At Wintzell's, over on Dauphin Street, a 70-something agent sits at the busy counter with other lunch-time regulars. Dressed in a seersucker suit and red bow tie, he finishes a platter of raw oysters and volunteers advice to the woman taking his place. "Get the seasoned oyster stew," he says. "They put in green onion and a little paprika. Really makes it good."
An oyster shucker bids good-bye to the dapper man, then offers friendly info to the newcomer: "He's an attorney. Been comin' in here for 50 years."
Since 1938, Wintzell's Oyster House has lured locals and tourists to Lower Dauphin Street (called LoDa), near the water. The draw could be Wintzell's walls of corny signs, but more likely it's the fresh bivalves and piping-hot fried things. Either way, the spot ranks among many attractions that entertain visitors for days in a city that celebrated its 300th birthday last year.
Viewed from Mobile Bay, the natural waterfront's appeal is diluted by swaths of asphalt attesting to so-called progress of the 1960s and '70s. "In the vanguard of urban renewal of that time, we lost a lot," says George Ewert, director of The Museum of Mobile. Get over that, literally and figuratively, and visit downtown's charms that predate New Orleans architecture and echo that of Charleston and Savannah.
