Huge Fireball In The Sky Burns Skin Of Northerner

April 15, 2015

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

The visit with the Weinells was excellent. Don greeted me from his yard as I rode up. Then he went up a couple more notches on the friendliness scale by offering me one of Louisiana's own Abita Brewery products. We talked about our respective adventures for a while and then he took me for a drive to see a few antebellum mansions on historic sugar cane plantations. A couple of those remarkable homes have been turned into Bed & Breakfast Inns that I am going to assume are way out of my price range.

The subject of dinner came up and I said, "Can I take you and your wife out to eat tonight?"

"You could," he began, "but I picked up a big tub of jambalaya for dinner if you're interested. All I have to do is heat it up."

"Are you kidding me?" I shouted, unable to contain my joy. "I LOVE jambalaya." My idea of showing my gratitude by treating my hosts to dinner was instantly and completely forgotten.

And that conversation occurred BEFORE I saw the city's water tower which read GONZALEZ: Jambalaya Capitol of the World. "Yeah, it's a pretty big deal here," said Don. "Every year we have a jambalaya festival complete with a 'best jambalaya' contest and the crowning of a jambalaya queen."

Soon it was time to eat and the jambalaya was so absurdly tasty. But how could it NOT be in the world's jambalaya capitol? I shamelessly overate. One of my goals in coming to Louisiana was to eat a bunch of genuine Cajun food and so far I've had meals of jambalaya, gumbo, red beans and rice, and blackened trout. Southern bliss!

Shortly after stuffing my face with jambalaya, Don's lovely wife, Kate, came home bearing a pineapple upside-down cake. Oh my! Cake, iced tea, great conversation, comfortable bed--I could not have been made to feel more welcome.

As for me, I don't think I misbehaved too badly on my first home stay--except, maybe, for my gluttonous consumption of jambalaya. And I might have irritated them a bit after saying "thank you" for about the 90th time. Still, I think I earned a solid B+.

Blue Ribbon Award Winning Hosts: Kate and Don

Now let's move on to today's activities. Don printed up some maps for me and gave some route advice. He really knows the area from a cyclist's perspective and has written a couple of excellent articles about Louisiana cycling.

The ride to Baton Rouge (French for "Red Stick) was fairly short. The weather was hot and humid with a few hours of unexpected sunshine. I took it nice and slow, enjoying the countryside, the petrochemical plants, the new housing subdivisions, and the roadkill in equal measure. And, yes, I did acquire a nice sunburn on my face, arms, and calves.

I'll tell you about the rest of my Baton Rouge visit in photo-documentary style.

This is Baton Rouge's Mississippi Levee Trail.

A view of the Louisiana State University football stadium from the Levee Trail. Go Tigers!

Big ships are still able to navigate this far up the Mississippi River.

This ship keeps those other ships in line.

My bike is staring at the Old Louisiana Capitol Building.

The NEW State Capitol Building. It is the tallest state capitol building in the U.S. The populist governor, Huey P. Long, was responsible for many construction projects during his tenure and, as one of his final projects he had the new capitol built in the 1920's. Don told me that some folks call it "Huey Long's last great erection." Indeed, if you look at it closely you can see that it looks like . . . never mind. I do think that phrase should be on a plaque somewhere on the grounds. But it's not.

The view from the 27th floor observation deck of the Louisiana State Capitol Building.

People protesting cuts to state funding for higher education on the capitol grounds. They carried signs that said "No Funds, No Future." I found myself applauding for the state representative who spoke. He said he would fight those cuts with all the energy he had and, more than that, he will fight for INCREASING the funding.

Today's ride: 33 miles (53 km)
Total: 118 miles (190 km)

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