Things To Do In Mobile

Dancing raises your heart rate, gets you in contact with other people, and imbues your body with grace. Because of these physical and social benefits, David Miner Ballroom recommends dance classes for everyone. Its swing, salsa, rumba, and Brazilian dance classes combine energetic rhythms with basic instruction to ensure every student knows their way around the dance floor. For special choreography, a wedding dance, or a lesson in leading lemmings away from nearby cliffs, private classes give students one-on-one time with an experienced instructor.

• Two reserved-seating football tickets to see the University of South Alabama vs. Lamar University at Ladd-Peebles Stadium on September 10 (a $30 value) • Four upper-bowl tickets to see one men's basketball game of your choice during the upcoming 2011–2012 season at the Mitchell Center (a $20 value)

Seeking to enrich the world with professional opera and musical presentations, Mobile Opera is launching its 65th season by staging Leonard Bernstein's popular operetta based on Voltaire's 1759 novella Candide, which features such jovial singables as "Glitter and Be Gay" and "Make Our Garden Grow."

Every four to five weeks, Improv Comedy Underground puts on an unscripted, interactive show filled with spontaneous jokes and side-tickling chortles. Each show consists of a group of improvisational performers who participate in a series of wit-testing games led by a host and audience suggestions. Because of the on-the-fly nature of the hour-long shows, the content isn't always predictable and may contain adult language and humor, so it's not recommended for young children or stoic philosophers in the midst of vision quests.

A Greek revival manse nestled in a grove of oak trees, Oakleigh's foundations were laid nearly two centuries ago in the mind of a Virginia-born cotton broker named James W. Roper. Ground was broken in the land in 1833, and the Irwin family purchased the property in 1852; it stayed in the same family until 1916. Today, the estate embodies an open-air time capsule of the period complete with furniture, historic artifacts, and an extensive art collection. Size: 35 acres, three buildings, 181 years of history Eye Catcher: the home guides, who dress in era-appropriate costumes The Building: Mobile's official period house museum, the T-shaped mansion has hosted writers, actors, presidents-to-be, and their Best Friends Forever Crown Jewel: the main building is full of special pieces, including period silver, porcelain, paintings, and personal items Don't Miss: the Cox-Deasy cottage, a simple building that demonstrates what the working-class lifestyle was like Special Programs: since 2008, the Oakleigh Belles program has trained high school students to act as docents and guides at the estate

Built in 1857, the Southern Market/Old City Hall building served as home to three groups: the mayor and his city council meetings, several local militias, and a food market. Since then, the Italianate building has been deemed a national landmark, and its tenants have been whittled down to one: History Museum of Mobile. With its permanent exhibitions, the museum preserves more than 300 years of Mobile history, starting with the city's first Native American inhabitants. Interactive exhibits and artifacts—including antique silver and a cannon recovered from the CSS Alabama, which sunk during an 1864 battle—usher guests all the way to the present day. Along with its mainstay exhibitions, the museum hosts events dedicated to film screenings, lectures, and debunking myths purported by Magic 8 Balls. History Museum of Mobile team has also helped open two other historical sites in town, including the Phoenix Fire Museum, which houses horse-drawn steam engines.