4/20/2022 – 4/29/2022
On the 20th I explored Baton Rouge, LA. I had to get Cajun food while in in LA so I had lunch at Mike Anderson’s. The food was really good and the lunch specials are great. I headed downtown after lunch. I stopped by the LSU stadium, Tiger Stadium. I parked by the Old Governor’s Mansion. Parking near downtown was really easy. I was able to park pretty much right on the edge of downtown.
I walked down the block toward the old capitol building and found a neat amphitheater next to the bus terminal.
The old capitol building was really neat. It was designed to look like a castle. As you walk in there is a huge central spiral staircase and a beautiful stained glass ceiling. They turned this building into a museum and there was a lot of interesting history for the capitol.
The old capitol was right next to the river so I headed over there to see the USS Kidd. The USS Kidd is a destroyer that was in the battle of Okinawa. After the waterfront I made my way toward the capitol building and the heart of downtown.
The capitol grounds were beautiful. They had a huge garden area in front of the building, a park to the North, and a former barracks to the South.
Past the park was the Governor’s Mansion. The trees were too big to get a really good pic.
I really like Baton Rouge, but I wouldn’t live there. There is a lot of crime in the city. I headed back to the van and started off to Lafayette. LA. On my way there I drove over the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge. This is the third longest bridge in the USA at 18 miles long. Once I got to Lafayette I went to Parish Brewing since it was recommended. That ended my night.
The 21st was laundry day and I drove around Lafayette. It was a really boring city so I bounced on the 22nd to Little Rock, AR. Most of Arkansas is forest from what I’ve seen. It seemed like a long drive up from Louisiana. On the 24th I explored the city. Little Rock is a really nice city, but it’s 5 hours from anywhere else. Downtown is dead on a Sunday. The waterfront area was kind of busy, but the rest of downtown was completely dead. I had to stop at Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken. I haven’t had it since the last time I was in Oklahoma I think. If you ever find one I highly recommend it.
After lunch I went to the “Little Rock” bridge. This is an old bridge that was recently converted into a pedestrian walkway. After that I made my way through downtown toward the capitol building. The capitol here is a traditional building, like most capitol buildings.
It was so hot and I had already walked a few miles and I really needed some AC and a beer. I stopped at Vino’s. They are a brewpub that makes a few beers and amazing looking pizza. If I wasn’t so full from lunch I would’ve gotten a slice.
After a beer and a cool-off I walked to the Governors Mansion part of town. This is where all the pretty, old houses are.
After that I started toward Lost Forty Brewing. There was a bunch of construction so I decided to drive there. They didn’t have any really good beers there, but I talked to a guy in town for work for a while. After Lost Forty I went to Flyway Brewing. Flyway was awesome. They had a few beers that I liked, but the food was where it was at. I had cheesy tots with duck bits. The rest of the menu looked so good too. This place was on Diners, Drive-inns, and Dives too.
On the 26th I drove to Hot Springs, AR. I started walking downtown and ended up on a little hike in my sandals. I got back downtown and went to get a national park sticker and see what there was to see. On the main street there is “Bathhouse Row”. Back in the 1800’s and 1900’s there were a bunch of bathhouses that took advantage of the hot spring. Pretty much the whole city is shut down on Tuesday’s though, which I thought was weird.
On the 27th I took another longer hike and broke in my new boots. After the hike I went to Quapaw Baths & Spa to sit in the hot spring water. I ended up bathing for almost two hours. It’s totally worth the $25. Hot Springs is a super cute city and I’m going to come back for sure.
I got signed up for a clinical study and the only day I could screen was the 28th at 8AM. I busted over to Dallas to stay the night. I ended up not passing the screening because I was .4 BMI to high. That really bummed me out. I drove all the way to Dallas to not get in. I don’t like Dallas. I took a nap until 2ish and hung out until almost nine and then went to Manhattan Project Beer Co. and Steam Theory Brewing Company. Steam Theory was fun. There was a lot of people watching the basketball game.
Today I just hung out and made a nice lunch in the van then went to Ash and Ember Brewing for a beer then played video games until writing this.
I don’t know what I’m going to do now. Maybe I’ll go down to Austin until my friend Billy comes to Dallas on the 11th.