Archive >> Zachary >> March/April 2009 >> My Mother must have been frightened by a Grey Line Tour Bus, because I enjoy playing tour guide way too much
12/Mar/2009
An Editorial
My Mother must have been frightened by a Grey Line Tour Bus, because I enjoy playing tour guide way too much
I love taking people for their first visit to the observation deck of Louisiana’s “tallest” state capitol building. We always look down on Huey Long’s tomb, the Arsenal Museum and the Pentagon Barracks. From up there you get a beautiful view of the Mississippi River and Old Downtown Baton Rouge. On the horizon you can see Tiger Stadium and the Assembly Center on the LSU Campus. On the other side of the Capitol you see the Exxon Refinery, the world’s second largest oil refinery. And you see trees; millions of beautiful trees are everywhere. Baton Rouge has so many wonderful trees that you can’t even see any houses from up there.Showing folks the House and Senate chambers and where Huey Long got shot is very special. In the capitol’s beautiful entry foyer we always look at each of the big marble statues and I tell them about Gov. Nichols, Gov. Allen, Gov. Claiborne and Gov. Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville who wrote in his ship’s log about the baton rouge he spied atop the first high bluff he came to on the bank of the great river. The red stick marked the boundary line between the hunting grounds of the Houmas and Bayou Goula tribes.
If time allows we visit the Louisiana History Museum and the Old State Capitol. Somewhere along the line we get lunch at the venerable old Pastime where our guests learn to love po-boys and hear how this very special sandwich was invented at Martin’s Restaurant in New Orleans during the street car strike over a century ago.
Believe it or not these tours sometimes stretch into more than one day. We hit the road early the second day to visit Laura Plantation near Vacherie where Uncle Remus and Brer Fox once lived, and then we go see Oak Alley Plantation and Nottoway. After lunch we tell our visitors we will take them on a “cruise on the father of waters.” That turns out to be a ride on the Plaquemine Ferry which lands on the East Bank near Gardere Lane.
After a trip up the river road (and an optional roll down the levee), we drive to the LSU Campus where Mike is always a big hit, as is Tiger Stadium, the beautiful quadrangle and the Indian Mounds where Gov. Earl Long’s friend Blaze Starr danced for the students.
On a more somber note, we take in the campus war memorials – the Campanile, the Oak Grove behind the Student Union, and the memorial on the parade grounds. Then we ride along the lake to see the fraternity and sorority houses and visit the Andonie Museum that is filled with wonderful LSU athletic trophies and other memorabilia, and we check out the Lod Cook Alumni Center next door. If there is time, we always drop by beautiful Magnolia Mound Plantation on Nicholson just north of the campus.
On a second visit, or if the original visit actually allows for a third day of touring, the LSU Rural Life Museum and the USS Kidd fill the bill. Along the way there are lots of antique shops on Government Street, the Mall of Louisiana and a picnic at newly refurbished and greatly improved Baton Rouge Beach.
Of course, a day trip to St. Francisville and a drive through the Felicianas with visits to places such as Rosedown and The Myrtles, to mention just a couple of stops, will create lifelong memories. And there are some fine restaurants up there.
Meanwhile, we have not even touched the thought of visiting Port Hudson or Vicksburg, which are a couple of my top favorites. These are two of the most important sites in the whole history of the Civil War.
A great weekend starts with a Friday afternoon drive to the Dinner Bell Restaurant in McComb for an early supper at the famous lazy Susan tables. A ride up I-55 to I-20 West and to a bed-and-breakfast in Vicksburg follows. After breakfast the next morning the tour of the Vicksburg battlefield is a wonderful experience even for people who don’t like history. After lunch you can visit the first place where they bottled Coke in downtown Vicksburg and the long chain of antique shops up and down Main Street.
Sunday morning we drive back east on I-20 for about 20 minutes and make a right to go down the beautiful Natchez Trace National Highway and into the city of Natchez just in time for lunch at one of the restaurants under the bluff where the old river pirates used to hang out. Of course, Natchez was not burned during the Civil War, so it is replete with antebellum homes, antique shops and bed-and-breakfast spots. You can visit two or three and still make it home by dark.
And we have not even mentioned a day trip into Cajun country, traveling through Breaux Bridge to New Iberia, St. Martinville and Jeanerette. If you have never eaten at the Yellow Bowl in Jeanerette or visited Shadows on the Teche or seen the Evangeline Statue, how can you call yourself a true Cajun? A visit to the Tabasco factory and Avery Island is a wonderful experience that everyone in Louisiana can enjoy.
There really is so much to see and do in and around Baton Rouge, but too many people just don’t do it. For example, we took a couple who have lived in Baton Rouge their whole lives to Grand Isle for the first time a couple of years ago. I’ve mentioned the Kisatchie National Forest, and people ask me what state is it in. We also have many friends who have never been to the D-Day Museum in New Orleans or even the Aquarium of the Americas.
This spring do yourself a favor. Decide you and your friends and family are going to do something new and exciting within 100 miles of East Baton Rouge Parish. Really, you don’t even have to leave parish lines. Really, how long has it been since you have seen the view from the 27th floor of the state capitol?
