Baton Rouge, LA

We camped in Denham Springs, LA a half hour drive from Baton Rouge.   It's a great area - nice campground and easy access to the Interstates and Baton Rouge.   Our first full day was Friday.   We were BUSY!

The Capitol - Built in 1932 by Huey Long who wanted his capitol to be the highest in the USA.   The layout is very similar to the Capitol in Nebraska.   Nebraska was building at the same time, and theirs was 400 ft. high.   Huey decided his should be 450 Ft. high, and remains the tallest capitol in the USA!   We made this our first stop.   The grounds are beautiful.   The building was overrun with elementary school children (several classes - VERY LOUD!).   We had a tour of the main floor - the House of Representatives and the Senate and our guide explained the various types of marble used and told us about the bomb that was set off in the building and the killing of Huey Long.   We took the elevator to the 27th floor observation deck and enjoyed the view of the city.

We hopped the Capitol Street Car and took it to the Old Governor's Mansion also built by Long who had dreams of becoming President of the US one day.   It Is a smaller version of the DC White House with east and west wings, an oval office, rose garden....etc.   

Lunch was at Lloyd's Po Boy restaurant and we shared a catfish Po Boy for lunch.   Very good!

After lunch we walked to the Old State Capitol where Union soldiers had been billeted during the Civil War and where a careless cooking fire destroyed the entire inside, but left the gothic external shell.   In 1882 the city rebuilt the Capitol and used it until Huey moved the government into the new capitol in 1934.   It feel into ruin again, and was rescued in 1992 and is now a museum and gift shop.   

Saturday -  We found a New York Bagel Co. restaurant near LSU and stopped there for breakfast (thinking of our Bruegger's friends!).   We ran into St. Paddy's Day Parade traffic and that slowed us down getting back on the Interstate for the remainder of our trip into downtown.
We spent the whole day at the Capitol Park Museum.  What a wonderful museum!   We saw a shrimp boat and Mardi Gras float, exquisite costumes worn by members of the krews, listened to Louis Armstrong play his great music, listened to Huey Long rant, enjoyed information on the various areas of the state, it's music and traditions.    

We learned that Baton Rouge was named for a red pole found by the explorers landing in the area.   The pole was red and had animal horns and skins hanging from it.   

Also visited the St. Joseph Cathedral.   A tradition here in LA in the St. Joseph's table usually held on the weekend prior to the feast of St. Joseph on March 19.   Local parishes  bake cookies and fix a huge Italian meal for the poor, the shut-ins, the hospitalized and invite all to come and eat in honor of St. Joseph.   The Sicilians believe that at a time when they were starving in Sicily they prayed to St. Joseph and their suffering was ended.   The people today continue to have elaborate altars in their homes loaded with goods and treats for that day.  

Sunday -  The USS KIDD DD-661 was our last tour of this visit.   The Destroyer is a restored WWII Fletcher class destroyer, one of the last of it's era.   It was hit during WWII, killing 38 and injuring 90.   The ship also served in the Korean War.   It was dry docked in 1954.   At the same location is the Veterans Memorial and Museum with a Hall of Honor honoring veterans from Louisiana from WWII to today.   The ship brought back some great memories of Jack's time in the Navy.