Congrats on the bowl invite. I haven't been approved to post on your home board so please pass this information along especially with fans making plans now. Feel free to ask me any questions about Mobile and I'll be glad to answer.

First start with hotels. I'd stay downtown if possible as most of the action will be there (parade, pep-rally, bars, restaurants, etc.)

The Hampton Inn is a newer downtown hotel. Request a balcony room which overlooks the Mardi Gras parade

https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/mobdthx...-district/

Another good one is the Hilton Garden Inn - right on Mardi Gras parade route and fun bar. Few years old. Right near bars/restaurants
https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/mobdogi...-downtown/

other downtown hotels:

Marriott Battle House - (the lobby may be under construction)
https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/m...l-and-spa/

Holiday Inn - https://www.ihg.com/holidayinn/hotels/us...oteldetail

The Admiral Hilton - https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/mobcuqq...el-mobile/

Candlewood Suites - https://www.ihg.com/candlewood/hotels/us...US-_-MOBAL

Quality Inn - if you just need a place to crash this is a good spot. Easy and safe walking to all bars/restaurants and balconies/parking lot offers fun party atmosphere
https://www.choicehotels.com/alabama/mob...c=llyxyxpx

Malaga Inn - older downtown hotel
https://malagainn.com/

Restaurants:
Callaghan's Irish Social Club - burgers and beer. Neighborhood bar/restaurant
https://www.callaghansirishsocialclub.com/

Wintzells Oyster Bar - oysters, seafood and fun place
https://www.wintzellsoysterhouse.com/loc...wn-mobile/

Chuck's Fish - make reservations and request a table upstairs. Excellent sushi and fish.
https://www.chucksfish.com/location/chucks-fish-mobile/

NOJA - make reservations if you want a more upscale meal
https://nojamobile.com/

Dumbwaiter - make reservations one our favorite downtown restaurants
http://www.dumbwaiterrestaurant.com/

Felix's Fish Camp - make reservations nice restaurant excellent seafood
https://www.felixsfishcamp.com/

R&R Seafood - more low key but really good po-boys and fried seafood
http://www.randrseafood.com/

Original Oyster House - great for kids, very good fried seafood
https://www.originaloysterhouse.com/

Breakfast - Ruby Slipper, Serda's Coffee, Spot of Tea

Sunday brunch - go ahead & make reservations at Five downtown. Live music and very good brunch food. Nice spot - families welcome. Would be a great spot to start the day. Opens at 10am. NFL on tvs above bar.
https://www.five-bar.com/location/mobile-alabama/

Quick lunch downtown
Moe's BBQ
Loda Bier Garten - burgers!
OK Bicycle Shop

Downtown Nightlife - Mobile allows drinks to be carried around downtown but must be put in plastic cup bars give out at front door

Dauphin Street downtown has tons of bars - something for everyone. All bars are easy and safe walking distance from all downtown hotels
A few I suggest (starting by the river and heading west down Dauphin St)
Veets - across from Riverview Plaza. Hole-in-the wall bar with great live music. Doesn't get going until after 9pm. Older crowd
Loda Bier Garten (I'd start here then bar crawl. Hundreds of beers on tap)
Haberdasher - great drinks, nice crowd
Battle House hotel piano bar
Alchemy Tavern - cool older bar right across the street from Loda Bier Garten. Nice draft beer selection
Pat's - beer specials and fun for fans
Boo Radleys - also beer specials
Serda Brewing
Post - very good drinks
O'Daly's Irish Pub - college crowd (actually three bars connected. live music or dj and drink specials)
The Garage
Moe's BBQ - get a bushwhacker

Moe's BBQ is the last bar on Dauphin Street. You don't want to walk any further than that.


Big events:
Mardi Gras Parade - Saturday night. The parade runs in front of the Hilton Garden Inn, Candlewood Suites, BattleHouse, Hampton Inn and Marriott Riverview Plaza. This is a big parade as floats from many of the parading organizations are included along with the team's marching bands and cheerleaders. It's a lot of fun.
Parade watching note - bring bags for kids so they can keep all of their beads, footballs, stuffed animals etc and watch parade at the Hilton Garden Inn. There is a really nice open air lobby bar so you can enjoy a drink and some food and then watch the parade roll by. It won't be as crowded and is in a safe spot. The crowds in front of the Battle House, Hampton Inn and Riverview Plaza are pretty large and it's the end of the parade so some riders are out of throws.

Pep-Rally and Street Party - Sunday

Game.
Unfortunately the stadium is not great. It's not awful but there's just nothing to see or do around it. Concessions are TERRIBLE. This is probably the last bowl game for Ladd so they really skimp on concessions. Make sure you eat plenty before you go to the game. Beer is sold so that's a plus and your alumni association will probably set up a nice tailgate in the lot.

Parking is limited so get there early unless you want to pay $20 to park in someone's yard. The downtown shuttles are pretty good but lines can be long after the game. There's also a shuttle from Bel Air Mall. You could always Uber.

If you need tailgate supplies, there's a Winn Dixie a few blocks from Ladd Stadium - 1550 Government Street

Things to see/do
USS Alabama
Carnival Museum
Gulf Quest Maritime Museum
Cathedral of Immaculate Conception
Gulf Coast Duck boat tour - http://gulfcoastducks.com/
Gulf Coast Pedal Tours - https://www.gulfcoastpedaltours.com/
Crescent Theater - nice one screen theater https://www.crescenttheater.com/
Bienville Bites downtown food tour - https://www.bienvillebitesfoodtour.com/
Spring Hill College - nice campus and great place to run/walk if weather is nice. Decent golf course open to public
Dauphin Island
Gulf Shores / Orange Beach beaches
Serda Brewing nice place to sit outside and have a few beers if weather is nice


Downtown Fairhope, AL - shopping
- Fairhope Brewery - really good beers
- Sunset Pointe - lunch / really good food
- Wash House - dinner
Grand Hotel - Point Clear, AL park and walk the grounds. Right on Mobile Bay. When walking out to pier continue down boardwalk along the bay. If weather is nice it's a great way to get out and spend a morning or afternoon.
Gulf Shores

Thanks for the info. Two of our last three bowls have been in Mobile so our veteran fans might be familiar, but to newer ones like me this is very helpful. I posted on Hawk Talk.

Absolutely and thanks for making the post

Was in Mobile for Black Friday. Did the USS Alabama, unfortunately GulfQuest and Carnival Museum were closed for the holiday.

Wish I knew about those restaurants as, like you mentioned, Ladd's concessions were as basic as it gets. Ladd is in a sketchy area but Mobile provides a large police presence and you'll feel safe. New stadium will help the bowl. Hidden gem of a city, stadium was the weak spot.

By the science museum, there were some cool Mardi Gras statues as well as an open area with XMas decorations. It was in this area there was a short building you could buy boat tour tickets from.

Miami team hotel and overflow hotel are sold out. Despite the date, it looks like Miami will travel well.

(12-22-2019 02:01 PM)MobileBama1 Wrote:  Miami team hotel and overflow hotel are sold out. Despite the date, it looks like Miami will travel well.

IIRC Miami brought 13K people to Mobile in 2003 and 8K in 2010, both pretty decent numbers for a relatively small FBS public school nearly eleven hours away. The city has a good rep among our fan base.