The Better of Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Massive cats, magnificence pageants, and blues. These are simply among the finest issues to do in Baton Rouge. The capital of Louisiana exhibits its historic ties to French exploration and Native People in its identify, Baton Rouge. When Pierre Le Moyne Sieur d’Iberville first got here to the world in 1699 he discovered a crimson pole alongside the Mississippi River that marked the dividing line between the Houmas and Byougoula Indigenous territories. He named the place Baton Rouge, that means Pink Stick, and it’s since grown to be the second-largest metropolis within the state of Louisiana. 

The Better of Baton Rouge

On my fourth go to to Louisiana, I needed to discover Baton Rouge so I left New Orleans for the 90 minute drive to this lovely metropolis. Leaving New Orleans, you may meander alongside one in all America’s nice highways, Louisiana’s River Highway. In case you do, make sure that and cease at Whitney Plantation Museum, the one plantation that focuses on the lives of enslaved individuals, telling their tales by way of sculpture and artwork. 

Or you can take the extra direct route on Freeway 10. The 80-mile drive can take you an hour and a half, or one or two days should you cease at each mom-and-pop diner and wedding-cake plantation. That drive alone can change your life and make you fall in love with Louisiana. It did it for me. 

Miss Baton Rouge pageant

Rolling as much as the Baton Rouge Marriott, I discovered the foyer filled with younger girls decked out in fluffy tulle skirts and sparkly tiaras. They have been collaborating within the Miss Baton Rouge pageant and hoping to make their approach to the Miss Louisiana pageant, and who is aware of how a lot additional, at some point.

Within the meantime, their mothers have been glad to speak and clarify that each little lady deserves to shine. It was enjoyable to trip within the elevators with these charming little girls, who left a path of glitter in every single place, on the best way as much as my snug resort room. The Baton Rouge Marriott is a resort of selection for these bevies of well-behaved pageant members.

Tiger Stadium at Louisiana State College

One other vital dividing line could be discovered mid-field at Louisiana State College’s Tiger Stadium. Billed because the loudest stadium within the USA, the cheers from the group in a 1988 sport in opposition to Auburn College triggered an earthquake studying on the seismograph on the campus geoscience complicated.

At 102,321 seats, LSU is the eighth largest stadium on the earth. On each sport weekend, all the campus is taken over by tailgate events the place followers compete for the very best spots to arrange transportable grills, snap out the garden chairs, and crack open just a few chilly beers. Marching bands and wannabe mascots decked out within the workforce’s colours of purple and gold parade by way of the grounds whereas buddies and households munch on shrimp and grits, grilled meats of all shapes, and crab stuffed po’boy sandwiches. Try: Conventional New Orleans Dishes

Mike the Tiger

Proper throughout from the stadium is the enclosure the place you’ll discover Mike the Tiger, Mike VII, to be exact. He’s a 345-pound Bengal/Siberian cross rescue tiger who was dropped at the habitat in 2017. He continues the lengthy lineage of Mikes, starting with Mike I who arrived in 1936. The latest incarnations of Mike have all come from huge cat rescue shelters throughout the US. His habitat is spectacular.

The 15,000-square-foot surroundings features a dwell oak tree, a waterfall, and a stream for Mike to chill off in. There are many crops and bushes to cover behind, and a particular consolation rock that’s robotically heated or cooled as wanted, to maintain Mike snug. Along with hanging out, Mike takes half in tiger analysis, conservation, and husbandry applications. Not a foul life. A full-size bronze statue of Mike guards the doorway.

The LSU Museum of Artwork

LSU’s affect could be seen all through Baton Rouge. The LSU Museum of Artwork has everlasting and rotating displays with an emphasis on Southern artists, and a number of other neighborhood artwork applications. However I used to be itching to see one of many college’s different tasks, the LSU Rural Life Museum & Windrush Gardens.  

LSU Rural Life Museum

I’m undecided if the LSU Rural Life Museum and Windrush Gardens are at all times as quiet as they have been after I visited, however this can be a nice outside museum and effectively price just a few hours of your time. In actual fact, it was named one of many High 10 Outside Museums within the World by the British Museum. It holds essentially the most spectacular assortment of Louisiana’s historic structure that I’ve ever seen and the most important assortment of 18th and Nineteenth-century buildings within the state. As I wandered on the gravel paths, I used to be reminded of the spectral visions of the 2 girls of Versailles. I didn’t see any ghosts, however I wouldn’t have been shocked to see some.

This was by no means a grand, white-pillared, plantation house. It was a household farm of round 400 acres that what bought by the Burden household in 1861 who ultimately donated it to LSU. There are three sections to the museum. The Working Plantation, People Structure, and The Exhibit Barn.

At The Working Plantation, the lives of enslaved persons are introduced into sharp focus by the buildings that they lived and labored in. The wonderful state of the buildings is because of the cypress wooden used of their building. It’s naturally sturdy, doesn’t rot, and is insect and water resistant. In consequence, there was no want to color them and so they proceed to take a seat, strong and gray, open to guests and the climate. The Overseer’s Home dominates the quadrant that comprises the slave cabins, the sugar grinder, the kitchen, blacksmith’s store, and the commissary. 

The People Structure part has a lovely rustic church with painted home windows as a substitute of stained glass, a pioneer’s cabin, and a breezy dogtrot home. A superb instance of a so-called Shotgun Home, lengthy and slender with rooms off a single hall, stands subsequent to the street, surrounded by rose bushes. This model of house is widespread in New Orleans. The Acadian home has a ladder that results in the second flooring garçonnièrethe place the boys had their bedrooms as soon as they grew to become teenage terrors. 

It’s straightforward to spend a number of hours right here, particularly should you go to the Exhibit Barn that has shows and artifacts from the times of early Louisiana, by way of the Civil Struggle, Reconstruction, and the Industrial Revolution. There’s additionally a big assortment of horse-drawn carriages, farming tools, and instruments. 

Windrush Gardens

Windrush Gardens is the working analysis backyard adjoining the museum and a spot of nice magnificence with three miles of strolling paths by way of Burden Woods. Rose lovers will admire the specialty specimens within the Rose Backyard. There’s a boardwalk over Black Swamp, a Youngsters’s Backyard, and bushes and flowers not discovered anyplace else within the state. Gardeners will wish to linger.

Sammy’s Grill

After my go to, it was time for lunch. I finished in at Sammy’s Grill on Highland, a neighborhood favorite for Louisiana crawfish and Gulf shrimp and oysters. Together with wealthy gumbo and scrumptious crawfish etouffee over rice, additionally they serve alligator, fried or blackened, and typical Southern sides like grits, or crimson rice and beans.

I opted for a crawfish boil, a standard dish with potatoes and corn on the cob. Crawfish get greater because the climate warms from February to Could, with Easter usually being prime time for these freshwater crustaceans. They style like a cross between shrimp and lobster and make an ideal meal, when you launch them from their shiny crimson jackets. 

Louisiana Outdated State Capitol

After lunch, I used to be off to the Louisiana Outdated State Capitol for a lesson in politics. Mark Twain was not a fan of this Nationwide Historic Monument that stands on the banks of the Mississippi. He known as it “a bit sham citadel”.  After all, being a world traveler and having seen loads of real castles might have influenced his view. In any case, on this one occasion, I have to disagree with one in all my favorite journey writers. The Outdated State Capitol is spectacular in its means. It’s a mash-up of Gothic and Victorian structure that emerged after it was partially destroyed by a fireplace after the Civil Struggle. 

The foyer is dominated by an ornate round forged iron staircase and lit in confetti colors by a unprecedented round glass dome overhead that dates to 1882. Off the foyer, a brief movie known as “Ghost of the Fort” tells the historical past of the constructing. Painted Moorish arches result in exhibition areas.

Governor’s Workplace and Reception Room

Within the Governor’s Workplace and Reception Room, issues have principally stayed the identical because the flip of the century, aside from the interactive podium that options speeches by former governors, together with Huey Lengthy. A everlasting exhibition delves into his controversial legacy. He was a left-wing Democrat who criticized Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal for not going far sufficient to assist the poor.

As a Senator, he took on Normal Oil and Wall Avenue whereas advocating for a tax on the rich. Bellicose and belligerent, he as soon as declared “I’m the Structure”, when challenged on some extent of legislation. He was assassinated in 1935 on the age of 42 by a relative of a political opponent. His fascinating journey by way of Louisiana politics is revealed by way of the interactive shows. An adjoining exhibition offers with the historical past of voting and the democratic course of.

USS KIDD Veterans Museum

Take the spiral staircase as much as the second flooring to see the unique Senate and Home chambers, full with their very own stained-glass home windows. This was the place the place Louisiana famously seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy in 1861. Group excursions take you even greater up, to the rooftop of the constructing with a sweeping view of the Mississippi and the USS KIDD Veterans Museum.

This World Struggle II restored Destroyer is the one ship within the US Navy that’s allowed to fly the cranium and crossbones pirate flag, on the request of the widow of Rear Admiral Isaac Campbell Kidd, Sr.  He was killed aboard the USS ARIZONA throughout the Japanese assault on Pearl Harbour. The floating museum is free to the general public, and you’ll go to all the vessel from stem to stern on all ranges.

Baton Rouge Blues Pageant

I used to be shooed out of the Capitol constructing at closing time and crossed the road to search out the Baton Rouge Blues Pageant in full swing. This free two-day occasion has been held each spring since 1981, with a brief break for the pandemic.  It celebrates “swamp blues”, a homegrown Baton Rouge selection. 4 phases are scattered across the downtown mall, with loads of shade, cool drinkables and snacks available.

Nikki Hill, of Montreaux and Monterey Jazz Pageant fame, closed out the present as a part of her world tour. In April 2023, headliners will embrace the sacred soul and gospel singer Elizabeth King of Memphis and the blues and r&b group Tommy Castro & the Painkillers together with many others. There’s some seating available, and the dance flooring is at all times full of music lovers of all ages. 

Mid Metropolis Beer Backyard

I wrapped up my go to to Baton Rouge with a go to to Mid Metropolis Beer Backyard, an ethereal courtyard house with over 50 beers on faucet, together with their very own specialty brews. The boudin balls have been calling so I needed to verify them out. A Louisiana appetizer and all-around consolation meals, they’re made with rice, meat, and savoury spices, rolled into balls and coated with breadcrumbs. The deep-fried result’s a crispy shell and a moist inside that’s irresistible.

Dare you to eat only one. They’re so beloved that Louisiana has its personal Cajun Boudin Path you could observe by way of the state.  Boudin is made as a sausage or as boudin balls, and every recipe is exclusive. Subsequent up was the home particular – a cheese sandwich, however not simply any cheese sandwich. This one boasted six sorts of cheese on a rosemary focaccia bun and it was scrumptious. Then it was again to my resort for an excellent evening’s sleep. Baton Rouge will at all times be a profitable contestant in my journey magnificence pageant. 

Debra Smith was a visitor of Louisiana Journey. As at all times, her opinions are her personal. Go to the Louisiana Journey web site for extra data on Baton Rouge and different great cities in Louisiana. For extra tales by Debra, go to her web site at WhereToLady.com And observe her travels on Instagram @the place.to.girl  and on Fb