If you happened to approach downtown Mobile via eastbound I-10 late Saturday morning, you got to see an aspect of the Port City that would have sounded like a pipe dream just a few years ago.
First, you passed a logjam on the exit ramp for Canal Street. There was no mystery about this, as the explanation literally loomed large on the waterfront: the cruise ship Carnival Spirit, which was due to depart in a few hours.
Next, as you descended the off-ramp for Water Street, you had a bird’s-eye view of passengers getting off Amtrak’s Mardi Gras Service train, which apparently had just arrived. Then you hit ground level and joined the swarm of people trying to get to the barricades in time for a series of Mardi Gras parades starting at noon…