MOBILE, Ala. (The Gulf Coast CW) — A Veteran’s Day parade, a kickoff to Christmas, and a fun slice of history round out your 5 Things to Do This Weekend for November 10-12, 2023.

1- First up, Veteran’s Day is Saturday and festivities kick off at 10am Friday morning with a Veteran’s Day Parade through downtown Mobile. At 3pm, the Veteran’s Day Celebration & Parade of Flags is at the USS Alabama, and the night finishes off with the Mobile POPS Veteran’s Day Concert at the Battleship, that gets underway at 7pm.

2-  Saturday morning, step back in time into the 18th century at the Living History Festival at Fort Conde. Starting at 10am Saturday morning, stations around the historic fort will explore all sides of average Mobile colonial life, from clothing-washing to musket loading, and the best part? It’s completely free!

3- Also on Saturday morning, get a taste of Mardi Gras outside the carnival season, and some yummy chili, too! It’s the Mask Up For A Cure Chili Cook-Off and Mardi Gras Party, hosted by the Order of Isis and Oyster City Brewing Company, benefitting the American Diabetes Association.  If you have a chili recipe you’d like to enter, registration for a team of four is $50. You can also just come for the party and sample the row for $10. 

4- Next, if you like fishing and winning big, you’ll want to enter the Beach Bum Outdoors Surf Fishing Classic. It’s an online tournament, so you fish at your own pace, logging your catches with the Fishing Chaos app at weigh stations from Dauphin Island to Panama City. Registration is just $35 for a chance to win up to $5000! This contest will end on November 30th. 

5- Finally, it might be too early to put up the tree for some folks, but it’s never really too early to start that Christmas shopping. The Junior League is making it easy for you with the Christmas Jubilee 2023, all weekend long at the Mobile Convention Center. You’ll find some of the Gulf Coast’s best holiday shopping all in one place for three days only. The Christmas Jubilee opens at 11am on Friday and Saturday, and 10am on Sunday.