This afternoon, we took a Baton Rouge walking tour. The weather was very threatening, so only fifteen of us started the tour.

Our guide told us that the Mississippi was very low; it would normally cover the brown areas on the banks, but it hadn’t been that high for months.

Baton Rouge isn’t as famous for music as New Orleans, but they’re still proud of their tradition, especially the blues.

We walked along the Levee Bike Path, passing the “Sing the River” sculpture. When it was first installed, the sculpture played music which varied with the river level; our guide said that it got burnt out during the first good thunderstorm and they’re still trying to figure out a way to repair it and keep it working. It’s still pretty, though!

We left the Levee Bike Path at its northern terminus and walked over to the main shopping district on 3rd Avenue, where we saw the city’s historic Coke sign – the building it was on had been a pharmacy for years, and when it closed, the sign went dark. Various groups worked together to get it relit – now that’s powerful advertising!

It had started raining by this time, but it was fairly gentle if you ignored the lightning and thunder in the distance. We made a brief stop at Matherne’s Market…and half of our group vanished.

The survivors continued onward to the New (1934) State Capitol. Huey Long had it built when he was Governor; he was assassinated there; and he’s now buried on the Capitol grounds under the big white pillar you can see on the right of the photo (yes, that’s Huey Long atop the pillar).

We left the Capitol grounds for Spanish Town; they take Mardi Gras very seriously there, and there are still LOTS of decorations weeks later.

The rain was coming down harder and we picked up the pace; our next stop was the Old Governor’s Mansion, built by – you guessed it – Huey Long. He had the electrical and plumbing set up to mirror the White House so that he’d be comfortable when he became President!

We made a brief stop by the Old State Capitol before climbing up on the levee to walk the last few blocks back to the ship.

When we got back, our shoes, socks, and pants were thoroughly soaked; I’m glad I didn’t bring my big, non-water-resistant camera on the walk!

After we dried out, we went to a great lecture on “Early Blues on Record” by Andy Flory from Carleton College. After dinner, we enjoyed an hour of Cajun and Zydeco music from Waylon Thibodeaux.

We sail away from Baton Rouge about 1am; I don’t plan to be awake to say goodbye.

Our excursion this morning took us to the sites of the three Battles of Baton Rouge. The first took place near the current State Capitol (very near the river), where the Spanish drove the British out of Louisiana in 1779. The photo below shows the Louisiana Department of Public Safety getting ready to tell our bus driver to move the bus Or Else, but we can say that we stood at the site of the battle. Briefly. :-)

Once we were safely on the bus and away from the cops, our guide finished the story of the first battle and told us about the second Battle of Baton Rouge, a key part of the brief but glorious history of the Republic of West Florida. The Louisiana Purchase didn’t include Baton Rouge or the land due east which was still owned by the Spanish along with Florida itself; however, there were many Americans who’d moved into the Baton Rouge area, and they did not want to be under Spanish rule, so they stormed Fort San Carlos at Baton Rouge and took it over in a short fight. They created the Republic of West Florida; the United States did not recognize it and President Madison ordered its annexation – by force if necessary. A show of force sufficed, and the Republic eventually acceded to the annexation.

The third Battle of Baton Rouge is probably the best known; it took place a few blocks away from the river, much of it on the grounds of Magnolia Cemetery.

After our guide explained the battle and how it fit into the broader conflict at that time, we got back on the bus and drove to Magnolia Mound Plantation, which was originally built in 1791, renovated and expanded in the early 19th Century, used as a shelter during the Battle of Baton Rouge in the Civil War, and remained a residence until the 1960s. The plantation was 900 acres at first, extending to the Mississippi.

We began our tour in the kitchen (not the original building but a recent reconstruction).

Then we moved to the house itself, with period furnishings. I thought the most interesting single item I saw was the “shoo-fly fan” above the dining room table; it was human-powered (probably an enslaved boy).

Louisiana civil law is based on the Napoleonic Code, which allowed women to own property. Jane Stanley owned the plantation; when she died without a will in 1789, they had to do a full appraisal of the property to transfer it to her husband. It was originally in French, but they posted a translation; note how enslaved people are listed as property, just like the house itself or silverware.

Baton Rouge maintains more modern historical traditions, too, like the Frostop Diner. It’s almost close enough to the ship to walk over for lunch.

Our first excursion today was to Oak Alley Plantation. The Big House (plantation house where the owners lived) was the main attraction, of course, along with the alley of oaks which gives the plantation its name.

The plantation was built by J. T. Roman in the 1830s; it was a sugarcane plantation, which meant they had lots of enslaved people – more than 200 at a single time. We took a tour of the Big House; our guide focused on the Roman family, of course, but spent a lot of time discussing the lot of the enslaved people and the economics of slavery. Roman had to take out a loan to build the plantation; it was partially secured by using his slaves as collateral. In fact, Roman mortgaged each of his slaves at least once; they may have been as valuable as capital as they were as laborers!

There was also an exhibit of six slave cottages which were used as housing well into the 20th Century.

I would have liked another half-hour at Oak Alley to be able to see everything, but it was not to be; we had to return to the ship for lunch.

Our second excursion took us to Cajun Pride Swamp Tours, about 45 minutes away.

Captain Danny took us out into the Manchac Swamp and showed us the wildlife and told us stories about life in the swamps many decades ago. We saw wild pigs, raccoons, birds, and, of course, lots of alligators.

We saw the graveyard that was hastily built after a hurricane destroyed the swamp town of Frenier in 1915 – one day after the local voodoo queen Julie Brown died after cursing the town. We saw her grave marker, too – she was buried a few hundred yards away, just in case!

Captain Danny passed around his turtles, Mike, Ike, and Stinky, as well as a baby alligatorso that we could see them upclose and personal. You were even allowed to hold the alligator; I passed.

We checked out of the hotel early this morning and boarded the bus for our first excursion, a visit to Preservation Hall. We’d walked by it several times on previous visits to New Orleans but were never able to go in and take in a show; today, there was a show just for us (and the other 40 or 50 people on the bus, of course). Buses aren’t allowed to drive through the French Quarter itself, so they dropped us at Jackson Square.

We walked the three blocks to Preservation Hall, where we were treated to a short lecture about the history of music in New Orleans (especially jazz and blues), followed by a too-brief concert from the Preservation Hall Legacy Band. Photos and recordings were not permitted during the concert, of course, but I bought one of their CDs when we left.

One of the points made during the lecture was about the pervasiveness of music in New Orleans; this wasn’t a surprise to me, but I was more aware of the bands we passed on our way back to the bus. They’re hoping for donations and learning their craft at the same time.

We had a few minutes to look around Jackson Square before we had to get on the bus; we popped into St. Louis Cathedral for a quick look.

We got back on the bus and headed to the Cruise Ship Terminal to meet the American Splendor. We had to take a slightly circuitous route because the Mayor was holding some sort of event which closed some roads, but that gave us a chance to see Pete Fountain’s giant clarinet on the Holiday Inn.

The ship was docked under the Crescent City Connection; we were the first bus back to the ship, so we had plenty of time for a leisurely lunch before everyone was on board. I was pleased to see some familiar faces from previous trips on American Cruise Lines – that was a first for me!

We got one last chance to see the New Orleans skyline and the Mercedes-Benz Caesar’s Superdome as we steamed upriver.

We passed under the Huey P. Long Bridge about an hour-and-a-half after leaving New Orleans; we should pass under another Huey P. Long Bridge in the next couple of days when we’re sailing through Baton Rouge.

John Meffert gave the before-dinner talk, “Shadows of the Dream: Architecture of the Lower Mississippi”; the audience was enthralled, even though he ran a couple of minutes into cocktail hour!

After dinner, we saw the first show by our Entertainer-in-Residence, Stephen Merritt; he told us how he’d wanted to be a piano player on the Mississippi ever since he was eight and finally achieved his dream after playing many years at Disneyland Japan and Walt Disney World. He was a lot of fun, and I’m looking forward to his other shows on the cruise.

We’ve just docked in Vacherie, our first port of call. I guess we could get off the ship and roam around, but we have an early excursion tomorrow.

We only had this morning and afternoon to wander around New Orleans on our own before joining the group for a Fireside Chat with Doris Kearns Goodwin this evening. We decided to stay close to the hotel, starting with a quick exploration of the three buildings we could see from our room.

The building on the left is Soule College, one of the first business schools in the country, established in 1856 to teach “practical business skills” rather than create MBAs. Google Maps shows it as “now closed” – it moved away from this spot in 1923! The building is now the Louisiana Bar Center and has some law offices in it.

The middle building is Gallier Hall, a former New Orleans City Hall and current event venue.

And the building on the right is the New Orleans branch of the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank; they have a small exhibit and museum about money, trade, and commerce in New Orleans through the years. It was worth dropping in and seeing it, but it wasn’t very photogenic. Nor was the building.

We stopped at the hotel to drop off the packet of money that the Fed gave us (shredded, of course), and walked a few blocks to the French Quarter. I noticed the old United Fruit Company building on our way; I hope the renovation keeps it beautiful.

Speaking of renovations, our son Jeff warned us to beware of tilted sidewalks in New Orleans. They fixed up the ones in the French Quarter 40 years ago…it’s time to do it again.

We walked down Royal Street, taking in the sights, sounds, and smells (pleasant ones, unlike Bourbon Street early in the morning), en route to The Historic New Orleans Collection (THNOC).

THNOC has a permanent exhibition on New Orleans history, and a temporary exhibit space, currently devoted to Masonic and Odd Fellows Folk Art and Fraternal Organizations of New Orleans. We could have spent all day there, especially in the permanent exhibition. I didn’t know that Robert Moses had proposed building an expressway around the French Quarter’s waterfront – fortunately, locals rallied and got the Transportation Department to refuse to fund it!

The exhibit on Masonic and Odd Fellows folk art was fascinating, too, but somehow the only picture I have is one of an Odd Fellows’ Ark of the Covenant.

I’d asked one of the THNOC staffers to recommend a nearby restaurant for a nice but not extravagant lunch where shellfish would not be required and she suggested Napoleon House, a bit over a block away. It was a great choice; it’s been around for 110 years and is popular with locals, not just tourists. We had Pimm’s Cups and pastrami po-boys, along with Zapp’s Potato Chips, making lunch a real New Orleans experience. We sat, ate, and watched the rain come down in buckets; it was still raining when we finished, so we ordered a couple of cappuccinos, which kept us long enough for the rain to end.

Our next stop was the New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum (Jeff recommended we visit it). It’s small (two rooms) and crammed with voodoo facts and artifacts, like this African Voodoo Shrine Totem Pole, a display of voodoo dolls (with explanations), and a magic mirror (spirits live on the underside of mirrors and use them as portals to enter the physical world during rituals).

This banner is used in New Orleans Voodoo Cemetery Rituals to honor the Ancestors. It’s 100 years old and filled with Masonic symbols.

We left the museum and walked back to our hotel, stopping briefly at the Hilton across the street which had originally been built as a Masonic Grand Lodge.

Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Fireside Chat was quite interesting; she talked about how she got interested in history (baseball scores!), her time working as a White House Fellow for LBJ and getting to help him with his memoirs after he left office, her life with her husband (who had been one of JFK’s speechwriters), and much more. And then we got to have dinner with her in a small group; I think we were the only non-lawyers in the group! She was a great conversationalist, and I’m looking forward to reading her new book, An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s when it comes out next month. Somehow, the entire dinner passed without anyone taking out a phone, so we didn’t get a photo with her!