French, the language of romance. Small wonder when you compare the way "Baton Rouge" sounds to "Red Stick". Baton Rouge is a delicate confection, an exciting night of champagne and laughter, a flirtatious glance. Red Stick... hmmm...not so much, eh? And yet, a rose by any other name... and Baton Rouge is a rose, on the banks of the most storied river in American history. Wide, the color of cafe au lait. It's impressive.. I arrived in the river town and major port city, state's capital, under a holdover of NOLA's lousy weather. Driving toward the riverfront and the "Belle of Baton Rouge" casino, I saw a sign directing tourists to "Catfish Town". I like mine poached, but I imagined I'd find it fried, with corn bread and okra and maybe stewed tomatoes or yams in a dingy, crumbling locals joint. The streets are a challenge. Lots of one way's. I ended up forced into going through a valet lane for the casino. I apologized to the attendant, sort of. "Aren't you sick and tired of people getting lost and driving up looking for directions?" "No, ma'am. What are you looking for?" "Catfish Town!" "Catfish Town closed about 8 years ago." "What! The road signs pointing to it aren't THAT old!!"
He laughed. The casino lot was full on an early Saturday morning. I left with directions for downtown. Meandering along, I turned onto a street that deadends into the river and saw one of the best examples of Gothic Revival architecture I've seen anywhere. I couldn't get close enough to read what it was. Found a parking spot on Main St., about 10 blocks away. Danny's bad heart won't allow a walk that long and he's not little enough for me to carry. He stayed with Nala at a shaded meter I had poured all my loose change into. I passed St. Joseph's Cathedral pictured above. I had to back up an entire city block to try to get all of it in the shot and I still didn't succeed. Teams of volunteers were putting glue on oval plates and affixing them to the cement above all the storm drains. I went over to check it out. Now, I don't know about you, but I've evolved into a person who wants to know "why" I'm told, or expected, to do something. "Don't take this product if you have taken aspirin in the last 24 hours." Why? Will I end up in the emergency room or will it just give me indigestion? Just tell me "why" and I'll be happy. In Baton Rouge, they must empathize with that cussedness, 'cause they do tell you why. If they had just said "No Dumping" they may have been met with resistance or indifference. Instead they explained their "request". If you know what you dump will go straight into the bayou, you won't dump anything you don't want to have eaten by critters you'll eat. More cities and states could take a clue from that. The extraordinary Gothic Revival is the old State Capitol Building currently under renovation. Across the street is modernist new construction, "Shaw Center for the Arts", which will house a museum, art gallery, restaurants, boutiques. It's massive and I photographed it but you really can't tell much from the photo so it isn't included here. The clouds skittered away, the day was warm and sunny now. I saw a sign for jambalaya down a side street. Oh, yes! Closed. Downtown Baton Rouge is like so many urban areas on the weekend. Deserted. I nosed around a few minutes. Time to cross the mighty Mississippi and head for Lafayette. From the top of the I-10 bridge you can see it's length into infinity. Yesterday it looked like it was ready to spill it's banks. I kept an eye out for Cajun food. There is an Alternate I-10 for about 75 miles beginning in West Baton Rouge. I took it. There must be local diners with local food somewhere! One observation about LA is that they have more casinos than they have McDonald's. From luxurious casino hotels to casinos built into truck stops with Subway sandwich shops, they are everywhere. At least around the Interstate. Around a bend in the road I got my first close up of a bayou...I couldn't take my eyes off it. I see why people write songs about bayous. "Blue Bayou" ran through my head. But where's the Cajun food? Past Bayou Grosse Tete was "Penny's Diner"...1950's style. Had to be a sign. I went in. "Which one of you is Penny?" "No Penny workin' here."
"I'm in the mood for authentic Louzeeanna food. Do you have jambalaya?" "No." "How 'bout gumbo?" "No." "What do you suggest, ladies?" "How 'bout a hamburger?" "No. Have a great day, ladies." Few more miles further, in Krotz Springs, a hand made sign said: "Hot Spicy Cracklins....Hot Crawfish Balls....Hot Boudin Balls". Boudin balls...my ears picked up and I pulled in. Boudin balls...the edible version of jake braking...what the heck are boudin balls? There was a long line in the shack. I had lots of time to look at the food in the hot case before it was my time to order. Lots of balls, all deep fried. Crawfish balls $1.25, Boudin balls 89 cents. "What are boudin balls?" "Booo...deee...annnn balls? They're pork, rice and (mumble, mumble)", she smiled. "That sounds great! I'll take one!" One boudin ball later, can't say I'd advise you to try it. One the other hand, maybe it's an acquired taste. It stayed with me for about 50 miles.
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