Baton Rouge
Campground
Baton Rouge KOA Holiday
This KOA was more of a transient park, people only stayed a day or two. The place filled up on weekends and emptied out during the week. They have a breakfast cafe open on weekends which is so nice! Bathrooms were clean which is always a plus. It was a convenient location too. To us, one of the most convenient things it having South Park right next to the campground!
Things to see
Downtown Baton Rouge
Our original destination was the Old State Capitol Building and museum. However, since it isn't a very large area, we walked down to the river, had a bite to eat at Po Boy Lloyd's, and then drove over to the new capitol buildings and the grounds in the surrounding area.
LSU Campus
It was a fun walk around campus. We enjoyed seeing Mike the Tiger in his on-campus habitat. We were also able to watch a few athletes practicing on the track.
LSU Rural Life Museum
There is A LOT to see here. The museum inside has a plethora of artifacts and interesting history. We really enjoyed walking around the grounds outside. Almost all the buildings are open to enter and explore. Perhaps all of you reading this already know this, but, do you know where the word "cajun" comes from? The early settlers were from the Acadian area of upper Maine, New Foundland, etc. The word "cajun" is simply a shortened, slang way of saying "Acadian".
South Park
This park was right behind our campground and it was a great place to get Polly and us some exercise.
Food and Drink
CC's Coffee House
Great coffee and reliable wifi. The young adults working got a little silly and loud at times which was distracting.
Don's Seafood Restaurant
Great food and service! We mentioned to the waitress that we had never had crawfish. She took the initiative to get us all some samples and then proceeded to walk us through how to eat them. She was so sweet!
Maria's Mexican Restaurant
One of the KOA staff members recommended this place. It was great food and wonderful (strong) margaritas. The manager, Michelle, was a delight. I guess we connected with her as she gave us a big hug on the way out!
Poor Boy Lloyd's
Fun little hole in the wall restaurant in downtown Baton Rouge. We had to try the alligator sausage - but only once as it was super fatty.
To make a long story short ...
Michelle, the manager at Maria's
For some reason, we connected with Michelle right away. Maybe it was because we were the only customers. Maybe it was because we're so much fun!
Her husband is from Honduras and his family owns a 50 acre coffee farm! But that's not even the most interesting thing about her. She's very easy to talk to, with a very bubbly personality, and is bilingual. One wouldn't expect to hear this, but she came right out and said she had gastric surgery and went from about 330 lbs to 150. She is starting her own business creating fajas for women who are recovering from this kind of surgery. A "faja" is a "body bra" meant to help hold things together. She helps women cross into Mexico, LEGALLY, to have this type of surgery. Since she is bilingual, she can help them navigate their way through the border, stay away from things that might get them into trouble, get in touch with the right doctors and hospitals. It is quite an interesting and helpful endeavor. Hurray for Michelle!
Gary, the manager at Goodyear
Getting new tires for the RV has been on my mind for a long time. Thankfully, we have not experienced any blow-outs on the road. We have definitely been paying attention to the lack of tread on several of the tires. There are SIX!
After doing some shopping around, we decided to have the local Goodyear service center order the tires and mount them for us. We took the tires off the RV and I trucked them over to the shop.
Gary, the manager, turned out to be quite an interesting guy. He was chatty and, heck, I've got all the time in the world, right? He's from Queens and his wife is from the Bronx. They were both in the Army and decided to settle here in Baton Rouge. As you might imagine they had never seen wildlife before. Deciding to stay in Baton Rouge took a bit of a leap of faith. But they're loving it! By all accounts, they seem to be awesome people and awesome parents. They have five kids, four of whom are currently in the military. In face, one of the daughters is about to graduate from West Point! How fantastic! He's such a proud parent, and for good cause.