The Beginning of Baton Rouge

On Sunday afternoon, around 1 pm, we celebrated as we finally pulled into our first destination, Baton Rouge. We were so excited to be done with driving for a while and even more excited to meet the family that we would be staying with. We were definitely not let down because Bryan and Julia are very friendly and helpful hosts.  We couldn’t be more grateful to them for letting us stay on their property and becoming our first friends in Baton Rouge.

Daniel making dinner!

When we first arrived, we were quite travel-fatigued and spent most of the afternoon getting settled and strolling around our immediate area. Bryan kindly took us on a little tour to show us where grocery stores and other useful places were located. We began the process of settling into our new, temporary home which included cooking our first meal. Daniel decided to cook cheeseburgers on our propane stove and they were actually very tasty. We are slowly getting into the hang of buying groceries in small amounts and only cooking what we will eat right away since we have limited storage space. It is a bit challenging but in the end, fresh is definitely better!

After resting up on Sunday night, we were ready to start exploring on Monday. Unfortunately, we did not get very far with that plan because our smaller solar panel system decided to stop working. We use that small system to power an inverter that we plug our electronics into, as well as the shower pump and inside lights. After running some tests, we came to the conclusion that the system’s battery was not holding enough charge. We were actually not terribly surprised at this because, instead of purchasing new batteries like we did for the system running the refrigerator, this smaller system just used an old car battery. We were hoping that since none of the electronics or lights would always be plugged in, the solar panel would have enough time to trickle charge the battery between uses. Sadly, we were wrong and it was just too old to hold enough charge to power the above-mentioned items. Thus, we grudgingly spent the entire morning on the hunt for a new battery. However, on the bright side, everything works now! 

After fixing that problem, we decided to stop by a coffee shop so that Daniel could use the Internet to purchase and download his favorite zombie show while I grabbed a much-needed coffee. Well, my coffee was long gone by the time his show was downloaded (I’m talking hours…) so by the time those two errands were done, our day was mostly gone. As a reward for so patiently indulging Daniel’s zombie obsession, I decided to take us to a great Baton Rouge pizza place for dinner called Schlittz & Giggles. Their motto is “Silly name, Serious Pizza” and it was definitely some serious pizza! Overly full, we made our way back home to Big Easy and curled up for some zombie watching with the promise of a full day of exploring awaiting us.

Daniel in front of Schlittz & Giggles, the pizza place.

We finally got to fulfill that promise today and it was a blast. Well, most of it at least. We had a potential catastrophe this morning when we found out that according to Louisiana law, ALL scooters must be registered and have a license plate, no matter what size it is. In Virginia, a scooter like ours that is below 50cc does not need those things. We never really thought about checking other state’s laws since we figured the South was just a generally more lawless place anyways. (Actually, we just forgot, but why does the one thing the South want to regulate have to be scooter law?!) In the end, we decided to just go to the DMV and ask what we should do. They told us to just not worry about it since we are only visiting. Let’s hope whatever police officers we pass feel the same way!

After our midmorning scare, we decided to get down to business and go exploring. It was about a two-minute scooter drive to get to the end of downtown where the Mississippi River is located. I was so excited to see this majestic river that everyone speaks of with such awe. Once I climbed up over the bank and looked down, though, I found myself a tad bit disappointed. I was expecting something at least the size of the James River where it runs through Newport News, but it did not seem nearly that large to me. Daniel assured me that I will be much more impressed when I see it in New Orleans. Nevertheless, while I may have expected bigger, I didn’t expect to be able to stand so close to the infamous river or see such beautiful, sparkling water courtesy of the afternoon sun.

Daniel and Angie on the observation deck at the State Capitol building.

The view of Baton Rouge and the Mississippi from the observation deck.

After visiting the river, we stopped and had an excellent meal for quite the deal at Downtown Seafood & Grill.  We even left with the offer of vegetable oil and a potential mural client! Feeling productive, we trekked through downtown a little further and toured both the State Capitol and the Louisiana State Museum. The Capitol was awesome to tour because Congress was not in session, meaning we got to go inside the two chambers, take pictures, and wander along the sides of the rooms. We also went all the way to the 27^th floor and stepped out onto the observation deck, overlooking all of Baton Rouge and following the Mississippi River as far as the eye could see. The museum was also a neat place because it mainly focused on Louisiana culture, cuisine, and its boating history. Neither Daniel nor I knew much about any of these topics so it was quite the learning experience. We especially loved all of the Mardi Gras costumes! When we finally got home for the day, we were very happy with all of the things we got to see. We are even more excited about all of the things still left to explore, especially the Naval Destroyer from World War II that is docked in the Mississippi. Lastly, our upcoming event where we get to meet all the “Green” businesses in Baton Rouge is on Thursday so stay tuned to hear all about how it goes!

Daniel and Angie at the Louisiana State Museum.