Louisiana Part II

Hey, Dan here with my take on Louisiana. Aside from the heat and humidity Baton Rouge and New Orleans have a unique culture. Jesse posted a pic of us in front of the state capitol building. Baton Rouge has the tallest state capitol building in the nation according to Ian, our friend and tour guide. Tourists are able to go up to the top floor observation deck which overlooks the city.
This overlooks the business district. To the left is the Mississippi River. Throughout our stay I got the chance to try some southern cuisine and some Louisiana cuisine including fried catfish, fried okra, red beans rice and sausage, crawfish eouteffee, and gumbo. We took a day trip down to New Orleans which was a lot of fun. The first thing we did was check out the National WWII Museum. After that Ian proceeded to take us around the city. We walked around the St. Louis Cathedral which is a beautiful church.
We also stopped by Cafe Du Monde for some beignets which is the french equivalent of a doughnut. A pretty delicious dessert. For $2 I got 3 with about a pound of powdered sugar.
We continued to walk around and check out the sites. New Orleans has some of the most unique architecture I've ever seen in an American city.
We also got a pic in front of this river boat. I forget the name of it but its one of a small handfull of steam paddle river boats that have a steam powered organ on it. I couldn't get a decent shot of the guy playing the organ but it was neat.
We couldn't leave without seeing some of the historic bars in New Orleans. Ian took us to both Pat O'Brians and The Old Absinthe House. At Pat O's we tried a drink called a Hurricane which is where the cocktail originated. Its made with burbon whiskey and some concoction of juices and flavoring.
So we made the most of one day in New Orleans and saw a bunch of stuff. The city is full of cool sites, music, and street performers. The downside is that the city is also full of pickpockets and people trying to rob you. Fortunately we were able to avoid these things but we had two separate encounters with people like this. These people like to prey on tourists. Aside from that I had a great time in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Here is a shot overlooking the French Quarter of New Orleans from the parking garage.
So that's all for now. Jesse and I got into Austin, Texas today and have been waiting out a storm. In the next few days we're going to check out what Austin has to offer and a flatland bike jam.