Day 16 – “Busted Flat in Baton Rouge…”

Melrose Plantation

Today we traveled from Lafayette, LA, to Natchez, MS, and then down to Baton Rouge, LA. The weather wasn't the best today as it was overcast and we drove through bursts of heavy rain off and on for much of the way, but it really didn't hold us back much. Our main stop, Natchez, is a small but historic Mississippi River town with many magnificent antebellum homes (see photos). In the years leading up to the Civil War, Natchez was a main stopping point for Mississippi River traffic and also the home town to group of cotton plantation owners.  

Stanton Hall

One interesting thing that we learned was that quite a few of the plantation owners were actually from the north and had plantations across several states. As a consequence the town was split when it came to a succession vote as they knew war would be bad for business. The homes in Natchez are very well preserved as the town was surrendered when the northern troops came so it didn't suffer the damage that towns like Vicksburg did.

In the evening, we did some touring of Baton Rouge.  We drove through the LSU campus, which is very large with a surprising amount of lakes. As far as I’m concerned, however, I’m going to remember Baton Rouge for the catfish Po’ Boy that gave me a bout of food poisoning.