The morning started with a relatively hurried breakfast and final packing. The Cook Hotel was not able to give us a late checkout time and I'd be in church at the 11:00 deadline. So, the car had to be packed up before going to 10:00 Mass. My husband was available to help with this. I wanted as little as possible to be in the back seat, as I would be parking in downtown Baton Rouge and didn't want to advertise our stuff. We headed out at 9:40 and at 9:42, I was parked behind the Anglican church across the street from Christ the King Catholic Church. It was an easy walk for my husband to get to his final meetings and events, and off he went.
I loved the church! There was an old part that is now a chapel and a very new part that was obviously added across the hall and put under an extended roof. The older part looked like an older church with lovely stonework. The entrance to the new church had a cool free-standing arch at the entrance. Pews were on three sides around the altar. It took me a while to realize that my seat on the left side was in front of the tabernacle, which felt really weird once I realized it. There was stained glass, just not the old-fashioned kind. I particularly liked the candles at the front of the altar. They were blue balls, that seemed to be ceramic and oil-filled. The sacristan was obviously a student,who was very efficient. The priest was young and an excellent speaker. It was the first time I've ever heard a priest say, "hanging out" in a homily. He told a very amusing story that took place shortly after he was ordained. He was hanging out with a friend, who said, he needed to go to confession. He replied, that yeah, he should find a priest. His friend looked at him and pointed at him. He suddenly realized, that he was a priest and could do that! The rather large crowd for a college church in the summer appreciated the annecdote.
After Mass, I drove to downtown Baton Rouge. I had time to kill and decided to visit the USS Kidd. I got lucky twice. First, there was a parking spot right in front of the museum. Then, there was no entrance fee, because: "It's the first Sunday of the month and the end of summer." Lots to see in the museum, not just about the Kidd. The ship was named for Admiral Kidd, who was on the Arizona at Pearl Harbor. Interesting quote on the walls of a courtyard around a Flying Tiger plane. Some I knew, some I didn't. I photographed them all. The second floor had lots of ship models, as well as a walk through exhibit of a deck of Old Ironsides.
Finally, I headed out for the ship, docked in the Mississippi River. The river's fluctuation in depth was compensated for and at this time of year, the ship was resting in the mud, basically drydocked. I noticed tree trunks lodged high up in towers in the river, testament to spring flooding. The tour was self-guided, following a numbered map and numbers on the ship. I couldn't really tell where the torpedo had hit it. It was a hot day and I was thrilled, when I reached portions of the ship that were air conditioned. Climbing up and down the steep stairs was tough, particularly for my bad foot. It was interesting, although I was reminded I wasn't cut out for that life, when I saw the toilets. There were urinals, of course. But there were also metal troughs with maybe 4 seats attached to each, in a row. They were not toilet seats, so much as rubber covered half- cushions. So, they sat next to each other in this most private of moments?? Yuck!
By the time I got back in the museum, I was sweating like mad. I was thrilled to find a gelato cart had opened. The guy was Italian, accent and all, and tried to be as true to Italy as possible. To recapture a bit of last year's trip to Italy, I ordered a scoop of chocolate and a scoop of vanilla cheescake in an authentic plastic cup with a shovel spoon. It was wonderful!
After buying a pin and postcards for my collections, I asked for a lunch recommendation. Shucks on the Levee was right next door I was told and was assured I could leave my car where it was. It took work to get up to the restaurant. I had to cross the street and railroad tracks before entering the lower level of the entrance to the casino that was docked in the river. Up the escalator and then hurriedly through the large passageway back over the street. My time was limited. I was ushered to a table in the mostly empty restaurant at 1:55. I made my decision but had to wait a while for the waitress. She assured me that the Lump Crab Cake Sandwich could be prepared quickly. She even brought my check early to help me get out. The sandwich was rather lacking in flavor, which was unfortunate, as it was my last Louisiana meal and I love crab. I was out by 2;25.
It didn't take long to get back to campus. I was able to park next to the music building, where the final concert would take place. It featured the Professors Choir, of which my husband was a member. It was not easy to find the ladies room, but I was able to get into the concert hall with time to spare before the 3 pm start. What a surprise, when the woman next to me recognized me as having sat next to her at the first concert! What are the odds? She'd enjoyed the conference and was considering next year's in Madrid. The concert ran a bit over 4 pm, and she had to leave before the end to make her flight. The concert was quite good. My husband made his final good-byes and we headed off to see Mike the tiger.
I hadn't had a chance to do this all week and thought it would be stupid to leave without seeing the mascot. It was a bit tricky to figure out where he was, but it turned out to be totally logical. He is in an incredibly large habitat right across from an entrance to the stadium. He's really quite impressive and lovely. Someone mentioned that the fan store right there was still open for another 10 minutes and I wanted to see, if there was a cute little stuffed tiger. There wasn't, but there was an LSU cheerleader Barbie! I had to get her for my Barbie collection. Such a unique Barbie! Plus, she'd been in the doll museum's Barbie exhibit. So, there you go.
We were on the road at 5:01, with me at the wheel. We crossed into Mississippi on I-10 at 6:32. The tire pressure light came on, which is not good, but could have been due to the rain we'd gone through. We got off at Exit 44 in Biloxi at 7:16. My husband added air and we pushed the reset button. We saw a McDonald's nearby and figured it was time to eat. The moment he said that he couldn't really read the menu, I knew I couldn't let him take over driving. His eye condition worries me and I didn't want to take any chances. By 8:11, we were back on the road.
8:41 brought the Alabama line and we crossed into Florida at 9:38. We made a pit stop a few minutes later at the Florida Welcome Center. The main part was closed, which was unfortunate, as it looked really interesting and like it presented the state well.We'd hoped to make it to Tallahassee, but there was still a long way to go to get there. I really wanted to at least make it across the time line to make the next day a bit easier. I put my husband to work with the map and his phone to find a place, where he could get loyalty points for one of his hotel memberships. He called ahead, when we finally made a decision on how far we could get, and made a reservation.
We reached the Fairfield in Marianna at 11:46 pm. I was particularly exhausted, having driven 391 miles. We were glad we'd packed overnight bags, so that we didn't have to unpack the whole car.We weren't over the time line, but we were fairly far across the Panhandle. And that was something.
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