BATON ROUGE, LA 9-2-2017

A brief stop and quick tour of little St. Francisville was followed by a longer visit to Baton Rouge.  History says that the town got its non-Indian name from French explorers in 1699.  Two Indian tribes inhabited the area at the time and their tribal hunting grounds were separated by a red cypress tree that was stripped of its bark.  Some say the tree was painted with blood.  In any case, the message was clear:  these are OUR hunting grounds, stay out!  The French called the tree, “le baton rouge,” or “the red stick.”  By 1719, the French had established a military post in the area and that seems like a way long time ago, right?   Not really.  Archaeologists have found human artifacts in the area that date back to 8000 BC. 

France, England, Spain, the Confederate States and USA have had control of Baton Rouge over the centuries because of its strategic location for steamboat trade as well as transportation.  Petroleum, natural gas and salt became the key products that turned Baton Rouge into an economic boom town. 

During the Civil War, the state capital was moved from Baton Rouge to Shreveport but it was moved back in 1880.  In the early 1900s, Huey Long was the Governor of Louisiana.  Huey was a brash, rude, colorful guy.  He was so convinced that one day he would become President of the USA that he had a Governor’s Mansion fashioned after the White House built so he could get used to living in it before he actually got there.  He also thought that the existing capital building was too small and

Old capitol building

New capitol building

unworthy of him so he commissioned architects to build the fantastic new state capitol building in 1932.  Huey never made it to the White House.  He got into an argument with a guy named Dr. Weiss in a room near the Governor’s Office and a few punches were exchanged.  Huey was struck by gunfire but no one is sure, to this day, who fired the weapon.  They found Dr. Weiss’s gun in his car some time later and found that it had never been fired.  Some say that Huey was struck by a bodyguard’s ricocheting bullet.  He didn’t die of that, though.  He died because he wouldn’t let local doctors work on him.  He wanted his own private physician to be brought in from Texas.  By the time the doctor arrived, Old Huey was face to face with the Grim Reaper.

Yes, we visited both capitol buildings, bringing our count up to 41.  In our opinion, the old capitol building is far more beautiful than the new one.  The breathtaking stained glass and spiral staircase are the central attraction in the old building.  

Our 41st capitol building!
Here's proof!

Spiral staircase and stained glass
in the old capitol building!

The new building is tall (450 feet), white and boring. It looks like Gotham City or something.  You can ride to the 27^th floor and walk out and see forever but that’s about the only interesting attraction.

The destroyer USS Kidd is dry docked in Baton Rouge and is now a walk-through museum.  It was named after Rear Admiral Isaac Kidd, commander of the Arizona who went down with his ship in Pearl Harbor.  This destroyer was part of an air defense screen on Okinawa in 1945.  A kamikaze enemy plane crashed into the Kidd killing 38 crew and wounding 55.  The destroyer did not sink, however.  It continued to serve for 20 more years.  Now, it is possible to walk her decks, climb her ladders and explore. 

Torpedo tubes!  Cool!

There are 5 torpedo tubes on the deck that still have torpedoes in them, more than likely deactivated but still, that was seriously cool!  Our boat was parked right next to the USS Kidd!

USS Kidd screws

American Queen parked next to the USS Kidd
as seen from the 27th floor of the
new capitol building

USS Kidd and the American Queen

We ended our tour of Baton Rouge and our boat departed for Nottoway, LA.  On 9-3, the boat did not dock, we “landed.”  That is we tied up to a couple of trees and put the gangway on the sand at Nottoway.  A plantation house that is now a hotel was open for tour but I passed on this and began making preparations for our disembarkation.  We are now (9-4) in New Orleans and they threw us out of our nest and off the boat.  After a year and a half of planning and extensive orchestration, we have sailed 2,393 miles of the Mississippi River.  And a wonderful experience it was!  Thank you for joining us!  There are more stories to come, though!  Stay tuned!

Sunset and toonies on the American Queen.
Life is good.

“No money is the root of all evil.”  - Mark Twain