written march 10, 2010 - first impressions on first exposure to downtown mobile
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mobile.
A city on the gulf coast.
not florida. not mississippi.
there is a strange character to this city. a wariness in the inhabitants that watch alien things with furrowed brows and anxious eyes. people mutter to themselves when anything abnormal crosses their path, blaming youth, social progress, or wealth for the inconvenience in their routine existence.
The closer one gets to the highrises, the more one sees the starched white sleeves and pressed jackets of the business world. There is an invisible line they will not cross in order to protect their status as lords of the realm. Peasant dirt does not wipe easily from the pampered skin of royalty.
Architecture is unlike anything I have seen in person. There is the typical feel of the south, but not country like Nashville. The buildings are low to the ground and the abandoned structures await the inevitable wrecking balls of renovation and modernization. Windows are watchful eyes on the streets below, hiding innocent and guilty faces behind the same honest pane. The street is the stage and the audience gazes from balconies with excitement and revelry.
