DIRTY ROTTEN BATON ROUGE (FREE DAY)

"Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" on tour...

Just as I am about to leave the hotel to explore downtown Baton Rouge with Duff, Michael shows up. I'm surprised because I didn't expect that the crew bus would arrive until at least 5pm or so. But, 11:30 a.m. and here he is.....reeking of alcohol and the colour of any respectable hotel bed sheet. Yes, it would seem that they all got really, REALLY drunk in Nashville the night before. So drunk, in fact, that my Dutch baby is wearing a brand new pair of 'gator belly cowboy boots that cost more than our monthly rent. They are a thing of beauty to behold even if, in his hung over state, he isn't. I leave him to his recovery and venture out into the world.

The driver of the taxi that takes us downtown is apparently somewhat of a local celebrity. He keeps the magazine featuring an article on him in the back seat. In our 10 minute cab ride, I learn more about Baton Rouge than most mayors would learn in their first term. I also learn a great deal about what does and does not work when it comes to delivering tried and true one-liners. He shows us the State Capitol building, the wine lounge, the casinos, the theatre where we'll be performing. He points out that the museum currently has an exhibition of Rodin sculptures and that we should take advantage of the sushi restaurant on top of the museum because it's one of the best around. He calls this restaurant Tasammi. At lunch, a tourist booklet proves my hunch correct. The sushi restaurant is actually called Tsunami, our cabbie just didn't know how to pronounce it.

It doesn't take us long to "do" downtown. A smart lunch at sidewalk bistro,(delicious gumbo) a quickie visit to the old state capitol building (stunning architecture), a walk along the levee (just so that I can say that I have walked along one), a martini at the Hilton (an American Heritage site) and we're done. Baton Rouge, not so big. The real problem is that most things worth doing are closed on Mondays. The Rodin exhibition at the Museum of Art,.... closed. The is award-winning sushi that offers a view of the river,....closed. The wine bar.....closed.
And, I hate to sound like I'm complaining, but the heat is starting to get to us as we shuffle up and down empty side streets. We decide to cut our losses and head back to the hotel, making plans to get some authentic Cajun/Creole cuisine for dinner. I take advantage of the heat wave and take my plastic glass of wine out to the park bench behind the hotel to write this entry.

For dinner, we head for a local place that the cabbie spoke of, not far from the hotel. Not much on ambiance, but the food is what we are looking for. I decide to splurge out and order a dozen oysters on the half shell followed by the crawfish etoufee. Michael has a 1/2 order of oysters and the fried catfish platter. Duff chooses the grilled oysters and the fish of the day in Pontchartrain sauce. Mmmm.....Cajun.