Louisiana - Day 7 - Baton Rouge

Cajun Country RV Park
Friday, 7 February 2020

I'd planned a very busy day today that was half sightseeing and half errands.  I'd planned to do things in that order but, when I realized I'd be getting on the highway at about rush hour traffic time, I decided to switch the order.

today's route

Supplies and a Fax
When I got to the far eastern side of town to a section of big box stores, it was too early for Office Depot to be open so I went to a Target while I waited.  All I got there was Prilosec, the over-the-counter substitute for the prescription meds I can't get any more.  Very necessary purchase, though.

Then the Office Depot to use their fax.  I realized a couple of days ago that there's an election coming up and Collin County would be expecting me to vote in person.  So I found the online form to request a Vote-By-Mail ballot, which can be faxed to them but must be followed by the original with original signature, to be received by them within 4 days of the fax.  With the Texas primary on March 3rd, I need to get them the application, after which they'll send a ballot to David's and Anna's house, when D&A will (very generously) forward it to me, and I'll mark my ballot and then somehow get it back in by the deadline.  Time being short, I faxed the application.

While I was in the store I found some plastic envelopes I can put in the notebooks I've made for each state.  I've found these envelopes are really helpful to save tourist brochures and things I want to keep for each state, and I used my last one in Mississippi.  They didn't have what I had before, but I think the substitutes will work okay.

Laundry
Just a few blocks away was a laundromat I'd found online that turned out to be fine.  Clean, reasonable prices, helpful staff, efficient machines.  And clean clothes.  No place to walk the dogs, but I'd walked them before we left the Office Depot parking lot, which had a big side area with grass.

Post Office
I'd managed to arrive at lunch time, so there was only one person at the front counter and a long line.  But she was helpful and efficient and friendly, which I was impressed with.  When I told her I needed that letter to arrive within 4 days, she suggested 2-day delivery instead of regular mail.  More expensive but I really don't want to miss a chance to vote.

Recycling
The post office was about a mile from that recycling place I'd gone to on my first day in the state.  I knew I'd be leaving the area tomorrow and had no idea when I'd be near another recycling center, so I stopped off.  I'd accumulated a bag of recycle stuff in the last week - not all that much but no point in carting it around for who knows how long.

Louisiana Old and current State Capitol Buildings

State Capitol

Old State Capitol

Every time I've seen these buildings I wonder why anyone in their right mind would exchange the character of the old building's design for the obvious phallic symbol of the newer one.  At 34 stories and 450' tall, the new one is the tallest state capitol in the country.

It was the brainchild of Gov. Huey Long.  Elected as a "populist," he said the new building would symbolize the end of "the political domination of Louisiana's traditional social and economic elite."  Maybe so, but it was built in 1930-31, early in the Depression when money was getting scarce.  And sure the old one, built 1849 and renovated in 1882, was getting old and tight on space, but they could have spent a lot less money on fixing those problems than building this new thing.

Though to be fair, while the old one has been called the "best example of Gothic Revival architecture in the South," Mark Twain is among those who were far from impressed.  The old one was built overlooking the Mississippi River, and Twain called it "pathetic" and likely the result of someone reading too much of what he called Sir Walter Scott's "medieval romances."  I like Twain, but I still like this old capitol.

As a side note, Long wanted the building to be finished while he was still governor, but he got elected to the US Senate at about the time construction started in 1930.  He delayed taking his oath of office until 1932, just so he could get the credit instead of his hated rival who was succeeding him.

These photos are off the internet because I couldn't get to a position where I could take photos.  Oddly, I saw the current capitol from exactly that position when Momma and I came through town some years ago.  But when I tried to get there again today, I couldn't do it.  The street I once drove on is now blocked off for reserved parking, with a guard at the entry.

I also tried to go to the nearby Capitol Park Museum, which seems to be a branch of the LA State Museum and looked like somewhere I could get a good overview of the state.  But I have no clue at all where they expect people to park.  There're a few metered on-street parking places, and I assume there's a parking garage hidden somewhere though I never found it.  But their website doesn't mention parking at all and I finally just gave up the idea.  I'd have made more of an effort if I'd had more time here in town, though, because it looked interesting.

Although there's nothing obviously odd about the way downtown is laid out, other than the number of one-way streets, I found I had trouble navigating it and ended up driving a long way north when I wanted to go south, and nowhere at all to turn around.  Frustrating.

Baton Rouge is built right on the Mississippi River.  They've created a park on the levee - you know, why not use the thing since it's there - which turns it from an eyesore into something attractive.  Azaleas are starting to bloom, adding to the tulip magnolias - very pretty.

Aside from the astounding lack of parking space downtown, this seems to be a very liveable city.

LSU
Geaux Tigers - Beat Clemson was on signs all over the area (which they'd just done last month - final score: LSU 42 - Clemson 25).  Apparently folks in the area are still savoring being National Champions, which they deserve to do.

LSU is a large, attractive campus.  Enrollment 30,000.

LSU Law Center

I was stunned to find myself driving alongside this building that says Law Center on the front, stunned because it's so huge.  Looks like a courthouse, not a law school.  In this internet photo, you can't see the street, but that paved area ends at it, so my view of this huge building was up close and personal.  Very impressive.

Actually, I didn't find this building until after I'd gotten very lost.  I drove down the west side of campus and then tried to cut through, only to find another closed street with a guard at the entrance.  What's with all these guardhouses in this town?  Then I couldn't figure out how to cut through anywhere else either.  I'm sure there's ways that people who live here know, but I didn't and once again went a long way out of the way from where I'd intended.  So long, in fact, that I'd been passing through several miles of residential neighborhoods without finding any streets with familiar names.  I was completely out of the area I'd intended to be in.

In desperation I pulled down a side street and into something that may once have been someone's driveway but now didn't seem to lead anywhere.  This neighborhood didn't have any curbs, let alone sidewalks, and the roads were barely 2 cars wide so I was afraid to stop someplace to go fire up my hotspot and my laptop to find out where I was and how to get back.  That's why the map of today's route has those two lines trailing out of the bottom of the map - I went a lot farther than it shows.

When I got turned back around and went back to the campus, I got caught in a tremendous traffic jam.  I don't know why the traffic jam was there, though maybe 1:30 is going-home time on a Friday afternoon at LSU.  I passed by a restaurant called The Chimes, which seems to be a local landmark.  Largest beer selection in town, they claim.  Figures, being right next to a major university.

And from there I managed to get back to our campground again and not to get lost any more.