The Great Southern Adventure: Galveston & Baton Rouge
272/3,045 miles traveled
Day 5-6 of our Southern Roadtrip featuring some beautiful architecture and two fat cats!
You know it’s going to be a good day when you wake up to the sound of ocean waves. It was calm and serine and set the tone perfectly for our next couple days on the road.
April 26, Day 5
We woke up on the beach outside of Galveston where we’d parked the Subaru on a public stretch of sand fitted with garbage bins every 20 yards. That was the extent of the amenities, but the firefly and star show from the night before more than made up for where it was otherwise lacking.
We ate our overnight peanut butter oats, packed up the car, and headed for the ferry into town. One thing you should know about Galveston is that this little beach city operates on Island time. We’d covered almost every inch of the downtown area by 10 a.m. and before seeing more than three people.
Eventually we turned a corner to find a dozen (or more!) people buzzing in and around MOD Coffeehouse so we had to check it out if not just to validate that Galveston is not a ghost town, and to breathe in all of the daphne infused air coming from a massive arbor that covered the outdoor seating.
At the shop, we shared a latte from a pristine ceramic latte mug under said arbor, taking in the colorful buildings and floral notes that stuck to the air like pollen. It was a perfect cuppa. We struck up conversation with an elderly gentleman with a matching latte mug at the table behind us. He gave us all sorts of recommendations for us to check out along our route and told us about his family, particularly his daughter, and all of their travels around the world.
It was lovely getting to trot around the old port town, but talking to a native and getting a peek at his Galveston life was the real Easter Egg of the day.
As we were leaving the coffee shop we ran into a couple from Silverton, Oregon who had come to Galveston for a cruise! It was such a fun coincidence since I used to live in Silverton, so I gave them a gift card to come check out our bakery when we all get home so we can share how the rest of our adventures went.
We ventured to the other side of the island and scouted out some of the town’s most beautiful old houses and churches. My favorite was pink with green trim and hundreds of roses and vines wrapping all around the property. The houses were all like little Russian candies, so sweet looking you could almost imagine what flavor they would be biting into them: strawberry sorbet, blue licorice, lavender mint, and so on.
Taking up the recommendation of the old man at the coffee shop, we opted for a truly Southern snack at the Gumbo Diner before heading out of town. We shared a giant bowl of Shrimp and Grits in complete happy silence.
Next we took the ferry for the third time back across to Bolvair Island so we could drive the gulf line on into Louisiana. We stopped at The McFaddin-Ward House in Beaumont, Texas, but it had closed just a few minutes before we got there. Thankfully there was a bit of maintenance happening to the grounds, so the gates were all open and we could explore the gardens and press our noses up to the windows to take in the lush furnishings of the nearly 13 thousand square-foot home.
We crossed the Mississippi River into Baton Rouge just as the sun was turning the whole city pink. We explored the downtown on foot until well after sunset, then made our way to our first paid campsite of the trip, Farr Park, just a few miles out of town at an equestrian center.
This was a great site because it was close to town and it had hot running water showers! It doesn’t take much to make us happy.
April 27: Day 6
In the morning, we had another round of showers, just because we could, and headed back into Baton Rouge to tour the old and new state capitol buildings and get up to speed on all the juicy drama surrounding leadership and death of the 40th Louisiana Governor, Huey Long.
We explored the gardens surrounding the new capitol from 1930, which happens to be the tallest capitol building in the United States. The building is 450 feet high and 460 ft to the top with 34 floors. Long said that the only building in the world that compares to this building is St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome. I wouldn't go that far... but it was a cool building, especially on the interior.
Inside the building, we marveled at the art deco interior featuring floor-ceiling murals and elaborate chandeliers. We took the elevator to the 27th floor where you can look out of the the whole city from the observation deck. It was unlike any city view I have ever seen. You could see the gardens and the town, but you could also see the rural areas across the river as well as a deeply industrial part of town all within 5 miles of the tower.
Huey Long was actually assasinated inside the building, and you can still see bulletholes from the incident.
The old capitol building was just as resplendent, only its charm dated back almost an extra century. A kaleidoscopic glass dome covers the ceiling directly above a grand spiral staircase and black and white checked floors. I had to hold onto the railing in order to look up at it without feeling dizzy.
On the walk to and from the car I fell in love with some very overweight housecats, who would run out to the sidewalk from the shade of their porch to demand pets from all who passed. And we’re talking at least 25 pets, plus tax, plus tip, not a mere quick scratch of the ears. It was their payment, I suppose, for allowing us to explore their city.
There weren’t many restaurants in Baton Rouge, which seemed odd for a college town, and if there were they weren’t open when we were there in the evening or morning so we mostly survived on snacks from the cooler until we got to our next destination of New Orleans.
We didn’t see many people in Galveston or Baton Rouge, and they weren’t very snack-y places, but they had a real southern charm about them and were the kind of places we could see ourselves spending a weekend in relaxing and taking in the Southern Charm — Completely different from what we would be experiencing and enjoying about NOLA!
Up Next: Checking into the Waldorf Astoria and snacking our way through New Orleans.
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