March 7, 2017 - Baton Rouge, LA

It was overcast and the weather app called for 40% chance of rain.  We have few places we wanted to visit today.

We went to downtown Baton Rouge, parked the car, walked up to visit the old State Capitol on North Blvd.  It is an historic government building and is now a museum. The exterior and interior are beautiful.  We took a self-guided tour checking out different rooms.

Antique door lock

Very ornate hinges

Old Governor's Office

Huey Pierce Long, Jr.
40th Governor of Louisiana and U.S. Senator

Per Erwin's niece's recommendation, we had lunch at Frostop. It is a famous landmark in Baton Rouge, was started in 1950's.  The 1950's and 1960's theme and the 1950 Jukebox, still in working order, are inside the restaurant.  We had old fashioned hamburgers with french fries, but did not order the icy/frothy Root Beer.  While the foods were good the place was not spic and span.  

We crossed the bridge over Mississippi River to visit Port Allen, LA.  There was one roadside attraction that I was very curious about: Dude's Trailer Park.  It is a trashy trailer park with many trailers being abandoned.  It looked like nobody lives there now except maybe two or three.

We wanted to see if we can get a good view of Huey Long Bridge while in Port Allen, LA.  We discovered that there is a levee so high that it blocked the view while we were on LA 415 road.   It was around there that we managed to find just a part of the bridge.  

We crossed the bridge again, this time back to Greenville District in Baton Rouge where there are murals.  One is of Harriet Tubman, who was born into slavery, became an American abolitionist and a spy for the U.S. Army during the Civil War.  The other side of the building was a mural of Frederick Douglas, who was also an abolitionist, but became a famous orator and author.  

Not too far from the murals was Roselawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum where Huey Long's son, Rusell Billiu Long, was buried at.  He was a U.S. Senator from 1948 to 1987.  The Memorial Park is very beautiful and well-maintained.

We were on way to visit Spanish Town and Saint Joseph's Cathedral when we spotted several trees that were adorned with Mardi Gras beads.  

Saint Joseph's Cathedral is located in downtown Baton Rouge on Main Street.  It was built in 1853 and had been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was chosen by Pope St. John XXIII to be the Cathedral of the new Diocese of Baton Rouge when this was founded in 1961. 

We had enough time to go visit Louisiana State Capitol. The tour closes at 4:30 but we were there at 2:15 pm.  The tour guide suggested to take the elevator to the observation tower first before touring the interior.  We took the elevator to the 24th floor, then to another elevator up to the observation tower. In spite of the stormy sky the view of Baton Rouge was lovely.

We were curious about Hollywood Casino and wanted to see what it looks like inside.  Oh, it is not a land-based building, but inside a boat or barge.  There is a catwalk leading from outside to the casino floor. We did not stay there very long. Too smoky! 

After we got back to the campground it started to rain hard. Then came the lightning show that lasted for a couple hours.  We received alerts from the weather app warning us of the possible thunderstorm. 

~Edith