ON THE AMERICAN QUEEN IN BATON ROUGE

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BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA - THURSDAY

A Jazz Brunch was served in the main dining room with the music provided by a five piece band; piano, bass, drum, clarinet and trumpet. Very good musicians.

Baton Rouge is the capital of Louisiana and has about 200,000 residents in the city and another 600,000 in the suburbs. Many people are employed by oil producers and refiners, the port, two colleges and government. I started my touring on the USS KIDD, a World War II destroyer restored and serving as a Veterans’ Memorial. She was hit by a Kamikaze plane in April 1945 killing 45 crewmen and wounding 55. There were 300 on board. The sleeping and eating arrangements were very small. About six volunteers were happy to answer questions; none had served on this ship, but all were in the navy, one during World War II, having enlisted the day after Pearl Harbor and still serving through the Korean War. The ship has groups (schools and organizations like the Boy Scouts) come on board for overnight stays. Good idea!

My next stop was the old Governor’s Mansion, built by Governor Huey P. Long as the Louisiana White House in 1930. Long was a powerful figure in Louisiana politics and the docent shared several stories of his exercise of power and Louisiana politics at the time. Long was responsible for the building of the tallest capitol building, open to visitors but I didn’t have time to visit. Many people on the Queen did and they were very impressed. If I get back, I’ll definitely do it. I also didn’t get to the campus of LSU.

One reason for my not getting to those spots was because I spent a lot of time in the Capitol Park Museum. A modern, large building houses many displays depicting the history of Louisiana and the diverse cultures that are part of that history. A quick stop at St. Joseph Cathedral, built in 1853 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, completed my touring. Much more to see if I had the time.

Showroom entertainment was the U.S. Victory Canteen, a take off on the World War II entertainment canteens for our service men and women. Two male and two female vocalists along with the ship band put on a very entertaining show. The vocalists were young, but had exceptional voices and energy. They will be presenting another show tomorrow night. Looking forward to it.

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Photos

OLD GOVERNOR'S MANSION
LOUISIANA WHITE HOUSE

HUEY LONG STATUE
AND BURIAL SITE