Wonderful Wining, Dining and Walking in the Boot State

The next destination on our trip: Baton Rouge, Louisiana. This was an unplanned whim because we saw it on the map and both Shannon and I immediately thought “beignets!” Those perfectly fried, doughy, sugared confections of pure melt in your mouth wonderfulness. It made for the best two days of wonderful wining, dining and walking in the boot state!

Beignets….sigh!

if you’ve never had a beignet, go now. Wherever you live, Google, and go. They might not be Louisiana worthy, but they will still be amazing bites of pillowy perfection. Our local beignet spot is NN Burger in Kilmarnock, Virginia. They also make good burgers and have two veggie burgers options, which makes me happy!

Now back to our Wonderful Wining, Dining and Walking in the Boot State Adventure! We stayed in downtown Baton Rouge. It was super affordable and a very nice, clean city along the banks of the Mississippi River. In the morning we footed it to the local cafe, The Vintage, for coffee and beignets. The Vintage’s decor is very Louisiana blues, featuring a beautiful piano and pictures of popular blues musicians. The menu was varied and they also have regular breakfast items as well as lunch, wine and bubbles! However, we were strictly there for the beignets. They have the option of ordering three or ten, beignets (they even had specialty beignets and ones covered in cinnamon). So, of course we ordered ten, assuming they’d be the same size as the ones at home.

We then sat at a tiny table by the windows and people watched and excitedly waited for our order of ten traditional beignets. The hot, creamy lattes came first and we sipped carefully. Finally, the waitress arrived with our beignets. Wow! We were shocked when the waitress set down what looked like a mountain of powdered sugar! After laughing at our mistake, we got down to it! Like I said before, amazing fried, doughy, sugared confections of pure melt in your mouth wonderfulness. Sigh….

The Red Stick

Stuffed and needing to walk off some of those calories, we strolled around the city of Baton Rouge. The city boasts a lovely foot and bike path, free from traffic, called the Greenway, for city workers, dwellers and tourists as well as a nice river walk on the Mississippi. Shannon and I strolled the Greenway, breathing in the soft perfume of magnolias and lillies, and marveling at the beautiful oak trees, all right in the city.

Dining in New Orleans

Shannon and I traveled about an hour to dine in New Orleans. I mean, we were so close it seemed a shame to waste the opportunity! So we jumped in the car, googled directions and off we went!

New Orleans looks so cool on TV and in movies. New Orleans in person…dirty, stinky and smelly. It had recently rained and it smelled like watered down vomit, urine and horse crap. I said, ” do you smell horse?” Shannon turned and pointed at the street where I saw a horse drawn carriage, clomping down the cobbled street. The streets themselves are super narrow, which doesn’t get conveyed in the movies. I admit I was a bit overwhelmed by the whole city.

We did wander the cramped streets and even bought a piece of art for the house before dining at Cafe Pontalba. I had the pecan catfish, which is a New Orleans specialty, with green beans and cajun mashed taters, which was delicious. Stuffed once again, we walked on the river walk along the Mississippi River before heading back to Baton Rouge.

We were really glad that we stopped in Louisiana for two days of wonderful wining, dining and walking in the Boot State. New Orleans has always been on my bucket list and now I’ve checked box. Next up, Texas!