Twenty-five years ago, I spent several weeks in Louisiana. It was my first business trip, and I received quite an education. My boss just happened to be from Louisiana, and he made sure that I got a full taste of all things southern — literally. I tried okra, crawfish étouffée, shrimp jambalaya, oyster po’boys, and a whole host of foods I’d never even known existed. In addition to visiting New Orleans and Baton Rouge, we worked in a small, rural town near the coast. The hotel there was the only one I’ve ever visited that provided guests a fly swatter. I still remember one of the locals giving us directions to a restaurant. He told us to drive straight ahead until we came to the red light, where we were to turn left. I’ve always wondered — what if the light was green?

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As much as we’d love a bayou tour, we’re pressed for time as usual, so we’ll have to pass on the gators and head straight to New Orleans. Driving through the narrow streets was a bit stressful for Bill, but luckily, we found our hotel easily and left the rental car with the attendant to park using their handy car elevator.

New Orleans is just soaked with history, tradition, music, hot sauce, and alcohol.

Did I mention alcohol? If you’d like some for your balcony party, you won’t have any problems finding a drink in town. New Orleans is definitely a party town. Some folks were drinking at 8:30am, and others could barely walk — guess they’d had a few too many cocktails to go.

Oops — sorry. I forgot this is a G-rated blog.

New Orleans’ cemeteries are famous and morbidly fascinating. Tombs are constructed above ground so they won’t be flooded. Many are very old and crumbling. Generations are laid to rest in their family tombs.

Being the good sports that we are, on our way out of town, we saluted the Superdome.

We left New Orleans and traveled along I-10 and route 61, passing Baton Rouge along the way. To our delight, we caught a glimpse of the State Capitol building, which is one of the very few Capitol buildings in the country that does not feature a gilded dome!

Thanks to the dual wonders of Google and the iPhone, we found the opposite of New Orleans in the small, quiet town of St. Francisville. The Eight Sisters Restaurant served up amazing soulfood specialties like fried chicken, red beans and rice, greens, and catfish po’boys. Not to mention their desert specialty: ooey gooey. Oh my. This was a delicious lunch. My old boss would’ve been very happy.

30. Louisiana
Mardi Gras beads