In addition to Baton Rouge’s historical antebellum plantation homes and plentiful museums, the city has a few other attractions hidden up its sleeves. As a former site of some military importance, the USS KIDD and the Old Arsenal Museum provide a fascinating glimpse of the city’s military past, while more light-hearted attractions such as the Baton Rouge Zoo and Louisiana Art and Science Museum are suitable for all of the family
Baton Rouge Zoo
Housing 1,800 animals and L'Aquarium de Louisiana, this is the place to come to enjoy the world’s animal and marine life. Exhibits include the Parrot Paradise, home to tropical and strikingly colourful birds; the Kids Zoo, allowing children to interact with friendly farm animals; and live animal show, featuring the zoo's Asian elephants. The Cypress Bayou Railroad and the White Tiger Tram are on hand to whiz you around the sights, while food is on-hand at the Flamingo Café and souvenirs at the Safari Post. Website: http://www.brzoo.org/
Breaux Bridge
Located between Baton Rouge and Lafayette, this nearby, old-fashioned town is a great stop off or daytrip, with its crawfish-decorated bridge and French characteristics. The music venues and tasty restaurants are part of the appeal, while the town is also a popular base for swamp tours that take you through the wildlife-inhabited waters.
Louisiana Art and Science Museum
Great for a rainy day, this museum ranks as one of Baton Rouge’s most popular attractions. Tour the museum and take in art exhibitions, hands-on science exhibits and artefacts from as far away as Egypt. Inspiring and educational, an afternoon here is and afternoon well spent. While the permanent displays take up the majority of the museum, temporary exhibitions are also featured, as are workshops and frequent special events.
Phone: +1 225 344 5272; website: www.lasm.org/.
Plaquemine Locks
Built between 1895 and 1909, the locks were originally used to control the water level between Bayou Plaquemine and the Mississippi River. Designed by George Goethals, the original lockhouse and locks are still in place, while modern additions include an interpretive centre tracing the lock’s history and an observation tower boasting nice vistas of the Mississippi.
The Old Arsenal Museum
Now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the current building on the site was constructed in 1819 to compensate for the Pentagon Barrack’s shortage of space at its powder magazine, causing the army to find an additional site. The arsenal was later used in the development of the southwest, the Mexican War and the Civil War. Now, the building functions as an exhibit on military history and is one of Baton Rouge’s cherished landmarks.
Website:
www.sos.louisiana.gov/museums/arsenal/arsenal-index.htm
USS KIDD
Docked at Baton Rouge, this US destroyer is now a memorial to US service men and women who have lost their lives in military conflict. Visitors can walk the decks of the KIDD, while the names of fallen Americans are engraved in black granite at Memorial Plaza, a sombre reminder of those who sacrificed their lives for the country. Also on-site is the Veterans’ Memorial Museum, documenting the history of warfare and containing the Louisiana Veterans’ Hall of Fame and some aircraft that were used in South East Asia during WWII.
Website: www.usskidd.com/
Attend a fais-do-dos, or a Cajun dance, and see why Baton Rouge residents have a reputation for partying. Although Baton Rouge is not strictly in Cajun Country, these singing and dancing parties provide a great opportunity to witness the area’s culture close at hand, with joining in being virtually compulsory.
Spend a night at the Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre, which offers professional dance productions of classics as well as some educational arts programmes. Additional performances are presented at the River Center Baton Rouge.
Website: www.batonrougeballet.org/
Take a slow steamboat trip along the Mississippi River, the lifeblood of Louisiana. Seen by many as a romantic element to Baton Rouge and a contributor to the area’s slow-moving pace of life, a trip along the river will give you a different perspective on the region’s bayous, swaps and waterways.
Tour the swamps on a daytrip through the cypress-laden Atchafalaya Basin. Somewhat eerie, the swamps are inhabited by unusually-shaped tree stumps that jut out the slow-moving waters, fishing boats and local wildlife, including alligators.
Visit an authentic plantation house and get a feel for what life on a plantation farm was like at the turn of the 20th century. Many antebellum plantation houses in the areas surrounding Baton Rouge have been restored and present guides tours, so that visitors can see the interior of the buildings as they would have appeared in the wealthy planters’ heyday.
