The Golden Band From Tigerland

 Baton Rouge, LA

Geaux Tigers!

The Band and Team Procession to the Field

LSU has a tradition of only having night games at Tiger Stadium and having a celebrated procession about 2 hours before kickoff where the band marches and plays heading to the stadium and then the team follows up.  We are into the whole marching band thing so we braved the rain to go watch the procession.  We were told the game against UAB (The University of Alabama at Birmingham) wasn't a "Big" game so we figured between the rain and the less popular opponent the crowds would be light.  Nope!  People were packed in and partying!  The first band to go by was the Alumni Band.  An older teen was standing next to me and watched them go by and said something like, "That's it?"  Her parent explained that it was just the Alumni Band.  She responded with, "I don't even know what that means".  

The Alumni band makes its way to the field.

We had hoped for a cool marching band experience but we got a running band.  It was still cool.

$4 Tickets to the Game

During the week I was checking Stubhub for ticket prices.  On gameday I found 2 that were $4 each.  I asked Donna if she wanted to spend a few bucks to show up to the game late, watch the band, and then leave.  That sounded great to Donna so I pulled the trigger on the tickets.  After the procession we headed home to dry off and wait for the right time to head to Tiger Stadium.  I was watching updates on the game and we headed over around the start of the 2nd quarter.  It was going to be about a 15 minute walk.  We got to our seats with about 7 minutes left in the quarter.  We got to see an LSU touchdown which was a bonus.

We were up top and the stadium was much larger and much steeper than I had thought it would be.

The band played in the stands until it was time to head to the field for half-time.

I took the opportunity to take photos from the top of the stadium.

You can see the state capitol in the distance.

Touchdown!

The band sounded great and their marching was pretty tight.

The Alumni Band also got to get out on the field.

Tiger Stadium

Tiger stadium holds 102,000 people.  It's probably the 2nd largest stadium I have been to.  2nd to The Auto Club Speedway in Fontana which holds 120,000 people.  2 weeks ago LSU played a huge rival, The University of Alabama.  Alabama came into Baton Rouge the favorite and left having lost in a dramatic fashion.  The game had eight lead changes and went to overtime.  Alabama scored quickly in overtime and put LSU in a bad spot but LSU came through with a touchdown and decided to play for the 2 point conversion instead of locking up a tie.  It paid off with a dramatic victory that caused the crowd to rush the field resulting in a $250,000 fine from the SEC.  During the game the crowd was so "stompy" and noisy that they set off the seismograph at LSU.  Tonight's game was very different.  LSU did win but the crowd was much smaller and it wasn't as big of a deal.

It's really fun being so close to a university.  They are great places to walk around and they provide a lot of low cost opportunities for fun. 

That's it for today.  If you missed yesterday's post you can find it here.

Louie's Cafe and Bengals and Bandits

 Baton Rouge, LA

Louie's Cafe

This morning we walked across the LSU campus to Louie's Cafe, an LSU tradition.  I mentioned we were going to Louie's yesterday at the brewery and the bar tender said, "Yay grease!" or something like that.  Louie's ranks high for breakfast places in Baton Rouge.  They have solid breakfast offerings.  

We saw signs on our walk that we were on the right track.

It isn't open 24 hours anymore.

Solid Diner Coffee

Solid Chicken Fried steak before I put the gravy on.

Nice house made biscuits

The hallway was littered with awards

Bengals and Bandits Shop

I try to buy a T-Shirt from the places that we have stayed.  I usually look for a cool graphic tee that represents the area and hopefully it has the name of the city on it somewhere.  I wasn't sure where to find a thing like this in Baton Rouge so I asked Reddit.  One of the recommendations was Bengals and Bandits.  They mostly carry LSU merch but there is a small section of Baton Rouge and Louisiana shirts.  I saw a few I liked but I have other places to check before I make the purchase.

LSU branded Ties and Belts

I took a few more photos of the area on our walk.  The campus and surrounding area are great places to walk.

That's it for today.  If you missed yesterday's post you can find it here.

Mike The Tiger

 Baton Rouge, LA

Donna found a fallen branch covered in Lazarus Ferns.

Visiting Mike the Tiger

Today we kept it low key.  The temperatures have dropped quite a bit for today and for the upcoming week.  It's been in the high 70s and 80s since we have been here and this week the highs are in the 50s and 60s.  We decided to grab Francis and walk around the LSU campus and visit Mike the Tiger.  Francis isn't allowed near his habitat so we took turns once we got near the enclosure. 

Tiger Stadium

The campus has many beautiful Live Oaks.  There are more than 1300 dotting the campus.

No Pets!  So Francis and I waited while Donna checked out the habitat.

Do not turn your back on Mike

LSU is on Mike VII.

Mike was pretty active when we were there.

Not Mike

That's it for today.  If you missed yesterday's post you can see it here.

Peanuts 3 Ways

 Baton Rouge, LA

On the left is a roasted peanut, on the right is a green peanut right out of the ground

Fresh Pickin's Market

Today we used the Reddit hivemind and visited Fresh Pickin's Market.  The day we booked Baton Rouge as a replacement for Panama City (you can read about that here) I joined r/Batonrouge and started exploring.  I came across a post where a local was giving a future visitor advice on a quick trip to Baton Rouge and what to do and eat.  They mentioned the best boiled peanuts can be found at Fresh Pickin's Market so I added it to our list of things to do.  We went today and weren't disappointed.  

It's a lot like many other Vegetable Stand markets. 

Great pickled egg selection

We went with the refrigerated bag of boiled peanuts because we were going to eat them at home.  They did have hot peanuts too.

Peanut roaster

We bought some Satsumas.  

And a table of Green Peanuts!  You can only get them this time of year.

The Smoked Pickled Eggs are The Bomb!

We bought local grits too.  We have only had big brand grits before.

In the end we bought roasted peanuts, boiled peanuts, and green peanuts.  When we got home we tried them all and they were all fantastic in their own ways.  The roasted peanuts were fresh out of the roaster and tasted more roasted than the big brand nuts.  The boiled peanuts were well seasoned but more salty than we are used to.  Donna makes great boiled peanuts.  They are more suited for our taste and cost a lot less.  The green peanuts (we only sampled a few because Donna is going to boil them) tasted like a root vegetable and a peanut mixed.  Kind of like a jicama with hints of peanut.  

LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens

We also stopped by the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens and walked some of the trails.  It was a great place to walk around and see birds and learn about trees.  It's fall so it isn't the best time to visit a Botanic Garden but it was still pretty great.

Probably Bob Loblaw's favorite tree

This is a mound of mud made by something.  I don't think it is termites.  I do think it is some sort of terrestrial crab.  I can't find much info on it at the moment but am going to keep trying.

That's it for today.  Check out yesterday's post here if you haven't seen it.