if they’re really into the creek or climbing trees, that becomes our lesson for the day.”

As one boy begins a slow crawl up a leaning tree [“He’s our climber,” Langston says.], another feature of the class becomes apparent: dirt is good and scratches can be, too. Hutchings encourages a rambunctious and enthusiastic approach to the outdoors, and every preschool class is good for a handful of tumbles.

“We’re constantly assessing risks,” Hutchings says, “so we’re not going to let them do anything where they’re going to seriously hurt themselves. But we do have conversations with the parents where we’ll say, ‘It’s rough to play outside. The kids are going to get scratches and little bruises. They’re going to take small tumbles.

Are you okay with that?’ We think it’s good for the children to learn their capacities.”

Though today’s class is held just a short distance away from Hutchings’s childhood home, the seeds of Nature Connect actually lie over 700 miles away in the Carolinas. Upon graduating from St. Paul’s Episcopal School, Hutchings enrolled at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, where her father once studied marine biology. Although Hutchings decided to study medicine, the oceanside university seemed an idyllic option to the child of Mobile Bay. “The environment in Wilmington is very similar to here, with the rivers and all the waterways,” she says. “I mean, I could go swim in the ocean between classes.”

As Hutchings delved deeper into her health studies, she became more and more convinced of something she had always suspected.

“I started to realize that people are getting sick because the environment needs to be cleaned up,” she says. “So I shifted gears

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“WHO’S GOING TO BE THE NEXT GENERATION THAT PROTECTS THE AIR, WATER AND LAND?” – Brinkley Hutchings

and started studying environmental science.”

After graduating in 2012, Hutchings worked across the country for various environmental nonprofits and grassroot community efforts. In Illinois, she organized lobbying efforts for a food labeling bill. In Houston, she helped promote biking trails along the bayous. In Atlanta, she worked to protect parks along the Chattahoochee River.

“While I was doing this work, I realized that the people I was working with were doing it because they loved the outdoors. It made me wonder, ‘Where did that love come from?’ And the answer is that it came from their childhoods. I started thinking, ‘Who’s going to be the next generation that protects the air, water and land?’ If kids don’t have a connection to the outdoors — if they’re indoors and in front of screens, if they don’t have their hands in the dirt, if they aren’t climbing trees and really falling in love with the outdoors — who’s going to want to protect it?”

With that question in mind, Hutchings moved to California where outdoor schools are prolific (there were five in her community alone) to learn the ins and outs of running an environmental education program with the goal of bringing that knowledge back to the Southeast.

In 2016, Hutchings did just that, establishing Nature Connect North Carolina. Today, the program has six staffers, runs classes every week from September through May, includes a summer camp program and serves approximately 150 children a year. In 2017, Hutchings decided to bring her vision home, back to the

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waterways and clay-studded bluffs of the Eastern Shore that had inspired her all those years ago.

“I felt like I could make a difference here,” she says.

Study after study confirms what we all instinctively know: Children who grow up spending time in nature are happier and more likely to care for the planet as adults. As the tentacles of technology increasingly keep children at home in front of screens, more and more parents have discovered the benefits of outdoor schools.

But when Hutchings started Nature Connect Alabama, there was, and still is, nothing else like it in the area. What started as a summer camp in 2017 has since grown into a variety of outdoor programs. The preschool class is Nature Connect’s primary program, offering children ages 3 to 5 the option to attend up to five days a week (most of her preschool students are enrolled at an area preschool but spend one or two days a week at Nature Connect). A spring homeschool program for ages 6 to 12 convenes once a week and focuses on nature studies: identifying plants and animals, drawing animal tracks, journaling and playing cooperative games. An after-school program at Daphne’s Mayday Park offers an adventurous complement to a child’s structured school day, and a family program invites parents with children ages 5 and under to experience the outdoors together in a meaningful way. And, of course, the summer camp programs for ages 3 to 12 are more popular than ever. All in all, Hutchings says Nature Connect serves about 200 children a year.

“I’m so thankful for this community and that people see the

importance and the value of what we’re doing,” Hutchings says. “When I started Nature Connect here in 2017, I didn’t know how well it would be received or if people really wanted something like this in the area, and it turns out they really do.”

Despite how much the program has already grown, Hutchings hopes Nature Connect continues to evolve with the desires of the community. With the creation of the preschool class, she hopes to someday add kindergarten, maybe even first and second grade. Plans are already underway to renovate a barn on the church campus into a schoolhouse, and the existing play area will soon be converted into a “natural playground.” And as Nature Connect grows, so does its impact.

“It’s not just about connecting children to the outdoors,” Hutchings says. “It’s about connecting their families to the outdoors, connecting the families to one other and really building community. Bringing people together is really a passion of mine. I want families to be able to take outings together where their children play and know how to play safely in the outdoors.” MB Left Langston, left, and Hutchings facilitate an impromptu scamper up the banks of Fairhope’s Red Gully.

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LET’S GET AWAY TO

OCEAN

SPRINGS

PHOTO COURTESY COASTAL MISSISSIPPI

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O

Named one of America’s happiest seaside towns, Ocean Springs invites you to wander its oak-lined trails, tiptoe its sandy shores and stroll its museums and quaint Downtown. text by AMANDA HARTIN • photos by SUMMER ENNIS ANSLEY

On the tail of spring’s breeze comes the annual yen to shimmy from beneath winter’s gray blanket and fling open neglected window sashes. Under Crayolablue skies, Bay-area residents venture to places near and far, eager to shake the brumal haze. Not ones to squander sunshine or a day-trip opportunity, MB’s editorial team skipped town and headed 60 miles west to the quaint cottage community of Ocean Springs, nestled between D’Iberville and Biloxi.

From meandering shorelines to award-winning cuisine, it is no wonder this Mississippi gem was named No. 5 among “Coastal Living’s America’s Happiest Seaside Towns.” And the city’s tenacious spirit is evident. Nearly 15 years after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf, Ocean Springs’s coast is brimming with life again. Downtown remained largely unaffected, due in part to its location, the highest point in the area, and remains a hub of activity.

With more than 100 restaurants, not to mention boutiques, museums and parks, we were a bit conflicted over where to start. For the morning, we parked Downtown and strolled Washington Avenue and Government Street, leaving the afternoon for cruising around by car. What unfolded was a postcard-perfect visit, albeit abbreviated. We left stones unturned, giving us plenty of reasons for day trip part deux.

Whether well-versed in the what-to-dos of Ocean Springs or know nothing of this eclectic city, we hope you find the following suggested itinerary helpful. april 2020 | mobilebaymag.com 53

OCEAN SPRINGS

FIRST THINGS FIRST

BREAKFAST

N

ot much sounds better in the morning than doughnuts, scones and biscuits, all of which are easily found. The Tatonut offers — yep, you guessed it — doughnuts made from potatoes.

One bite of these tubers-turned-treat is enough to convince you this unusual pairing is culinary brilliance. Be sure to take a dozen to go.

Equally as sweet, and almost too pretty to eat, are the entremets at French Kiss Pastries. It’s never too early for cake, especially if fresh fruit is involved. There’s also an ample selection for first-meal-of-the-day purists, not the least of which are madefrom-scratch, generously portioned muffins and scones. A sign touting, “A yawn is a silent scream for coffee,” reminds patrons that a cup of joe complements any menu item, both of which can be enjoyed on the shop’s tidy front porch.

If biscuits are on your wake-up radar, start your day at Greenhouse on Porter before heading Downtown.

Place your order at the tiny kitchen

GOOD TO KNOW The perfectly portioned cylindrical cakes served at French Kiss Pastries are called “entremets,” an old French word meaning “between servings.” Historically, these small treats were served between courses, but nowadays, they are typically served as desserts.

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— counter and then pick a seat, either inside the greenhouse or outside in the sprawling side yard. Sweet and savory biscuits — from lox to sweet potato — are among menu options, as are organic coffees and teas. Board games are available for those wanting to linger. And look for Marigold, the greenhouse cat.

GREENHOUSE ON PORTER

FRENCH KISS PASTRIES

GREENHOUSE ON PORTER

THE TATONUT

GOOD TO KNOW Looking for vegan breakfast or lunch options?

Check out French Kiss Pastries’ kitchen space, located on Porter Avenue.

Blue Dog Bistro offers keto, paleo and gluten-free options as well.

HILLYER HOUSE

— MID-MORNING SHOP ‘TIL YOU DROP

CANDY COTTAGE

T

he oak-shaded streets, brightened by colorful storefronts and grins of passersby, both human and canine, set the scene for a relaxing morning of browsing. From children’s clothing (Sugar & Spice) to doggy raincoats (Two Dogs Dancing), Downtown is likely to have a store to suit your fancy. For women’s clothing, Love, ivy proudly offers the hottest trends, and The Bay Collection boasts unique styles and distinctive accessories. Outdoorsmen (and women) can find their next favorite sportshirt, performance tee or hat at Chandeleur Outfitters.

Gift givers, beware — there are at least two stores you’ll find difficult to leave, as everything you see will make you think, “So-and-so would love this!” The first such place is Hillyer House, now in its 50th year.

Handmade items from national artisans — anything from glassware to soaps, jewelry to pottery — are all vibrantly displayed with shop dog King Cole standing “guard” to greet shoppers. Coastal Magpie is equally as vibrant, with no shortage of locally-made quirky art, jewelry, pottery and metal sculptures.

Miner’s Toy Store, an Ocean Springs staple, is a great place to stop and be a kid again, if only for a few moments, while browsing classic toys, puzzles and every stuffed animal imaginable. To complete the trip down memory lane, Candy Cottage is a must. A smorgasbord of old-fashioned candy, pralines and fudge await your sweet tooth.

MINER’S TOY STORE

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GOOD TO KNOW If you’re heading to Ocean Springs around lunchtime and you have a hankering for a po’boy, be sure grab one at Fayard’s, located inside the Marathon gas station on Washington Avenue.

“Dressed and pressed” is the hands-down way to order. Trust us.

MOSAIC TAPAS RESTAURANT MOSAIC TAPAS RESTAURANT

LET’S DO LUNCH —

NOONTIME

S

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THE DISTRICT COFFEE CO.

bar might turn your lunch hour into happy hour. For lighter fare — that’s certainly not light on taste — The District Coffee Co. has salads and perfectly presented paninis. Take a mocha or tea to-go for an afternoon pick-me-up.

And if you really want to eat like a local, check out Italian Garden and ask for an off-menu item, the Margherita pizza. Delizioso!

MAISON DE LU

PHOTO COURTESY MICHAELCASWELL.COM

pringtime is the right time to take advantage of outdoor seating — and there’s no shortage of patios or courtyards in Ocean Springs. The trouble comes when deciding where to eat! For American food with Mediterranean influences, Glory Bound Gyro Co. is top of the list. (And if your lunch is late enough, you just might catch some live music.)

Don’t let the fancily named Maison de Lu intimidate you. The coast-casual restaurant features creative sandwiches, soups, salads and homemade desserts. Their courtyard is a local favorite, and if there’s a chill in the air, seating near the fireplace is divine.

Foodies will delight over the inventive menu at Mosaic Tapas Restaurant. Their daily specials, spacious outdoor seating and fully stocked

OCEAN SPRINGS

TIME TO EXPLORE —

paths, soaring trees and benches overlooking the inner harbor.

For families, if you want to play “King of the Hill” with the kids, be sure to stop by Fort Maurepas Park, the highest point on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and home to life-size bronze statue of Pierre LeMoyne d’Iberville, the French Canadian who established Ocean Springs (and cofounded Mobile). Pavilions, a playground and a splash pad are on site.

To really get soaked — or to dig your toes in the sand — don’t forget about Front Beach, located across the street from the fort.

SHEARWATER POTTERY

PHOTO COURTESY OCEAN SPRINGS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

T

he rising midday heat typically sends visitors in one of two directions: to galleries indoors or to adventures out. (As each day’s sunlight grows longer, you might be able to squeeze in both!)

For those seeking shelter, and because Ocean Springs is the art hub of the Gulf Coast, it’s no surprise that the Walter Anderson Museum, named for the renowned local artist, is the initial draw for many visitors. Keeping it in the family, Walter’s older brother, Peter Anderson, founded Shearwater Pottery, a pottery studio and annex that still produces utilitarian ware, figurines and more. No visit to either would be complete without a piece of art to take home.

If you’re looking for something a little more hands-on, check out the Mary C. O’Keefe Cultural Center.

Throughout the year, art and cooking classes are available. Additionally, visitors can view art in the gallery or, if timed right, watch a live stage performance.

For outdoor enthusiasts, Live Oak Bicycle Route is a great way to see Ocean Springs. The 15.5-mile trek winds along the harbor and through neighborhoods, shaded by a canopy of mature oaks. Didn’t bring your bike? Rent one from Beach Bike Rentals, located on Porter Avenue at the foot of the Ocean Springs bridge.

If you’re looking for something a bit more relaxing, Gulf Islands National Seashore Park, located in a quiet marsh, overlooks Davis Bayou and offers fishing, hiking, birdwatching and picnicking. Shearwater Park is another tranquil spot, with walking

PHOTO COURTESY WALTER ANDERSON MUSEUM OF ART

AFTERNOON

MARY C. O’KEEFE CULTURAL CENTER

GOOD TO KNOW For a cool after-lunch treat — or appetizer, we aren’t judging! — visit Pop Brothers’ walk-up window in their charming blue building. Their soaring chalkboard menu lists a creative selection of all-natural artisan ice pops. Is Fido with you? They offer Pooch Pops, too.

POP BROTHERS

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OCEAN SPRINGS

SHEARWATER POTTERY

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GOOD TO KNOW The hard-fired dinnerware at Shearwater Pottery is dishwasher safe and can also be used in the microwave and oven. Other practical, functional pieces include vases, bookends, vases, lamps and more.

RING THE BELL —

DINNER & DRINKS

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othing tops off a tour du jour like good food and spirits. And much like its morning and noon counterparts, there is no shortage of dinner options. If you’re looking for a view of the water to complement your meal, Aunt Jenny’s or McElroy’s on the Bayou fits the bill. Back Downtown, however, the streets are bursting with an endless array of options. Phoenicia Gourmet is a classic choice, specializing in Greek and Lebanese cuisine. You’re likely to be serenaded by a pianist, especially if you go on the weekend.

Plan on asking for extra napkins if you tread over to Murky Waters, where they serve up barbecue, bourbon and beer. Their award-winning dry rub keeps locals coming back, as does the live blues music. For a little less finger lickin’, try the more intimate Vestige. Owner Alex Perry is a James Beard semifinalist, who, along with wife Kumi Omor, presents modern American food with a Japanese

PHOTO COURTESY THE ROOST

PHOTO BY ALEX NORTH, COURTESY THE ROOST

THE WILBUR

PHOENICIA GOURMET

twist. Reservations are recommended.

Take a stroll afterwards over to The Office or Government Street Grocery for a little after-dinner unwinding, imbibing and live music. If you’re looking for something truly unique, however, head over to The Wilbur, located inside The Roost on Porter Avenue. This speakeasy-inspired cocktail bar boasts a swinging bookshelf that reveals a hidden room.

GOOD TO KNOW Can’t drag yourself away?

Stay the night. The Inn at Ocean Springs offers small, private cottages and an onsite coffee shop, Bright Eyed Brew. Front Beach Cottages offers Bay views, free beach gear and bikes. The Roost, a boutique hotel, is within walking distance to the beach and Downtown.

GOVERNMENT STREET GROCERY

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RESTAURANTS & BARS AUNT JENNY’S CATFISH RESTAURANT, 1217 WASHINGTON AVE., 228-875-9201, AUNTJENNYSCATFISH.COM BRIGHT EYED BREW, 623 WASHINGTON AVE., 228-297-2268, BRIGHTEYEDBREWCO.COM BLUE DOG BISTRO, 1801-A GOVERNMENT ST., 228-447-4023, BLUEDOGBISTRO.COM THE DISTRICT COFFEE CO., 1301 GOVERNMENT ST., 228-215-1846, FACEBOOK.COM/THEDISTRICTCOFFEECO FAYARD’S POBOYS, 6905 WASHINGTON AVE., 228-872-0449, FACEBOOK.COM/ PAGES/JULIAN-FAYARDS-B-P-OCEANSPRING-STORE/100523510009222

PHOTOS COURTESY WALTER ANDERSON MUSEUM OF ART

LASTING IMPRESSION Much of Walter Anderson’s work remained a secret until his death in 1965, but thanks to his family, his work has been on display at the Walter Anderson Museum of Art (WAMA) since 1991.

Now tens of thousands of visitors tour the museum each year to view Anderson’s art, which largely focuses on man and his relation to nature. WAMA also showcases art from Walter’s two brothers: pottery by older brother Peter, founder of Shearwater Pottery, and ceramics and paintings by younger brother James.

RESOURCES

OCEAN SPRINGS CITY INFO

STORES

OCEAN SPRINGS CHAMBER, 1000 WASHINGTON AVE., 228-875-4424, OCEANSPRINGSCHAMBER.COM

THE BAY COLLECTION, 906 WASHINGTON AVE., 228-875-6655, FACEBOOK.COM/THEBAYCOLLECTION

B&BS AND COTTAGES

CHANDELEUR OUTFITTERS, 1106 GOVERNMENT ST., 228-818-0030, CHANDELEUROUTFITTERS.COM

FRONT BEACH COTTAGES, 207 DEWEY AVE., 228-215-0969, FRONTBEACHCOTTAGES.COM

CANDY COTTAGE, 702 WASHINGTON AVE., 228-875-8268, STORES. CANDYCOTTAGEONLINE.COM

THE INN AT OCEAN SPRINGS, 623 WASHINGTON AVE., (228) 875-4496, OCEANSPRINGSINN.COM

COASTAL MAGPIE, 918 WASHINGTON AVE., 228-215-1815, COASTALMAGPIE.COM

THE ROOST, 604 PORTER AVE., 228-2857989, ROOSTOCEANSPRINGS.COM

HILLYER HOUSE, 920 WASHINGTON AVE., 228-875-8065, HILLYERHOUSE.COM

RECREATION BRIDGE MURAL, FRONT BEACH, 228-875-4424 FORT MAUREPAUS PARK, FRONT BEACH, 228-875-4236

MARK YOUR CALENDAR The 1699 Historical Society will host its annual “1699 Weekend of Discovery,” April 25 - 26. The celebration will include a dramatic reenactment of Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville’s historic landing on the shores of Ocean Springs.

For more information, visit 1699landing.com

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FRENCH KISS PASTRIES, 714 WASHINGTON AVE., 228-215-1160, FKPASTRIES.COM

GULF ISLANDS NATIONAL SEASHORE, 3500 PARK ROAD, 228-230-4300, NPS. GOV/GUIS LIVE OAKS BICYCLE ROUTE, 228-875-4424

MUSEUMS & GALLERIES MARY C. O’KEEFE CULTURAL CENTER FOR ARTS & EDUCATION, 1600 GOVERNMENT ST., 228-818-2878, THEMARYC.ORG WALTER ANDERSON MUSEUM OF ART, 510 WASHINGTON AVE., 228-872-3164, WALTERANDERSONMUSEUM.ORG

LOVE, IVY, 914 WASHINGTON AVE., 228- 354-8499, FACEBOOK.COM/ GROWYOURSTYLE MINER’S DOLL & TOY STORE, 927 WASHINGTON AVE., 228-875-8697, MINERSTOYSTORE.COM SHEARWATER POTTERY, 102 SHEARWATER DR, 228-875-7320, SHEARWATERPOTTERY.COM SUGAR & SPICE CHILDREN’S APPAREL, 1306 GOVERNMENT ST. #1, 228-875-1794, FACEBOOK. COM/PAGES/CATEGORY/BABY--CHILDREN-S-CLOTHING-STORE/ SUGAR-AND-SPICE-CHILDRENSAPPAREL-185698225101343 TWO DOGS DANCING, 619-A WASHINGTON AVE., 228-872-3164, FACEBOOK.COM/TWODOGSDANCING.OS

GLORY BOUND GYRO CO.,1107 GOVERNMENT ST., 228-334-5708 GLORYBOUNDGYROCO.COM GOVERNMENT STREET GROCERY, 1210 GOVERNMENT ST., 228-818-9410, FACEBOOK.COM/THE-GOVERNMENTSTREET-GROCERY-288438943516 GREENHOUSE ON PORTER, 404 PORTER AVE., 228-238-5680, BISCUITSPRINGS.COM ITALIAN GARDEN, 1504 GOVERNMENT ST., 228-334-5475, ITALIANGARDENMS.COM MAISON DE LU, 626 WASHINGTON AVE., 228-875-0032, MAISONDELU.COM MCELROY’S ON THE BAYOU, 705 BIENVILLE BLVD., 228-818-4600, FACEBOOK.COM/MCELROYSONTHEBAYOU MOSAIC TAPAS RESTAURANT, 1010 GOVERNMENT ST., 228-818-9885, MOSAICTAPASRESTAURANT.COM MURKY WATERS BBQ, 1212 GOVERNMENT ST., 228-215-1114, MURKYWATERSBBQ.COM THE OFFICE BAR & LOUNGE, 1000 GOVERNMENT ST. #A, 228-875-4321, THEOFFICEOCEANSPRINGS.COM PHOENICIA GOURMET, 1223 GOVERNMENT ST., 228-875-0603, PHOENICIAGOURMET.COM POP BROTHERS, 800 BELLANDE AVE., 228-447-4792, POPBROTHERS.COM TATONUT DONUT SHOP, 1114 GOVERNMENT ST., 228-872-2076, FACEBOOK.COM/THETATONUTDONUTSHOP VESTIGE, 715 WASHINGTON AVE., 228-8189699, VESTIGERESTAURANT.COM THE WILBUR, 604 PORTER AVE., 228-2177160, WILBURCRAFTBAR.COM

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65

Bay Bride Trends Nine trends for the modern bride to consider

68

Love in Bloom An inspiration wedding at The Fairhope Inn

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Wedding Announcements

PHOTO BY ELIZABETH GELINEAU

A glimpse into the wedding day festivities of four local couples

 You asked for more Mobile Bay Bride throughout the year, and we listened! Keep an eye out for more of the local wedding coverage you love in the coming months.

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BRIDAL | TRENDS

Bay Bride Trends Try these newest and most noteworthy ideas on the local wedding scene. text by LAWREN LARGUE • photos this page by ELIZABETH GELINEAU

FLOWER POWER Everything’s coming up roses — and peonies and hydrangeas and ranunculus. Bay-area wedding planners agree that floral prints are definitely having a moment in 2020.

There are plenty of fresh, unexpected ways to incorporate the popular springtime garden aesthetic into your big day, besides the obvious bridal bouquet or gardenia in your hair (which are classics for a reason).

Flower-patterned bridesmaid dresses and (gasp!) even bridal gowns are all abloom both on the runway and at local boutiques, such as Bella Bridesmaids in downtown Mobile and Bliss Bridal in Fairhope.

If this beautifully feminine design trend intrigues you, but you still want something timeless (because hello, we are Southern), pick a subtler, monochromatic fabric — floral brocade or printed jacquard, for example.

Another understated idea: Spotlight your maid and/or matron of honor in an ethereal, blossom-patterned chiffon style, while the other bridesmaids don solid versions of the same dress. Delicate, three-dimensional ivory flower or lace appliques adorning your frock are another lovely way to include the look without going over the top.

To sprinkle the floral trend throughout the rest of the day, mimic the motif again on your programs, table linens and even your cake. According to Mobile baker Carol Monteith, tiered, fondant-covered cakes hand-painted with colorful, floral prints are the next big thing in wedding cake artistry. Top the confection off with a spray or waterfall of 3-D sugar flowers for good measure.

GREENER ON THE OTHER SIDE? On the opposite end of the spectrum, trade the bounty of flowers for the green — greenery that is. There are bushels of ways your florist can make a major statement with yards upon yards of basic foliage garland. Installing hanging eucalyptus, bay leaf or ruscus vine over the dance floor or reception tables creates plenty of drama. To get the gravity-defying look without as much hassle, tie a few swags of green

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SIP, SIP HOORAY!

as “strings” to giant, helium-filled balloons for an instant pick-me-up at the reception.

A faux boxwood-covered accent wall from Blue Rents also makes a sprightly selfie spot or cake backdrop. Another elaborate style available at Port City Rentals even includes shelves perfectly sized for glasses of Champagne for toasting.

SEAT DU JOUR We still love a shabby chic church pew, but the newest obsession in wedding seating is upholstered French antique sofas and King Louis chairs. Local rental companies, such as Blue Rents, Port City Rentals and SOHO Event Rentals, all offer versions in a variety of fabrics including linen and velvet. Situate them in cozy conversation nooks at the reception, or for more intimate ceremonies, go all out and use them in lieu of rows of traditional, white Chiavari chairs.

S.W.A.P. (SEALED WITH A PUP) If Fido was your first love before you met Mr. Right, then give him a shout-out without the stress of having a bridesmaid actually wrangle him down the aisle.

Commission a watercolor pet portrait or wedding logo design depicting your BFF (best furry friend) to be printed on customized U.S. postage stamps. Then,

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So you and your groom prefer handcrafted cocktails to bottles of beer? As a creative alternative to huggers (or koozies — whatever you want to call them), consider personalized swizzle sticks instead. For receptions, wooden options (similar to fancy popsicle sticks) can be stamped with your names, monogram or wedding date.

For the bachelorette party, choose pricier, laser-cut acrylic versions customized with each bridesmaid’s name to mark her drink.

#BACHELORETTEGOALS Why not forgo the typical girls’ trip for a cozy (and oh-so-cute) pajama party with the best gal pals ever. The Eastern Shore’s AL Sleepy Teepees, known for their creative setups for children’s birthday sleepovers, now offers adorbs grownup packages for bachelorettes, bridal weekends and even marriage proposals. Owner Jena Yaeger will orchestrate a totally Instagram-able backdrop for your soiree, complete with individual teepees for each guest, twinkle lights, pillows, balloon garlands and more to fit the occasion. (Think oversized faux Champagne bottles, swanky fur throws, kitschy sequin pillows, even activity ideas.) Her decorating fairy magic is sure to create the perfect setting for a memorable evening of snacking, chatting and celebrating the blushing bride. Just add your own bites and bubbly. Visit alsleepyteepee.com and follow on Instagram for more details.

LASH HURRAH! One of the latest beauty trends that’s sweeping the nation is absolutely perfect for brides-to-be: eyelash extensions. Faux real?! OK, before you start imagining your peepers looking like tarantula legs on your wedding day, hear us out. We’re talking completely natural-looking, voluminous lashes, sans the temporary fake strips or layers upon layers of goopy mascara.

The ladies at Southern Glow on Hillcrest Road (also known for their spray tan skills) ever-so-delicately attach individual extensions on each of your natural eyelashes using a particularly strong glue so that results last up to several weeks.

(Disclaimer: Be sure to try this out well in advance of your wedding to make sure you don’t have any sort of allergic reaction to the adhesive.)

Just think of how glam you’ll feel the morning after the big day or following that honeymoon snorkeling excursion, when your baby blues are still popping like you slathered on three coats of Maybelline.

Word of warning though: To keep up the look for an, er, extended length of time, you’ll need to plan for fill-ins every couple of weeks or so. Check out southernglowtans.com for more details.

Left, top to bottom Hanging greenery creates drama — of the natural sort! — as does placing tables directly on the lush lawn. Guests can sit in ultimate comfort with rented chairs like this upholstered King Louis. Girls just wanna have fun, and what fun they will have at a sleepover featuring their very own posh teepee.

Opposite Have your cake and beignet, too!

These powder sugared treats make great gifts for guests and reception treats.

AL SLEEPY TEEPEES

PHOTO BY ELIZABETH GELINEAU

stick them on your save the dates, invitations and reply cards. Lindsey Steigler, of Soirée Signatures, offers this and a variety of other ways to incorporate pets into couples’ wedding paper products, from programs to thank-you notes. Visit soireesignatures. com or pop in the shop to check out more whimsical ways to share the puppy love.

MO’ BEFORE THEY GO Late-night reception eats are nothing new.

But how about bidding your guests farewell with a new Mobile delicacy — decadent, pillowy, fried pastry dough from Mo’Bay Beignet Co. Bonus: Powdered sugar totally blends in with your white wedding dress — am I right? So indulge away! If the beignets alone weren’t already trés bon (which they are), owner Jaclyn Robinson and her team also make three heavenly syrups to drizzle or dip: original, cinnamon or buttercream. Fill your out-of-town guests’ welcome bags with Mo’Bay Beignet gift kits, which include their original dough mix, powdered sugar and jarred awesome sauce to DIY at home.

Visit mobaybeignetco.com to learn more about this brand-new, booming business.

INITIALLY PRESERVED Wish you could save your bouquet but you’re not exactly keen on the traditional shadowbox? Local artist Sahar K. Alford, of Etsy’s SaharsArtandDesign, will happily preserve flowers from your big day and float them inside a one-of-a-kind, resin letter representing your new last name. It makes for an updated, sophisticated coffee table keepsake that you will treasure forever in your new home together. Another option, the epoxy ring pyramid, offers double the memories when used to stow your new bling atop a pretty piece of art containing your dried bouquet blooms. MB

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BRIDAL | INSPIRATION

LOVE BLOOM

Shades of blush and gold transform a downtown Fairhope venue into a classic, romantic wedding.

planning by BLAIR GEWIN • text by AMANDA HARTIN • photos by ELIZABETH GELINEAU hair by AIMEE ACHEE • makeup by HOPE OWENSBY and ANNA VIAL from CK COLLECTION models TIARA BAKER, FORREST FUNK, CARLIE SHIVELY shot on location at THE FAIRHOPE INN flowers by WILDFLOWERS FLORAL DESIGN

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Above The groom is eye-catching in an ivory fitted coat, anchored by classic black pants and accessories (Ike Evening by Ike Behar, Francia’s Formal Affair). Modern letterpress invitations set the tone for the celebration, featuring velum embossed with gold leaves (Soirée Signatures).

Opposite Jars of snapdragons, rose-filled centerpieces, candles and pops gold (Wildflower Floral Designs) complete the lush tablescape.

Opening page, left to right The bride’s bouquet stuns in shades of pinks and creams (Wildflowers Floral Design). White gold is the metal of choice for the couple’s rings. The bride’s engagement ring features a center emerald cut diamond, while her band has alternating round brilliant and baguette diamonds (Zundel’s Jewelry). The groom’s band has a masculine hammered finish (Zundel’s Jewelry). The groom’s boutonniere (Wildflower Floral Designs) is a simple beaut.

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BRIDAL | INSPIRATION

Opposite Soft shades of pink and white ranunculus, David Austin roses and spirea spill forth from bouquets bundled with silk ribbons (Wildflower Floral Designs). Sprigs of greenery provide that just-picked-from-the-garden look.

Clockwise from top left A sweetheart neckline allows statement pieces, like the bride’s crystal necklace and pearldrop earrings (Bliss Bridal), to be showcased. A three-tier, buttercream frosted cake (Pollman’s Bake Shop) decorated with cascading snapdragon and ranunculus blooms (Wildflowers Floral Design) is a beautifully delicious way to end a meal. The bride isn’t the only one blushing! This blush-colored couch (SOHO Events & Rentals) is a fabulous place for guests — and the wedding party — to kick back and relax. The bridesmaid is pretty in pink in a simple and classic chiffon A-line gown (Bill Levkoff, Bliss Bridal). Place settings of gold-toned utensils, Bella Vita Nest Coupe and Vitraluxe plates, gold-trimmed chargers, vintage-inspired glassware and monogrammed napkins (SOHO Events & Rentals) are almost too pretty to use.

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BRIDAL | INSPIRATION

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Opposite The bride stuns in a rosecovered, lace ball gown with sweetheart neckline (Allure Bridals, Style C549, Bliss Bridal) and cathedral-length veil (Bliss Bridal). The gazebo at The Fairhope Inn, decorated with swaths of fabric and copious greenery and flowers, including cherry blossoms (Wildflowers by Design), is a swoon-worthy place to say “I do.� Spoil guests with comfortable gold Chameleon chairs with blush-colored cushions (SOHO Events & Rentals).

Above Blush gold geometric earrings are the only statement piece the bridesmaid needs (SWAY).

RESOURCES BLAIR WEDDINGS + EVENTS 604-4528 BLAIRWEDDINGSANDEVENTS. COM BLISS BRIDAL 19 N CHURCH ST., FAIRHOPE 990-3244 BEABLISSBRIDE.COM CK COLLECTION 320 FAIRHOPE AVE., FAIRHOPE 990-9001 CKCOLLECTION.COM FRANCIA’S FORMAL AFFAIR 3831 AIRPORT BLVD. 342-7119 FRANCIAS.COM POLLMAN’S BAKE SHOP 107 ST. FRANCIS ST. 438-2261 POLLMANSBAKESHOPS.WIXSITE. COM/WEBSITE SOHO EVENTS & RENTALS 5906 SWEETWATER CIR, FAIRHOPE 517-7322 SOHOEVENTSANDRENTALS.COM SOIRÉE SIGNATURES 24 N FLORIDA ST. 209-3265 SOIREESIGNATURES.COM SWAY 324 FAIRHOPE AVE., FAIRHOPE 990-2282 INSTAGRAM.COM/SHOP_SWAY WILDFLOWERS FLORAL DESIGN 50 S CHURCH ST., #E, FAIRHOPE 928-6200 WILDFLOWERSFAIRHOPE.COM ZUNDEL’S JEWELRY 3670 DAUPHIN ST., #1211 241-5439 ZUNDELSJEWELRY.COM

SPECIAL THANKS SHOOT LOCATION

THE FAIRHOPE INN 63 S CHURCH ST., FAIRHOPE 928-6226 THEFAIRHOPEINN.COM

&

Blakely Haas McNeely

Dylan Ryan Day

JANUARY 4, 2020

CEREMONY VENUE St. Joseph Chapel RECPETION VENUE Stewartfield WEDDING DRESS I Do Bridal & Formal HAIR/MAKEUP The Battle House Spa FLORIST Belle Bouquet CATERER Tyner’s BAKERY Pollman’s RENTALS Port City Rentals DJ Cole Maddox PHOTOGRAPHER Kaleb Hill Photography WEDDING PLANNER Chic Weddings By Jacqueline

B

lakely Haas McNeely and Dylan Ryan Day were united in marriage at St. Joseph Chapel on January 4, 2020.

The Rev. Pat Arensberg officiated the ceremony.

The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David Ogden McNeely and granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bobby McNeely and the late Mr. and Mrs. Winston McCleery. The groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Gary Clayton Day and grandson of Mrs. Mary Jane Harlan and late Mr. Jack P Harlan, and Mrs. Essie Day and the late Mr. Lamar Day. Escorted by her father, the bride wore an off-the-shoulder Essense of Australia gown with a beaded belt and crystal lined cathedral length veil. Holding her train were her two flower girls, Lilly Murrah and Rylee Philips. The bride’s bouquet was crescent shaped with a variety of white ranunculus, white lisianthus, white o’hara

garden roses, cream roses, dusty miller, ruscus and eucalyptus.

The bride was attended by Sydney McNeely as maid of honor and Lauren Malone as matron of honor. Bridesmaids were Emily McNeely, Katey Roh, Hannah Hartdegen, Jacqueline Day, Sarah Christensen and junior bridesmaid Ava Murrah. The groom was attended by his father Gary Day as best man. Groomsmen were Nick Heisler, Zach Saux, Adam Stewart, Zach Heisler, John Phillip Asmar and David Cromer and ring bearer Kaleb Phillips.

Following the ceremony, a reception was held at Stewartfield on the campus of Spring Hill College. The party was led by DJ Cole Maddox under a canopy of lights and decorated wreaths. The bride and groom enjoyed their time dancing and singing the night away with guests.

The couple enjoyed a relaxing castle stay honeymoon in Ireland.

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Megan Elizabeth Kirk

Timothy John Dorothy

JULY 11, 2019

CEREMONY + RECEPTION VENUE Drenagh Country Estate, Limavady, Northern Ireland HAIR/MAKEUP Uptown Beauty and Aesthetics FLORIST Sharon Peaker Flowers BAKERY Georginas Cakes PHOTOGRAPHER Sarah Bryden Photography

F

amily and friends gathered July 11, 2019, at Drenagh House & Estate in Limavady, Northern Ireland, to celebrate the marriage of Megan Elizabeth Kirk and Timothy John Dorothy Jr. Gwyneth Kerr officiated the ceremony in Drenagh’s beautiful Moon Garden.

The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Shelby Ray Kirk of Mobile. The groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Dorothy Sr. of Robertsdale.

Given in marriage by her father, the bride wore an elegant Enzoani all-over lace mermaid silhouette gown, featuring a sweetheart neckline. The bride carried a bouquet of white roses, white peonies and white hydrangeas.

The bridal party consisted of Carey Conner, as matron of honor,

and Sonya Nelson, as bridesmaid. Travis McHenry served as best man, and Tim Dorothy Sr. served as groomsman attendant.

Following the ceremony, guests dined on braised pork belly, roast beef with stuffed Yorkshire pudding, chicken supreme with roasted shallots, and pan fried salmon with pink stemmed radishes.

Georgina’s Cakes created a one-tier white chocolate and raspberry wedding cake.

After a honeymoon in the coastal regions of Ireland, Southern Germany, and Czech Republic, the couple reside in Atlanta with their golden retriever, Daisy.

The wedding party would like to give a special thanks to the team at Drenagh, The Wedding Room, and Uptown Beauty and Aesthetics in Limavady for their exceptional service in providing an unforgettable and wonderful day.

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Amy Lynn Britton

Kenya Kwame Franklin

JULY 20, 2019

CEREMONY AND RECEPTION VENUE The Battle House Renaissance Hotel & Spa HAIR/MAKEUP Makeup and Hair by Chaney FLORIST Rose Bud Florist BAKERY Cakes by Judi CLASSIC CAR Coastal Cruisers DJ AJC (Adam Collier) PHOTOGRAPHER Wendy Wilson VIDEOGRAPHER Emilia Anne Studios WEDDING PLANNER Kendra Lee

S

ince Amy and Kenya got engaged in downtown Mobile, it was only fitting that the couple wed at a landmark venue that symbolized the city. The Battle House Renaissance Hotel not only exemplified the history they were seeking, but also offered the ease of a near all-inclusive wedding.

Eight months after the downtown proposal, Amy Lynn Britton and Kenya Kwame Franklin were united in marriage on July 20, 2019. Pastor Scott Williams officiated.

The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John E. Britton. The groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Franklin The bride chose her sister, Laura Britton Meyers, as maid of honor. Elizabeth Whitehurst, Nakila Ellis and Latrina Jackson served as bridesmaids. The couple’s daughter, Aubrey Franklin, served as flower girl.

The groom’s brother, Jelani Franklin, served as best man.

Groomsmen were David Herman, Roosevelt Coar and Darryl Ramsey. The couple’s son, Holden Britton, served as junior groomsman.

Immediately following the ceremony, a reception was held in the ballroom of The Battle House Renaissance Hotel. The menu featured moroccan spiced lamp chops, mini fried shrimp po’ boys, and a rosemary citrus porkloin carving station. The sleek threetier wedding cake with floral accents was provided by Cakes by Judi. DJ AJC kept guests on the dance floor all night.

The bride and groom exited the reception with a sparkler sendoff before leaving in a pink classic Chevrolet Bel Air. After a relaxing honeymoon in Jamaica, the couple now resides in Birmingham.

&

Sarah Tate Weatherford Vernon Bernis Johnson III OCTOBER 12, 2019

CEREMONY AND RECEPTION VENUE Morris Farm WEDDING DRESS I Do Bridal & Formal HAIR/MAKEUP Ally Taylor FLORIST Bloom & Grow Co. CATERER Stagecoach Catering BAKERY Cakes by Judi RENTALS Port City Rentals, Gulf Coast Rentals LIGHTING Willow Bridge MUSICIAN Buddy Brock PHOTOGRAPHER Deltalow WEDDING PLANNER Julie Ragsdale

S

arah Tate Weatherford and Vernon Bernis Johnson III were united in marriage at Morris Farm in Stockton, Alabama, on October 12, 2019. The couple was married by Jim Parmer, uncle of the bride.

The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton Cole Weatherford Sr. of Bay Minette, Alabama. The groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Bernis Johnson Jr. of Ozark, Alabama.

The bride was given in marriage by her parents and escorted down the aisle by her father. She wore an ivory gown adorned with lace and pearls by Essence of Australia. The bride carried a bouquet of ivory roses, blue thistle, and lush greenery. The bouquet was wrapped in an heirloom handkerchief that belonged to her great-grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Morris.

The bride was attended by her sister, Lindsey Kate Weatherford, as maid of honor. Bridesmaids were Kayla Kiger, Shayla O’Barr and

Ashleigh Bertolla. The best friend of the bride, Tucker Boatwright, served as a bridesman. Flower girl and ring bearer were Lucy and Gavin Bertolla. Ushers included Hamilton Cole Weatherford Jr., brother of the bride, as well as Kenny and John David Weatherford. The groom was accompanied by best man Joshua Bowman. Groomsmen were Caleb Pierce, Tate Upton, George Haburey IV and John Stephens.

Following the ceremony, the couple and guests walked a decorated path to dance and eat under the old oaks. Guests were also welcomed into the home, which belongs to the bride’s grandparents. Inside was a display of wedding dresses that were worn by the bride’s grandmother and mother on their wedding days. The atmosphere was almost ethereal. Decades of love and unity could be felt in the air.

The couple made their departure under a canopy of oaks and sparkle lit skies with family and friends giving a warm send off. The newlyweds enjoyed a honeymoon in Jamaica. They reside in Foley.

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EXTRAS | CALENDAR OF EVENTS

The Sweetness of Spring!

APRIL 12 EASTER SUNRISE SERVICE 6:30 a.m. Guests are encouraged to bring their own chairs. Breakfast available.

BELLINGRATH GARDENS AND HOME BELLINGRATH.ORG

APRIL 12 LULU’S EASTER EGG DASH 2 p.m. Meet the Easter Bunny and hunt Easter eggs on LuLu’s Beach!

LULU’S, GULF SHORES • LULUBUFFETT.COM

APRIL 18 GREAT DRIFT PADDLE Explore Halls Mill Creek by canoe, kayak or SUP. No motorized vessels.

DOGRIVER.ORG

APRIL 18 EARTH DAY MOBILE BAY 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Earth-friendly exhibitors, live music and activities for all ages.

THROUGH APRIL 30

APRIL 3 - 4

SPRING BIRD MIGRATION See more than 300 species of birds as they make their flight north.

MOBILE CHALLENGE OF CHAMPIONS TRACK MEET 3 - 10 p.m. F. Noon - 6:30 p.m. Sa. Watch top track athletes compete.

DAUPHIN ISLAND DAUPHINISLAND.ORG

MID TO LATE APRIL ROSE BLOOM OUT AT BELLINGRATH Tour the award-winning rose garden during its first bloom.

BELLINGRATH GARDENS AND HOME BELLINGRATH.ORG

APRIL 1 THE ART OF PRESENTATION: A TABLESCAPE EVENT 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. An exhibition of tablescapes reflective of fine Southern traditions.

EASTERN SHORE ART CENTER, FAIRHOPE WISTERIAGARDENCLUB.COM

VARIOUS LOCATIONS MOBILECHALLENGEOFCHAMPIONS.NET

APRIL 4 EGG HUNT AND BREAKFAST 8 a.m. Breakfast. 9 a.m. Hunt. Photos and arts and crafts to follow egg hunt.

BELLINGRATH GARDENS AND HOME BELLINGRATH.ORG

APRIL 4 EASTER AT SEWARD FARMS 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Age-specific egg hunts, hay ride, pony ride, play area and more.

SEWARD FARMS, LUCEDALE SEWARDFARMS.COM

APRIL 2

APRIL 11 - 12

AUTHOR EVENT 6 - 7 p.m. Sonia Purnell discusses her bestseller, “A Woman of No Importance.”

BALDWIN COUNTY STRAWBERRY FEST 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Festival features a carnival, pageant, car show, 5K and strawberries!

PAGE & PALETTE, FAIRHOPE PAGEANDPALETTE.COM/EVENTS

LOXLEY MUNICIPAL PARK BALDWINCOUNTYSTRAWBERRYFESTIVAL.ORG

FAIRHOPE MUNICIPAL PIER EARTHDAYMOBILEBAY.ORG

APRIL 18 GUMBO COOK-OFF 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. Sample some of the best gumbo around, all for a good cause.

DAUPHIN ISLAND DAUPHINISLANDCHAMBEROFCOMMERCE.COM

APRIL 18 CAMELLIA CLASSIC OPEN CAR SHOW 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Stroll among hundreds of classic and vintage automobiles.

BELLINGRATH GARDENS AND HOME MOBILEBAYMUSTANGCLUB.ORG

APRIL 19 WINGS FOR HEALING Noon - 4 p.m. Family-friendly chicken wing cook-off supporting Victory Health Partners.

FIVE RIVERS DELTA, SPANISH FORT VICTORYHEALTH.ORG

APRIL 21 A TASTE OF ROTARY 6 - 9:30 p.m. Twenty-plus Eastern Shore restaurants show off their best dishes.

FAIRHOPE CIVIC CENTER TASTEOFROTARY.COM

 To have your event included in the online or print edition of Mobile Bay Magazine, email calendar@pmtpublishing.com.

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APRIL 24 - 26 MULLET TOSS 10 a.m. Enjoy the sun, sand, beer, flying mullet and more at this annual event.

FLORA-BAMA FLORABAMA.COM/MULLET-TOSS

APRIL 25 - 26 THUNDER ON THE BAY 9 a.m. The event highlights Fort Gaines’ role in the Battle of Mobile Bay. FORT GAINES • DAUPHINISLAND.ORG

APRIL 25 WIGGLE WAGGLE 5K RACE AND 1-MILE FUN RUN 8 a.m. - Noon. Runners, walkers and their furry friends will enjoy this fun event.

BELLINGRATH GARDENS AND HOME BELLINGRATH.ORG

APRIL 25 HERB DAY: GROWING HERBS IN THE GULF SOUTH 9 a.m. - Noon. Shop for herb plants and enjoy a silent auction and refreshments.

MOBILE BOTANICAL GARDENS GULFCOASTHERBSOCIETY.ORG

APRIL 25 ST. FRANCIS EPISCOPAL CHURCH ARTS AND CRAFTS FESTIVAL 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Over 50 artists will be selling their art in support of local charities.

ST. FRANCIS EPISOPAL CHURCH, DAUPHIN ISLAND

APRIL 26 MUD BOTTOM REVIVAL MUSIC FESTIVAL Bring coolers and chairs to this music festival benefitting the Dog River Clearwater Revival.

BENDER POINT, RIVIERE DU CHIEN, MOBILE DOGRIVER.ORG

APRIL 26 MURPHY HIGH SCHOOL HALL OF FAME PROGRAM 2 p.m. Honor some of Murphy’s alumni and their achievements at this annual celebration.

MURPHY HIGH SCHOOL AUDITORIUM

APRIL 30 EXCEPTIONAL ARTS 2020 5:30 p.m. Art, music, auction, shopping and restaurant sampling round out the evening.

ST. PAUL’S EPISCOPAL LIFE CENTER, DAPHNE EXCEPTIONALFOUNDATIONGC.ORG

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CITY STAGES

WILCO

APRIL 4 - 5 “AMADEUS” 7 p.m. Sa. 2:30 p.m. Su. This all Mozart concert features music from the 1984 movie “Amadeus.” Tickets: $15, $20, $33, $45, $65 and $80.

MOBILE SAENGER THEATRE MOBILESYMPHONY.ORG

THROUGH APRIL 5 “SISTER ACT” 7:30 p.m. F / Sa. 2 p.m. Su. Sing along to Motown hits. Tickets: $10, $15, $20.

JOE JEFFERSON PLAYERS JOEJEFFERSONPLAYERS.COM

APRIL 16 WILCO 7:30 p.m. The Grammy award-winning Americana band comes back to the Port City. Tickets: $35, $50, $60, $70.

MOBILE SAENGER THEATRE MOBILESAENGER.COM

APRIL 19 VERONA QUARTET 3 p.m. Come listen to Beethoven’s last major work, String Quartet No. 16, Opus 135.

BEN MAY MAIN LIBRARY, BERNHEIM HALL MOBILECHAMBERMUSIC.ORG

APRIL 21 BABY SHARK LIVE! 6 p.m. The children’s video that swept the nation brings its live show to the Saenger.

Tickets: $30, $40, $50, $60.

MOBILE SAENGER THEATRE MOBILESAENGER.COM

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[MAY HIGHLIGHTS]

MAY 1 - 2 HOT AIR BALLOON FESTIVAL FOLEY SOCCER COMPLEX GULFCOASTBALLOONFESTIVAL.COM

MAY 1 - 17 “I LOVE YOU, YOU’RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE” THEATRE 98 • THEATRE98.ORG

MAY 2 - 3 BLESSING OF THE FLEET ST. MARGARET PARISH FLEETBLESSING.ORG

MAY 2 - 3 A CELEBRATION OF JOHN WILLIAMS MOBILE SAENGER THEATRE MOBILESYMPHONY.ORG

MAY 9 - 10 FOLEY ART IN THE PARK 125 E. LAUREL AVE.

MAY 10 MOTHER’S DAY EVENING CONCERT AT BELLINGRATH GARDENS BELLINGRATH GARDENS AND HOME BELLINGRATH.ORG

MAY 12 - 16 ORANGE BEACH BILLFISH CLASSIC THE WHARF ORANGEBEACHBILLFISHCLASSIC.COM

MAY 15 - 31 “BIG FISH: A LARGER THAN LIFE MUSICAL” CHICKASAW CIVIC THEATER CCTSHOWS.COM

MAY 15 - 17 THE HANGOUT MUSIC FESTIVAL GULF SHORES HANGOUTMUSICFEST.COM

MAY 16 CHICAGO

THE WHARF • ALWHARF.COM

MAY 23 PEPSI BEACH BALL DROP THE WHARF • ALWHARF.COM

MAY 30 BROOKS AND DUNN

THE WHARF • ALWHARF.COM

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THE ARTS | LITERATURE

I Can Drink Gasoline Some days you’re the bug, other days you’re the flip-flop. excerpt from the book THEY CALL ME OR ANGE JUICE

by AUDREY MCDONALD ATKINS

L

eroy was Granny’s yardman.

He was jolly, always quick with a joke or funny rhyme. He believed that if you hung a dead snake over a tree limb, it would rain.

He believed that garlic kept the haints away. He had biceps as big as tree trunks, or so it seemed to me, and he was the strongest person I knew.

So strong, in fact, that he could drink gasoline. It’s true! Every day Leroy brought his lunch and a big Ball jar of clear orange liquid that he kept in the garage refrigerator. Every so often he would take a break, get the jar out of the fridge, and tell Brother and me with a wink and a big toothless grin, “I’m so tough I can drink gasoline.” With that, he would turn the jar up and guzzle it right on down.

We were slack-jawed in amazement. We had no doubt.

We knew that Leroy, or “Relolly” as brother called him, had led an incredibly hard life. We had heard the stories. He’d been jailed for killing his father-in-law. He had injured one of his legs and now it was shorter than the other one, causing him to have to wear a heavy, platform shoe so that he could walk. We could see the callouses and scars, the clinched fist that would never open again. Another terrible injury.

But Leroy was always on top of the world. He would often tell me, “I’ve got it made in the shade, down deep with the silver spade.” He had no doubt.

Many years later, I found myself in the middle of a messy divorce, a single mother with a five-year-old who was depending on me. Betrayed, sad, scared, all I wanted to do was crawl into a hole and die. That is not, however, necessarily practical when one has a

child to support and care for, so I muddled on.

One day around that same time I was sitting in my kitchen when an enormous “palmetto bug” decided to saunter across my kitchen floor.

“Palmetto bug” sounds cute and beachy. It is not. In fact, this creepy brown intruder was the roach that broke the camel’s back.

Normally, I would have screamed like a little girl for Daddy to come kill it. But there was no daddy. Or brother. Or husband. It was only me. And these were not normal times. I had had all I could stand.

I snatched off my flip-flop and smashed that palmetto bug into a greasy spot right where it stood with probably way yonder more force than was required. So there! I thought. That’ll teach you!

High on adrenaline and fueled with vengeful thoughts, I scraped that blasted cockroach off the linoleum, threw it in the garbage, and lugged the whole nasty mess up to the street. Good-bye and good riddance!

Walking back to the house, I thought to myself with a grin, I’m so tough I can drink gasoline. Things got better after that. The dark year finally ended. A smart, sweet, funny college classmate found me, and I now call him Husband. Sonny has turned out to be a fine and talented young man of whom I am so very proud. I have everything in life a girl could ever dream of. And now, when I walk up to my home, I think back on Leroy’s other words. “I’ve got it made in the shade, down deep with a silver spade.” I have no doubt. MB

 Born and raised in Citronelle, Atkins shares stories about growing up and living in the South in her book, “They Call Me Orange Juice,” and at her blog audreyatkinswriter.com.

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HISTORY | ARCHIVES

On the Fringe of History A long-lost document reveals an officer’s account of a reconnaissance mission from Mobile during the Battle of New Orleans. text by JOHN SLEDGE

O

n the morning of January 5, 1815, a young American infantry lieutenant called M. McKenzie and a dozen soldiers gathered at Mobile’s public wharf. Burdened with muskets, bayonets, haversacks and provisions, they clambered into a bobbing longboat and took their places. Their mission was to reconnoiter lower Mobile Bay and the eastern reaches of the Mississippi Sound for any signs of a British attack. New Orleans was believed to be the redcoats’ main objective, but Gen. Andrew Jackson had left two regiments at Mobile in case the enemy’s plans changed. McKenzie’s squad was detached from one of these regiments.

McKenzie was a conscientious officer who kept a little journal during his nineday expedition. He subsequently gave this to his commanding officer, Gen. James Winchester, who, like so many of Jackson’s men, was a Tennessean. Nearly a century later, the “much worn” document was found in Winchester’s papers and presented to the Tennessee Historical Society.

John H. DeWitt, the Society’s president, published McKenzie’s account in the premier issue of the “Tennessee Historical Magazine” (March 1915). Several scholars have cited it since, one of whom dismissed it as “interesting … but of minor use.” While that is certainly true from a grand strategic perspective, Mobile Bayarea readers will likely find McKenzie’s tale

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“Rear Admiral Malcolms [sic] Tents on Dauphin Island.” 1815. Courtesy Alabama Department of Archives and History with help from the Dauphin Island Museum.

of tense uncertainty from the fringes of an epic confrontation fascinating.

McKenzie and his men reached “Ilse Mon Louis” by the evening of their first day.

Throughout their haul south, the wind was against them, and they desperately needed rest. The next morning the weather was “boisterous” according to McKenzie. That meant several more hours of frustrating delay.

They finally shoved off and by nine o’clock that evening reached “Dolphin Island.” The American army had a small garrison at Fort Bowyer on Mobile Point across the Bay, and several soldiers were also stationed at Dauphin Island. McKenzie met their commander, Capt. James Roney, just after lunch on Friday, January 6. Together, the two men tramped over to the island’s south side.

There, McKenzie sighted “a ship, a Brig and schooner — two first appeared of the largest class and were standing under easy sail to Southerd.” These were doubtless British vessels, part of the large fleet sent to trounce the upstart Americans. There was no immediate threat, however, since the ships were well offshore headed away. McKenzie was satisfied and set his men to cooking rations, squaring their gear and putting the longboat into better order. He determined to sail over to Pascagoula the next morning to see what more he could learn.

Pascagoula’s residents were mostly French and decidedly cool to armed Americans.

Even though they were part of the infant

Mississippi Territory, they professed open sympathies for the redcoats. “The general belief of the inhabitants,” McKenzie explained, “is that the enemy will cede this country to Spain, when captured — that the laws of the latter will again be re-established — which they anticipate with satisfaction.” This was no surprise, since the Spanish were Catholic like the French and noted for their lighthanded rule. The Pascagoulans delighted in spreading rumors that New Orleans had fallen and that Jackson was dead. McKenzie scoffed at these assertions but fumed about possible spying. Unable to confirm anything in town, he ordered his men over to Horn Island. Headwinds made the trip difficult.

Once onshore, the men were lashed by “a tremendous gale” and hunkered down in pelting rain. They heard guns all night, which McKenzie believed were “signals of distress … as the sea on the south side of Horn Island, from the quarter the wind was in, must have been very rough.” He set guards and ordered them to keep alert.

Assault on Fort Meanwhile, momentous events were unfolding to their west. The British infantry attacked Jackson’s multicultural force on the Plains of Chalmette on January 8 and was thoroughly mauled by intense fire. Thwarted by land, the British sent a small flotilla — a sloop-of-war, a brig, a schooner and two bomb (or mortar) vessels — up the Missis-

sippi to assault Fort St. Philip. This was a heavily armed bastion midway between the Gulf and the Crescent City, about 70 miles by the crow from McKenzie’s little party. According to an American officer on site, the British pummeled the fort “with little intermission” from January 10 through 17, discharging well over a thousand rounds. This was the primary source of the racket that McKenzie and his men heard.

McKenzie’s party shot several cows on Horn Island and butchered them to supplement their fare. The young lieutenant periodically raised his spyglass gulfside, but despite the “incessant” cannon fire “in the direction of Orleans,” saw nothing. Cannon blasts still rumbled in the distance the next morning. “I counted 25 in 8 minutes,” McKenzie wrote. Unable to do any more, he ordered a return to Dauphin Island. As usual, headwinds forced the troops to keep their oars and poles “continually going.” They made their destination at 10 o’clock that night exhausted. Roney met them and reported that the cannonading had been distinctly audible at Dauphin Island, too. In fact, he declared, it far surpassed any “he had ever heard.”

On Saturday, January 14, McKenzie returned to Mobile. He had spotted only one sail at Dauphin Island, well out to sea. His men were “pretty well jaded” by their “continual guards kept up at night and the three last days of extraordinary toil.” Per usual, they had to contend with a head wind on the trip back but were in town by 10 that night.

Only a few weeks after McKenzie’s reconnaissance, the British fleet finally loomed off Dauphin Island. Fort Bowyer was captured, and an attack on Mobile looked imminent until news of peace ended the hostilities.

McKenzie’s reconnaissance made absolutely no difference to the outcome of the War of 1812. It is but a toenote to a footnote to the Battle of New Orleans. Nonetheless, he performed his duty well, and on blustery Gulf Coast nights especially, his journal can still conjure the far-off rumble of Albion’s might brought low. MB John S. Sledge is the author of “The Gulf of Mexico: A Maritime History.” april 2020 | mobilebaymag.com 91

THE ARTS | LITERATURE

Coming Home

Kreis Beall, cofounder and creative force behind Blackberry Farm, lived a beautiful and inspiring life, but a series of devastating personal losses led her to turn inward for the first time.

text by ELEANOR INGE BAKER photo by MIKE BELLEME

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“In 60 years, I never looked back,” says Kreis Beall, the cofounder and creative force behind Blackberry Farm, Tennessee’s award-winning farm-to-table resort. “I always looked to the next plan, the next house, the next project.

I did not allow myself time to examine my interior self and never connected the beautiful external world I had created with my neglected internal identity.”

In her powerful, just-released memoir, “The Great Blue Hills of God,” Beall shares her journey of self-discovery and faith following a series of devastating tragedies, including a fire that destroyed her beloved family home on Mobile Bay, an accidental brain injury that left her partially deaf, the divorce from her husband and business partner, Sandy Beall, and the tragic death of her son, Sam, who at 39 was the proprietor of Blackberry Farm.

As the dominos of her life fell one after the other, Beall turned to a budding faith for strength. “I was a new believer and was just like a sponge. I read everything I could get my hands on. I began to connect the dots in my life.” The idea for this book originated from an 18-minute speech Beall was asked to give to a women’s group.

“I received so many letters and emails after that, it encouraged me to do the book. I hope to invite the reader to also look at their own story. My life was focused on a beautiful exterior.

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always been important to me to understand the meaning of home. I realized God is home.” While putting back together the pieces of her life, she left a multibedroom house on Blackberry Farm and moved into a 324-square-foot outbuilding on the property she called “The Shed.”

“It is not the size of the space,” she writes, “but the depth of the person in it.” In that solitary place, Beall rebuilt her life with her long-time motto in mind: “Live in every inch.” Her interior design philosophy insists a house is more alive when every room has a daily purpose. Her new task became learning to navigate and purpose each moment in her day. In the paired-down minimalism of The Shed, paint peeling on the exterior walls, Beall acknowledges, “I met myself for the first time.” She faced the heartrending realities that lay just beneath the expertly designed spaces she created to please so many others. She also found a way to dig in and cope with the devastating series of events and tremendous loss that threatened to consume her.

Although for years she exuded an admirable and sophisticated veneer, behind the success Beall enjoyed,

she confesses she had a deep fear of being known. “I thought nobody would like me if they really knew me.

Writing this book was an invitation for me, and consequently the reader, to look at our lives with authenticity and vulnerability. I had to learn to be a real friend.”

Beall confesses this vulnerability may come as a surprise to those who knew her for her beautiful homes and gracious hospitality. She and her family lived in Mobile for 10 years, after Ruby Tuesday (the restaurant chain founded by Sandy) was bought by Morrison’s.

Others may recognize her as a trendsetting authority in the travel and entertaining sphere. Her decorating and entertaining advice appeared often in the pages of popular home and design magazines. Many beautiful homes her family lived in, and that she and Sandy renovated and designed, were featured prominently in publications focused on Southern style and culture.

Devastating, unabashedly candid and warm, Beall’s memoir will speak to anyone who finds themselves exploring their own soulscape. Readers are challenged to take on the hard job Beall gives herself: “All it takes is all you’ve got. And it is worth it.” MB

Excerpt from “The Great Blue Hills of God” Now all my plans had come undone. As I stood on the threshold of sixty, my marriage was over, I was disconnected from my sons, I spent too little meaningful time with my grandchildren.

To the outside world, I was the cofounder of one of the most idyllic spots on earth, Blackberry Farm. It was not a farm in the conventional sense of raising dairy cattle or crops. Rather, my husband, Sandy, and I had started with a dilapidated, 1940 low-ceiling house with eight guest rooms and grew it into a Relais & Châteaux estate and restaurant, a stylish, award-winning destination at the edge of Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains. Its iconic views, the shimmering trees and hills, the white-painted rockers perched above a sweeping lawn, were routinely featured in glossy lifestyle and travel magazines. People began referring to it simply as “Blackberry.”

Beyond Blackberry, I was known for my own cooking and entertaining, for being married to Sandy, founder of the Ruby Tuesday restaurant chain, and for my photogenic family and two successful sons. And I never dissuaded anyone, not even my mother, my sisters, or my closest friends, that this was my story until I could no longer paper over and pretend. Until I had no choice but to tell my truth.

I began by giving up what I had clung to the longest: my image of the perfect home. From a multi-bedroom house, I moved to a 324-square-foot farm shed on the edge of Blackberry — a space that not long before had been piled high with broken Christmas decorations that no one could quite commit to the rubbish bin. When I stepped into that single room, I left behind the cushion of things, an oversize closet, kitchen gadgets, a long dining table, and matched sets of comfy chairs. Suddenly unburdened of creature comforts and objects, I had no choice but to meet myself head-on.

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HISTORY | ASK MCGEHEE

What is the story behind Morrison’s cafeteria chain? text by TOM MCGEHEE

In 1918, John Arthur Morrison arrived in Mobile, and according to the city directory, he was employed as manager of the Battle House Coffee Room and resided in the Bienville Hotel. During a subsequent trip to Denver, Morrison observed the popularity of cafeterias and decided to establish one in Mobile.

Attorney George Cabell Outlaw assisted Morrison in obtaining investors. In 1920, Morrison’s Cafeteria opened its doors on the ground floor of the old German Relief Hall at the southeast corner of Conti and St. Emanuel streets. The space had been designed as a banquet hall for the organization, which had disbanded during the anti-German fervor of World War I. The concept of a cafeteria had been around for a while, but Morrison sought to create “a cafeteria that thinks like a restaurant.” White-jacketed waiters carried the customer’s tray to the table, placing the items and removing the tray.

By the spring of 1923, there were Morrison’s Cafeterias in Mobile, Montgomery, Pensacola and Jacksonville. They were advertised as “a fine place to eat — where you get splendid home cooking at popular prices.”

In 1928, the firm incorporated as Morrison Cafeterias Consolidated and began offering stock for public sale. By then, Mobile’s flagship cafeteria had moved into the first floor of the recently remodeled Meaher Building on St. Joseph Street, just a block north of Merchants National Bank and opposite Mobile’s busy post office.

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Above Pictured in 1923, the Meaher Building was the second home to Morrison’s from the mid-1920s until about 1946. PHOTO COURTESY ERIK OVERBEY COLLECTION, THE DOY LEALE MCCALL RARE BOOK AND MANUSCRIPT LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA

An Oasis of Recreation A 1929 advertisement indicated the chain was up to seven locations, stretching from Savannah to Shreveport and south to New Orleans. Diners were invited to “stay awhile after lunch at Morrison’s before going back to the office. Prolong your pleasure, relax and chat. Make your lunch hour an oasis of recreation in the midst of a busy day.”

The 1930 U.S. census listed Morrison as living on Old Shell Road in Spring Hill.

The cafeteria chain president listed the value of his home at $40,000 (in excess of $600,000 today). He had come a long way from a dowdy hotel room.

Morrison’s idea of good, home-cooked food at a reasonable price got the chain through the worst of the Depression. In 1935, breakfast could be had for just five cents, while a special Christmas lunch or dinner was priced at 18 cents.

In 1938, the Morrison behind Morrison’s

sold out and moved to Florida where he and his son created a new chain of cafeterias called M & M. He would die in south Florida in 1973 at the age of 84. It’s unclear if he ever visited Mobile again.

Mobile’s Gulf, Mobile and Ohio office building became home to the local Morrison’s just after World War II. It is this location on the northwest corner of St. Francis and Royal streets that is fondly remembered by many Mobilians.

Turning Away from Downtown In 1967, Morrison opened at Springdale Plaza and a year later announced that it was “turning away from Downtown areas by locating its new cafeterias in the suburbs.”

After closing the Downtown location, the Springdale site was remodeled as the chain’s 154th with a “West Indies look” on the exterior and a 300-seat dining room with “a slightly French motif.”

In 1985, the nation’s largest chain of cafeterias celebrated its 65th anniversary. It had nearly 17,000 employees with a payroll of $162 million. But things were changing, and that same year, 13 locations were shut down. What was left of the company sold out to Piccadilly Cafeteria Inc. in 1998.

While Piccadilly operates the Springdale location today, it has retained the familiar Morrison’s moniker a century after James Morrison’s creation served its first meal. MB

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END PIECE | IN LIVING COLOR

Booker T. Washington, 1905 Photo courtesy Johnson-Allen Mortuary, The Doy Leale McCall Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of South Alabama Colorization by Dynamichrome Limited

Booker T. Washington, known for founding now-named Tuskegee University, rose from slavery to become the foremost speaker and educator on race relations and civil rights during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Keeping a full schedule required annual recuperation.

Here, Washington (pictured fourth from right) and his traveling companions pose after their yearly fishing trip in Coden at the summer home of C.W. Allen (third from right). Allen was Mobile’s most successful black undertaker, and his name is attached to Alabama’s oldest black mortuary, Johnson-Allen Mortuary, which his family still operates.

Coden, the small fishing village near Bayou la Batre, was touted as being a resort town at the turn of the last century. The shoreline was known as the “Coney Island of the South” and was visited by tourists from all over the country, eager to relax and hook tarpons.

Do you live in Coden? How has it changed over the years? Let us know! Email ahartin@pmtpublishing.com.

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