New Orleans

Louisiana State Capitol

From Natchez we headed south back into Louisiana. We made a stop in Baton Rouge to visit the State Capitol. Completed in 1932, the building is 34 stories and is the tallest capitol in the United States. When you get off the elevator on the main floor you walk into the striking Memorial Hall. It has a very high ceiling with two large bronze chandeliers and seems every surface is marble. The House and Senate chambers are on either end of the hall.

Old Louisiana State Capitol

We also walked much further than expected to see the Old State Capitol. By the time we got there and took a couple of pictures of the outside we ran out of time (parking meter time) so we didn't get to go inside. This building is now a museum and nicely restored.

Jackson Square

Our RV park was near Abita Springs putting us within an hour's drive of New Orleans. We had visited about 25 years ago but had two small children along which limited our range of exploration. This time we walked several miles crisscrossing the French Quarter combining specific things we wanted to see and following a walking tour provided in the AAA tour book. Based on what we remember the French Quarter looks much nicer than it did on our last visit. We saw a lot of construction (restoration) going on while walking so it appears there certainly is a big effort afoot to make the area attractive.

Old Mint

One of our stops was the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve visitor center on Decatur. This was a very informative visitor center and we are glad we stopped in at the beginning of the day as it discussed architecture in New Orleans. Another stop was the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park visitor center. This was a huge disappointment. The brochure that we picked up was great but the visitor center itself had almost no information.

Homes in French Quarter

Ornate iron fence in French Quarter

Ornate iron work on building -
street band performing