After five days of nearly continuous activity, today needed to be at a slower pace. I slept in, wrote and leisurely packed. Once I finally got moving, it was just over an hour drive to Louisiana’s capital, Baton Rouge (or Red Stick in translation).
As I’d passed through Baton Rouge before but never spent any time there, a brief stop seemed like a good idea. A few facts I learned from the tourism office and a bit of reading from the pile of literature they gave me:
• The Louisiana State Capitol is the tallest state capitol in the U.S., at 450 feet high and 34 stories tall.
• It is believed that the old state capitol is haunted by the ghost of a senator who collapsed and died in the building after a heated debate about gambling.
• Many universities have a tiger as their mascot, but the LSU Baton Rouge campus is home to a live tiger.
I ate lunch at Poor Boy LLoyd’s Seafood Restaurant, written up in several foodie sites as an authentic local hangout with great food—true on both counts. The catfish was light and fluffy and the people watching sublime. From there I strolled around downtown a bit, including a walk on the Mississippi levee.
Then back in the car heading to Lafayette. That section of I-10 is an amazing piece of engineering. For many miles the road is suspended high above the ground. Known as the Atchafalaya Swamp Freeway, there is an 18-mile bridge across the Atchafalaya River and its accompanying swamp.
The car’s gas level was getting low, so I exited to fill up. I realized I’d pulled off at Breaux Bridge, the town where my friends live. I’ll be spending the weekend with them. As I couldn’t check in at the B&B until 4pm, I spent an hour hanging out with Liz and Leo and making plans for the next few days.
I will be spending two nights at Maison Mouton in Lafayette. It’s a beautifully restored series of buildings dating back to 1821. My room is huge, with a bed that is so high a step is needed to get onto it. The grounds are lovely and the proprietor charming and helpful.
Dinner was with my host from the Lafayette Travel Company, Kaylie LeBlanc. At Park Bistro Lafayette we ate a delicious meal and had a great talk. When we were ordering, the appetizers and sides looked so good we decided to order several to share and skipped the entrees. We both especially loved the crispy brussels sprouts with lemon aioli. The flourless chocolate cake for dessert was divine.