Travel to Baton Rouge, Louisiana – Episode 391

Hear about travel to Baton Rouge as the Amateur Traveler talks to Lindsay Thomas from TheTraveluster.com about her hometown.

Baton Rouge is the capital of Louisiana although it may be less well known than its neighbor an hour to the South, New Orleans. While not as touristy as New Orleans it can be a great gateway to Cajun food and culture.

“Baton Rouge is a big city but it is not a sprawling metropolitan city. It kinda started as a college town; it really grew around LSU, Louisiana State University. It is getting to be more of a metro, entertaining urban, really dining options, interesting things to do [place]. I think you get more Louisiana in Baton Rouge.”

The Cajun culture is an interesting melting pot of French Canadian and creole culture.

Lindsay’s three best suggestions for Baton Rouge are “eat, eat, eat”. In the Spring you have crawfish season. We take our crawfish very seriously. We have crawfish boils.” Lindsay has a cousin who has been known to fly home to Louisiana just for crawfish season. “You get hundreds of pounds of crawfish and boil them, really spicy. You have all the fixings like the corn and the potatoes. You have a couple of kegs of beer and it is come and go as you please”.

“Two of my favorite things to get which are probably very Louisiana are fried or blackened alligator and fried Boudin balls. Boudin is rice and stuffing, stuffed in a casing and deep-fried. The sauce that comes with it is usually very good as well.” Lindsay recommends a number of her favorite restaurants.

Lindsay also recommends a canoe tour or a swamp tour in the Alligator Bayou as well as a tour of the sugar cane factory at Alma Plantation. She also recommends some of her favorite plantation tours including one “haunted” plantation. She also recommends a visit to St Francisville, a beautiful small town that looks “straight out of a movie”, and the cajun country at Layfayette with its Festival International (music festival) every Spring.

Lindsay’s favorite time of year is LSU football season at Tiger Stadium. If you make the mistake to plan an event on game day, don’t expect anyone to come.

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Show Notes

The Travel Luster
Visit Baton Rouge
Parrains Seafood Restaurant
Acme Oyster House
The Chimes
Alligator Bayou
Alma Plantation
St. Francisville
Lafayette
LSU Football
Tony’s Seafood
Tin Roof Beer
Louisiana State Capitol
USS Kidd

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