Mobile, Alabama doesn't get the street cred of other historic southern tourism towns like Savannah, New Orleans, and Charleston. Perhaps it's the massive shipping industry that lends an industrial vibe to some, but consider that Mobile is steeped in history. It was founded in 1702 by the French as the first capital of Louisiana. It's host to a massive concentration of historic architecture. And even though New Orleans somehow became the Mardi Gras capital of the world, Mobile invented the Mardis Gras parade and has been running an organized Carnival longer than anyone else in the US. Its French Catholic colonial settlers celebrated this festival from the first decade of the 18th century.

You could easily spend a week soaking in the Mobile area. We did that earlier this year, and on the outskirts of town, we found one attraction that rose above all the rest. 65 acres of year-round floral pageantry in a Southern estate garden like no other: The Bellingrath Gardens & Home.