The Mobile Carnival Museum is housed in a beautifully restored antebellum townhouse on Conti Street and does a thorough job of explaining Mobile's three-century-old Mardi Gras tradition. The exhibits cover the history of the mystic societies, the elaborate costumes and regalia, the royal courts, and the parade traditions that predate anything New Orleans put on.
The costumes on display are extraordinary — jewelled gowns, outsized crowns, and theatrical fantasy-wear that give a sense of the scale and seriousness of Mobile's Carnival culture. It is not a tourist-kitsch museum but a serious local institution that treats the subject with pride. Allow 90 minutes.