Roses for you!

Today we are in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. We arrived yesterday, after a short drive, hit the Bass Pro Shops (within walking distance, but we drove our car), loved our lunch there, and had a little shop around.

This was museum day. We began the day visiting the Louisiana State Capitol. This building is unique in its HEIGHT! Thirty-four stories tall, this Capitol stands alone among capitols we've visited. The decoration on the outside is capitoline, with many, many beautiful limestone carvings and statues around and on the building.

Inside? We didn't get to see much, unfortunately. Because there was a demonstration (protesting cuts to higher education funding), we didn't get to go upstairs. But we enjoyed the rotunda and the exhibit on Huey Long, Louisiana's controversial governor from 1928 - 1932. We even saw a hole made by a bullet in the gunfire which shot both Long and the man who (allegedly) assassinated him.

We next headed down the road to the Arsenal. This 4-foot-thick-walled building is where the powder kegs were kept for protection of this area of the southeast. It was constructed in 1838.

Another museum was on our must-do list. The Louisiana State Museum, right up the road from the Statehouse, is a fabulous, contemporary building. And it's packed with so many fascinating exhibits about life in Louisiana - past and present. From the role of slavery to Mardi Gras traditions, Zydeco music to Indian Mounds, it's all here. Oh, and did I mention that it was free admission? Amazing.