A Quick Look at Baton Rouge!

10 March 2010--I found a better license plate today, and also found out a bit more about the state flag. We were told that not only was the pelican the state bird, but that in times of famine the pelican will literally pick off pieces of its breast to feed its babies. So on the flag, the more modern of which show 3 drops of blood around the beak of the pelican as it pecks its breast, the mother is feeding the 3 babies, and that is emblematic of the lengths to which Louisianans will go to help their fellow citizens. How true that is in reality I don't know, but a nice sentiment nonetheless!



We went to downtown Baton Rouge this morning to see some of the historic sites, the 1st one being this State House that was built in 1850. It was in use till 1862, when Union forces occupied it during the Civil War.

The entrance and circular staircase leading upstairs are really pretty and quite colorful.

I put these 2 pics, one on top of the other, to give an idea of what it looks like in person from the 2nd floor.

The House (1st 2 pics) and Senate chambers were different from what we are used to seeing...almost looked more like church gathering rooms. This is another legislature that meets sparingly during the year...depending whether it is a budget year or not, they meet for 85 days and then 60 days every other year. I am starting to think that maybe only Massachussetts meets year round?! haha

At some point during the occupation of the State House, a mysterious fire left the building a skeleton, and it remained that way for 20 years. Ultimately, it was restored and changed somewhat...in color along with a few additions to the building. This building was used until 1932, when a new State House was built.

Just down the street from the Old State House was the Old Governor's Mansion, built at the urging of Governor Huey Long, the most-talked about politician in everything we saw today. His critics claimed that he wanted to be president, so he had this built in the form of the White House.

This church was very pretty on the outside, but very plain on the inside.

This new Capitol building was also built at the urging of Huey Long, and is the tallest state capitol building in the country at 450 ft.

I felt a heavy French flavor in the statues bookending the staircase leading up to the building, but there was nothing I could see that explained anything about any of the statues.

The House and Senate chambers were being renovated so we couldn't see them. All we could see were the main floor and the 27th floor, where we could go out and see the city from the top of the building. Off a hallway to this main entrance area, Huey Long was shot and killed at the age of 42.

Looking out from the top of the building you can see the city center, the grave of Huey Long on the Capitol grounds, and the mighty Mississippi River!

Just down the street from the Capitol building was the State History Museum...a really interesting museum in that it covered everything from the Mississippi River to slavery, from commerce to steamboats, from the civil rights movement to Mardi Gras! Did we know that 40% of the continental US drains into the Mississippi?

We walked along the river to check out one of the riverboat casinos.

This is looking back at the city from the deck of the riverboat.

On to Baton Rouge!

9 Mar 2011--Before I start on our Louisiana trip, I wanted to address the Paul Lynde story again from my last blog. Just so you know, I probably saw that particular show 40-45 years ago, but have never forgotten it. Paul placed himself front and center of where the TV tube would be inside the TV and said that "I've been framed!" comment..to this day it cracks me up. So when I looked up and saw Cathy back there, I immediately laughed and insisted she wait till I could get the camera. Needless to say, she didn't think it was as funny as I did, but she did play along for me...even going so far as to get back behind the TV casing so I could take the picture. What a sport!!!

So, we drove about 480 miles between yesterday and today; 400 of them yesterday before we finally stopped for the night. We are staying in Port Allen, basically a suburb of Baton Rouge, and a town named after Henry Watkins Allen, a plantation owner and the last Confederate Governor of Louisiana during the Civil War.

Although the state license plate is boring, the state flag is sort of interesting. All I know so far is that it is based on the state seal, but I have no idea why it has a pelican with 3 babies on it, or why the words Union, Justice and Confidence are there. I can see the 1st 2 words, but Confidence???

Interstate 10 from Texas to Florida is a pretty boring drive, but for those of you who haven't ever driven it, there is a bridge called the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge that runs 18.2 miles over swampland that is pretty cool. It is the 10 largest bridge in the world, and the 6th largest over a body of water. And notice all these 18-wheelers on it! If you are wondering why your grocery bills are going thru the roof, these trucks carry everything from food to furniture, and they all run on diesel like my RV; diesel gas prices are going crazy!

These swamplands are all you can see on either side of the bridge...They make me think of the movie "Deliverance"! I just know someone is up to no good in there somewhere!

Very prominent on every corner in every town you go thru are the casinos. Even part of every gas station...I guess they figure you will play to try to pay some of the gas bill!

In this little town I saw this sign urging Catholics to return to the church...I thought it was really bizarre until I turned on the TV tonight and saw a segment showing that the Archdiocese in Boston is urging their Catholics to come home...must be a nationwide push!!! (I also heard on TV tonight that Newt Gingrich, even before he converted to Catholicism, got the church to annul his 2nd marriage so that he could get married for the 3rd time in the church--I am not sure I want to belong to any organization that would have him! haha)

This is the RV park we are staying at...still very wet from all the storms they have had over the past few days.

A few state fun facts that I saw at the Visitor's Center, like Louisiana became the 18th state in the union in 1812, but didn't have their official state flag until 1912. Makes me wonder why it took them 100 years to come up with that pelican theme? haha

We'll be going to the Capitol and maybe one or two plantations over the next 2 days, so stay tuned! And Julie, we might even go to the Angola State Prison Museum if we have time...that is one of the ones you always watch on "Lockup, Raw!" It is about an hour away, so we shall see.