For 18 miles we are on an interstate built on stilts over the water. Trucks have a speed limit of 55 and must stay in the right hand lane. We were feeling very truck-like and fell into line behind the 18-wheelers.
Our next stop was another two hour drive to the state capitol city of Baton Rouge. We found a quiet little campground that is run by the city and is next door to the Farr Equestrian Park. The view from our big windshield were the corrals, horse stables, and indoor arena. Nice!
But the favorite part of our stay here was a big surprise. We had no idea that this little park connected to a bike trail that would take us for miles of smiles. The first evening we found we could ride to a trail on top of the levee that separated the city of Baton Rouge from the Mississippi River. We read that this trail was closed last month when the river was at flood stage. But today it was open and gave us perfect views of the mighty Mississippi and her watercraft. Not familiar with river traffic, we were surprised to see barges and the connected tugboats "parked" along both sides of the river for the two days we were riding this trail. There were very few boats or barges actually traveling down the big river. The tug boats were idling around the clock to keep the barge from moving backwards with the current.
We rode two miles north and got a nice view of the Louisiana State University campus.
Another two miles brought us to the bridge that we had used to cross the Mississippi river to get to Baton Rouge.
Another two miles brought us to downtown Baton Rouge with views of the Old Capitol's stained glass windows shining as the sun was sinking low in the sky.
The next day we had planned to tour several areas of the city, but parking is always a problem on a week-day downtown. So we decided to use our bicycles for transportation in the city. That was a great decision because some of the downtown parking spaces were already closed off and multiple television trucks were taking up more spots. It seems that we weren't the only out-of-towners visiting Baton Rouge today. Donald Trump was giving a speech at the River Center at 7 p.m., and we saw people lined up for blocks at 3 p.m.
Since we are on a limited budget, our Baton Rouge tour included all free attractions. We started with the Louisiana Old State Capitol, that beautiful building that resembles a castle that we had taken a picture of the night before. We were greeted with a majestic winding staircase and could see straight up to the stained glass dome.
Entering the Old Capitol is free, but there is usually a charge for the multi-media film that tells the history of the building (from the viewpoint of the resident castle ghost). But we were lucky, as they were showing it for free today. Produced by one of Disney's film makers, it was a top-notch 3D experience that was educational as well as entertaining.
We learned that Union troops had camped on the lawn during the Civil War, and had carelessly set it on fire. Later it was a neglected party place for LSU students. Looking at its beautiful interior, the people of Louisiana should be proud of their efforts of bringing it back to its original grandeur. This is a close-up of the stained glass dome,
and more of that winding staircase.
The bottom floor houses a Mississippi museum, while the top floor makes a beautiful venue for weddings and other formal events. This was once the meeting room for the state legislators, but is now a gorgeous backdrop for wedding photos. This was the stained glass we could see glistening in the setting sun the night before.
There was also a children's activity room, with coloring pages and photo ops for the kids. We took advantage of this room to see how Mark would look as a founding Father.
We bought lunch from a downtown food truck--pulled pork, okras and tomatoes, and cheese spaghetti. Delicious! Fueled for our walk downtown, we headed to our next stop--the current Louisiana state capitol. The tallest capitol building in the United States, it is 450 feet high. Denisa took this picture of the skyscraper capitol with one of her new favorite flowers in front--camellias that are blooming right now.
Built in the 1930's, it took only 14 months to complete the building. We had to take this picture from a distance to get all 34 stories into one picture. You can barely see Mark standing on the front steps.
It's a little easier to see him now, standing on the 46th step of the front staircase. Each step leading up to the capitol has a state name engraved on it, in the order they became a part of the United States. Beginning with the 13 original colonies at the bottom of the staircase, Mark is standing on Oklahoma's (46th) step. There are only 48 steps, because Alaska and Hawaii weren't yet states when the capitol was built.
We enjoyed our tour of the capitol, including the ornate Memorial Hall. We also saw the back hallway where Mississippi's controversial politician--Huey P. Long--was assassinated not long after the building was finished.
We found that the Mississippi legislators will be back in special session on Sunday afternoon. The newly elected politicians are faced with serious budget shortfalls that must be addressed. It sounds like the falling oil prices are affecting other states.
Part of our capitol tour was a trip out to the observation deck on the 27th floor. From there we could see more boats on the Mississippi.
Even though we have driven north to get here, we had a beautiful day to go sight-seeing. It's nice to see that we are still far enough south to see palm trees.
We headed back to our camp site via the Louisiana State University campus. We always enjoy visiting another university.
We especially enjoy a university with a live mascot like a tiger. This is the best picture we could take of the fifth tiger named Mike that has cheered for LSU. Tigers usually sleep 20 hours each day, and he was exhibiting his best sleeping posture while we were there.
So our only chance for a good LSU tiger picture was the statue out front. It looks like Mark has a tiger by the tail today.
Our legs were tired from two long bike rides and lots of walking around Baton Rouge today. But we had a great time getting to know Louisiana's capitol city. We have been blessed by another beautiful weather day. The sun was setting over the mighty Mississippi as we headed back to our home at the Equestrian park.
cfimi.com
ReplyDeleteYD5S