Fun times in Louisiana!

I told you all last week that I had a friend flying in for the holiday weekend, and that we were going to take some time to enjoy Baton Rouge. Well, we had a great time! There are so many things to do that are inexpensive and fun! 

The first thing I did after picking my friend up at the airport was give her a campus tour. I showed her the stadium, the parade ground, the Greek amphitheater, and of course we stopped by to see Mike the tiger. Then, after a relaxing dinner at Chimes, we rested up for a busy Friday in New Orleans!

I had no idea that New Orleans was so close when I first got here! And did you know that you can take the LA Swift bus down for only $5?! It's a great deal. Since we had a car, we decided to drive though, and we even found a great parking space! Our first stop of the day was Cafe du Monde for some beignets. They were delicious! We then spent the rest of the day wandering around the French Quarter. There are so many shops and restaurants that we had a hard time choosing! We had a great lunch at The Gumbo Shop, which I highly suggest to anyone who is in the mood for some Cajun cooking. There was too much to do in one day, so we ended up coming back a few days later. On the second day, we visited St. Louis Cemetery #1 to see Marie Laveau's grave, and spent some time at the Audobon Aquarium of the Americas. We also got our fortunes told at the Bottom of the Cup Tearoom, which was a lot of fun! A trip to New Orleans is definitely a great way to get away and relax! 

 Beignets and coffee at the Cafe du Monde

Jackson Square in New Orleans

 "Taste of New Orleans" at the Riverview Restaurant- 

crawfish etouffee, red beans and rice, jambalaya, and gumbo

We also found a lot of cool things to do in Baton Rouge! We visited the Louisiana Art and Science Museum, where we saw historical costumes from several famous movies and watched an IMAX movie in the planetarium. After the museum, we were ready for lunch, so we walked over to the Shaw Center and enjoyed some sushi at Tsunami. The Ragin' Cajun rolls- made with fried alligator- were my favorite!

 Ragin' Cajun rolls at Tsunami

The Girl in the Purple Polo chattin' it up with Isaac Newton 

at the Louisiana Art and Science Museum

All that food and air conditioning left us feeling refreshed and ready to take on more of Baton Rouge, so we headed over to the Old State Capitol for a tour. It is a beautiful building full of information about Louisiana's political history, and you can tour it for free! After that we spent some time walking along the levee. The USS Kidd and Mississippi River bridge made for some great photos, and there was a nice breeze off of the water. We finished our day by making a trip to the Mall of Louisiana for some shopping.

 Staircase in the Old State Capitol

USS Kidd and Mississippi River Bridge

We took some time to drive out to the Houmas House plantation one day, which was a blast! The home was beautiful, but the coolest thing about it is that it is still used. The owner lives in the house, and guests are allowed to touch and try out the antiques. Our tour guide, Miss Judy, was hysterical, and offered a lot of fun stories about the property and people who have visited. Several movies have been filmed there, including Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte and the upcoming installation of the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn. It was a pretty exciting place to see!

Tiffany lamp and antique desk still in use at Houmas House

On the Fourth of July, we went over to Blue Bayou for a day of fun in the sun! The water slides and rides were a great way to spend the holiday! It was so hot that all we wanted to do was relax in the water, and Blue Bayou was a great place to do it. Unfortunately, I didn't reapply my sunscreen as much as I should have, so now I'm the red-as-a-lobster girl in the purple polo, but we still had fun. That evening, we went downtown to the levee for the holiday festivities. There were concerts, food, drinks, and a beautiful fireworks display! It was was the perfect way to round out a great mini-vacation. 

As you can see, there is really no excuse to be bored in Baton Rouge. There are tons of things to do both on and off campus! The Fourth of July weekend was a great time to get out and explore, but most of the places we visited are open year round! What did you do for the holiday?


xoxo-- Girl in the Purple Polo