Jubilee! Post # 55

                It was February of 2008 and I still lived in NYS but had known for the previous four years that I was Alabama-bound.  After realizing that Alabama also lies on the Gulf of Mexico, my lifestyle research about Birmingham was refocused to the coastal towns and cities.  I began calling yacht clubs and bed and breakfasts to get information about life in Southern, Coastal Alabama.

                Calling a B&B in Fairhope, the owner was eager to share his love of this area, particularly Daphne and Fairhope.  He, too, had lived in Upstate New York in the Niagara Falls area and had moved south thirteen years before.  When I asked if the move really made the difference he had hoped in his well-being and outlook in life, he said, “Oh!  Mary Beth, Fairhope is magic!  And so is Daphne!  This whole side of the bay is magic!”   That stuck with me, though I didn’t know how much until I have been able to experience it myself over the years.  I have since moved to Mobile which is on the opposite side of the bay and has magic of its own.   Being that it’s only a 10 – 25 minute drive, depending on where one is going, I ‘cross over’ often, particularly when touring out-of-town guests, or simply when I find myself in need of the captivating beauty that puts me into a dreamlike, happy frame of mind.

                One of the magical things about Daphne is Jubilee, an anomaly that happens in only two places on the planet:  Japan, and Mobile Bay.  

 Daphne prides themselves nationally as being the town of Jubilee.  That is when the bay does something weird, like flips upside down, forcing all the oxygen to the top of the water, thus all the sea life also comes to the top for air.  This means easy catch!  Daphne, which is a few miles up the bay from Fairhope, where one must drive through to get from Mobile to Fairhope, has a jubilee bell.  The natives know that Jubilee happens at certain times of the year and many arm themselves (and their cars) with buckets, nets, ice chests, flash lights, rain boots, and anything else they may need for the occasion.  When the bell goes off, people stop what they are doing and run to the bay to scoop up their seafood dinners, which include crabs, oysters, shrimp, and all kinds of fish.  The newspapers are called and the media is fast on the spot to announce to the world that there is a jubilee going on in Daphne.  That’s what brings the Mobilians over to grab their share.  And now with facebook and twitter, it’s just a matter of seconds before word is out and the seafood frenzy is on. Employees will leave work, and businesses that are not dependent on walk-in customers – will close their doors for a couple of hours while workers dash down to the bay to snag up their catch. 

               

                I imagine dinner tables those evenings are lush with delightful treats, ranging from fried soft-shelled crabs, crab cakes, grilled oysters, and Cajun shrimp, and neighbors are sharing grilled feasts straight out of the bay.  Wine is flowing and people of all ages and walks of life are bubbling with merriment.  A charmed life, it is.  It is magical, whimsical and I imagine that in struggling households, it is like a celebratory feast.  It gives me a much better understanding of the biblical stories about jubilee.  But apparently, it doesn’t just happen in Daphne.  Fairhope boasts of it too, but not so loudly.  And across the bay, let’s hone in on the Buccaneer yacht club in Mobile and hear what they have to say about jubilee.  

One of my favorite, no nonsense Alabamians, Jimmy Wacker, says it like this.  “We get jubilee over on this side of the bay too!  It’s just that we’re not dumb enough to ring a bell and call the news media and tell everybody!  We keep it for those who live and work here!”   And with all the sports fishermen and the families who thrive on the seafood lifestyle, I’m certain that the same jubilation happens with the celebratory dinners in Mobile, just a little less show casing.

                 It seems to happen at different times to each area.  Whether it is shouted to the world, or kept a secret, it is just one more reason why Fairhope (and Daphne) are so enchanting.  And apparently, Mobile is too!  But good luck finding out when it happens until long after the fact!   It’s not uncommon to hear a Coastal Bay Mobilian say, “Oh yeah!  We had a Jubilee a couple weeks ago!”  

http://www.fieldandstream.com/answers/fishing/bass-fishing/where-fish-bass/has-anyone-ever-experienced-jubilee-or-even-heard-it-it