Carpe Diem

Mobile, Alabama is the city of my birth. This past year I ran my marathon PR here and although I have never really been a part of the Mobile community I love to ride through it's winding streets and hear my Dad's stories about growing up in downtown Mobile.



Just outside of Mobile's downtown is a historic neighborhood called Springhill. Springhill's historic homes and winding avenues are shaded by tall oak trees and it is home to a small Jesuit college, Springhill College. I visited Springhill during my senior year in college before I settled on Rollins. Across the street from Springhill is Carpe Diem, a small wooden house with a front porch that has renovated and transformed into a coffee shop. When I'm in Mobile I usually try to come into Carpe Diem for a cup of coffee and chocolate covered espresso beans that I buy out of machine for a quarter. Students from Springhill and the University of South Alabama, which is nearby, seem to come through these doors often to have a cup of coffee, talk or use the free wireless. Several adjoining rooms, leather chairs, a fire place and the smell of roasting coffee give Carpe Diem an inviting atmoshpere. Even on a Tuesday afternoon in the middle of summer time Carpe Diem is hoping. This is most likely due to the fact that it is conveniently located so near to two universities and has established itself as Sprignhill's local coffee shop. Southerners are slow to change and seem to respect their institutions and Carpe Diem has become an institution that will most likely remain for some time to come.