Bellingrath Gardens

Today was a day off for the company. After a relaxing morning I headed off for the Bellingrath Gardens, the site of a house/museum and extensive grounds located just outside of Mobile. (It was so nice of the opera company to provide me with a car.) After a brief stretch on the Interstate headed west, towards Pascagoula (just love that name -- it's so Southern!) one turns south along the coast of Mobile Bay. The Bellingrath house was completed in 1935. Mr. B acquired the franchise for Coca-Cola in South Alabama in 1903 and made a fortune off of it. People must have been drinking a whole lotta coke back then too. While Mr. B raked in the dough Mrs. B went on a marathon shopping spree. The house itself, although it was built from bricks and iron work salvaged from fine homes in Mobile that were (sadly) demolished, is not at all impressive. Though it is big -- something like 10,000 square feet with three dining rooms. Evidently the Bellingraths liked to entertain. The place is crammed with furniture and various objets d'art. Mrs. B was inordinately fond of porcelain, the Meissen and Sèvres kind. The furniture, while of superior quality, is late Victorian, dark and heavy. There was a collection of nine complete dinner services. The silverware had a room of its own. The tour of the house was led by a lovely lady with a drawl so thick you could have spread it on biscuits. It was delightful. Due to the unusually cold winter everything is behind schedule in the gardens. The azaleas should be out but they have barely begun. Nevertheless it was a treat to see tulips, daffodils and hyacinths. The Japanese magnolias are in full bloom and they are glorious. Today it was in the mid 70's, just perfect weather for an outing.