le bâton rouge
Upon arriving into “the rouge” from I-10 we knew something was different about this town. Just 10 miles before we caught our first glimpse of the city we were engulfed in swampland. I will unashamedly add that we were hanging out the window taking photos and spying for alligators like true Louisiana tourists would. Being from the south, I boastfully fielded miscellaneous questions like, “Where does the delta begin?” and “Why is Baton Rouge nicknamed ‘Red Stick’?” Unfortunately, when it came to the most obvious question, I fell flat on my face. “Isn’t Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge?” to which my reply was “Of course not—it’s in New Orleans.”
LSU is in Baton Rouge.
Also known as “Tiger Town,” Baton Rouge is home to the state capital and is the second largest city in Louisiana. It also is extremely HOT. Our first recording day was exceptionally warm and muggy but lessened by all the “cool” folks that came out to share their aha moments. Some of the memorable moments from yesterday: a mother of a marine in Iraq took up cycling to relieve her stress and honor her son; a doctor who uses hip hop and rap to teach better health and decision making to youth realized he changed a kid’s life; and a man became an author after a night of insomnia gave birth to a book idea.
After the long day, we went searching for food only to discover that Baton Rouge must hit the sack early—not many places were open at 8:45p.m. We did discover the local joint Sammy’s, which treated me to my first oyster and crawfish (both fried) experience.
Maybe tonight we can find some of Red Stick’s finest raw oysters. Maybe.
Note: Thanks to @paulagu and @granolarouge for sharing Baton Rouge’s many nicknames with us!
