Travel through Billboards // LA comes to the Deep South

Why do we travel? There are too many reasons to list and it's different for all of us. But, within that long list, most of us would say "experiencing another culture" is a major reason. Most humans are fascinated by the way the rest of the world lives. Some of us are blessed with the time, resources, etc. to actually get out of our bubbles of normalcy and observe other cultures through travel. However, we aren't all afforded that luxury, which is one reason I'm obsessed with Los Angeles Nomadic Division's The Manifest Destiny Billboard Project featuring the work of Mario Ybarra Jr. along I-10 in Mobile, AL. The billboards allow anyone passing a billboard to peek into another culture.

Mario Ybarra Jr. (b. 1973, Los Angeles, CA; lives and works in Wilmington, CA) is a visual and performance artist, educator, founding member of Slanguage collective, and activist who combines street culture with fine art to produce site-specific urban interventions that often bring to light little-known aspects of a particular location’s cultural history. Ybarra Jr.’s chapter of The Manifest Destiny Billboard Project uses the artist’s ongoing collection of images of what he calls “barrio aesthetics” in Los Angeles. 

Ybarra Jr. is interested in inserting the daily culture and experience of one city and neighborhood into another, both contrasting and familiar... hence the use of billboards. 

I love the way the fact that the billboards not only gives the public access to art in our daily lives (commute to work, while pumping gas, etc.), but they also give every viewer a little "moment of travel" as you glance into another culture for a split second. 

This week the billboards are making their way from I-10 to downtown Mobile. Where they will make the Centre for the Living Arts their new home for the duration of the Pre-Glo exhibition, April 3 - July 25. If you are near/in/or traveling through Mobile, don't miss this opportunity to "travel through photographs" to the barrios of LA. 

-mrs.h  

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I hope you're decked out in green so you aren't harassed in the office all day. 

{The Friendly Son's of St. Patrick in Mobile's St. Patrick's Day Parade}

As promised in my last post, we are going to make more of an effort to highlight some of our favorite things about our hometown, Mobile, AL... not just the places we travel. And, how appropriate that today is St. Patricks Day... one of Mobile's best celebrations. Most Americans think Boston, Chicago, Savannah, etc. when they think St. Patrick's Day. But, if you want a local, laid back, secretly awesome (at least it's a secret to any non-Mobilians) St. Patrick's Day, head to Mobile. The St. Patrick's Day Parade kicks off the festivities and my favorite place to end the day is with a green beer at Callaghan's Irish Social Club (which is also the home of my all time favorite burger).

{Callaghan's Irish Social Club St. Patty's Celebration} 

I know it's probably too late to make it down to Mobile to celebrate tonight. But, if you're near by, hop in the car and head our way... Mobile would love to have you celebrate with us!

-mrs.h 

on a personal note...

Our apologies for the radio silence. Don't worry, we're still alive. We've just been in a major season of transition. Normally, we stick to telling you about our travels - where to eat, sleep, and play... but things have gotten so busy that we'll fill you in a little. 

To start, let's go back to February of 2013... 

We decided to move back to Mr. H's hometown - Mobile, AL. As you know, we love to travel and we're not scared to do a little "semi-permanent traveling" (a.k.a. moving). We'd lived in 3 different states in our first 3 years of marriage.  At the end of 2012, when we got the itch to move again, our thoughts immediately went to some of our favorite cities... namely, San Francisco and Denver. However, in January of 2013, two amazing opportunities opened up for us in Mobile and we headed southward. 

We'd always known we'd eventually move to Mobile because we think it's a great city with tons of potential (translation: ending up in Mobile was a prerequisite to marrying Mr. H because he has always had a slight obsession with his beloved hometown). But, seriously, Mobile does have tons of untapped potential that's waiting to come into being. For that to happen, we realized our city needed people who are willing be a part of the incubation stages of its progress. So, we packed our bags and headed to bottom tip of Alabama at the beginning of 2013. 

In January, we took some time to reflect on our first year here and it hit us... we'd been so busy traveling that we still hadn't put down roots in the city. And, if you move somewhere with the purpose of seeing that place progress, roots are necessary. Thus, our 2014 resolution was to travel less (which is incredibly strange to say as a two people who feel most alive when we're doing anything related to travel and hospitality). We're not stopping  Mr.&Mrs.H or the blog, but our travels will definitely be less frequent and more confined to the South. Plus, we'll add an extra focus on promoting what is awesome about our city! Hopefully, you'll come visit soon. But, in the meantime, thanks for reading... don't stop. We'll still have great adventures that we'll fill you in on. Also, if you're a hotelier or restauranteur, we'd still love to work with you - our consulting work is simply now confined to the weekends. 

Thanks for the patience and we'll talk soon!

-mrs.h