Baton Rouge, Louisiana 11-9-14

The morning I was to leave Florida as the sun was coming up in the sky over the Gulf of Mexico. This is the view from my hotel room with the clouds.  The white sand beaches & the water color really make it look so tropical.

On to Baton Rouge, Louisiana & a visit with my second cousin Mike Robichaux.  We last met in the early 1970 in New Orleans when I was driving back east (and we were much younger).

Here is Mike & his wife Teresa, who I was meeting for the first time.  They are just outside the LSU football field.

They took me over to the campus of Louisiana State University (LSU) to see the mascot of the school.

The mascot is a (real) Tiger named Mike (no, I do not think he is any relations with my cousin) but he was sleeping in his compound right on the campus.  So I took a picture of the bronze statue just out front.

We next headed to Natchez, Mississippi, a small town about 2 hours north.  It is a beautiful old town that escaped being burned during the Civil War.  Because of that the town has a lot of very early homes.  This next photos are of a Bed & Breakfast where Mike & Teresa have stayed.  We were welcomed in to see the house and garden.

This is the other side that faces the Mississippi River.

 

Next picture is turning right around & looking down from the high bluff (where is house is) to the Mississippi River below.  This is about 200 miles north of New Orleans where the river enters the Gulf Of Mexico.

Just down from the above shot is an old paddle wheeler river boat that has been turned into a casino. I found out that as long as the casino was not on shore, it was legal.

While in Natchez we visited an old cemetery that dates back to 1822.

There is a section devoted to Confederate unknown soldiers from the Civil War (see below).

Many of the trees like this one have what is called "Spanish Moss" hanging from them.

This is one of the older homes along the river`s edge that has been restored.

Our last stop was at the Longwood House, an old plantation home that has been preserved just as it was well over a hundred years ago.  The story is that the house was being built by "northern" craft men for a "southern" family when the Civil War broke out.  All the craft people gather up their tools and returned north, leaving the house only finished on the ground floor.  It has stood like this since then & is now open to tours.
The outside looks finished but as you will see it is only framed on the top 6 floors inside

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The house has 8 sides and is a interesting mix of styles.  The reason for the top & the open center inside was to allow the summer heat to be vented out.   Below is the framing for the unfinished floors.

The work table / cans of material & the carpenter`s miter boxes were left untouched (along with years of dust).

One of the stair cases is just in the rough state.  Due to the safety concerns, we were not allowed to climb any higher.  The structure is made only of brick most of which were made right on the 85 acres that surround the house.

As you see below the plan called for a plaster coat to be applied to the exterior.

One last (sunset) view of the Mississippi & the casino boat.

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I am set to hit the road on Tuesday morning and will stop for a look at my old school in Abilene, Texas.  I have not seen Hardin-Simmons University for 40 years but since I am going right through Abilene.........
After that it is a "full court press" to get home via Interstate 20 / 10 & Calif. 101!!!!
This may be the last blog for a while, until I hit the road again to "who knows where".  I hope you enjoyed sharing the trip with me.  I know there is something on the blog page about making a comment but I rarely look at these - what can I say.  That`s all folks........................................