New Orleans, LA

After the trip to Baton Rouge, we took a little side morning trip to New Orleans before heading back home. Keep in mind, it was the early morning, so people had just gone to bed a couple of hours before. You could still see where the city is trying to recover from Katrina, especially in the Ninth Ward area (sorry, no pictures). You could also see Saints related things everywhere. We stopped first at Tulane University and the Garden District. Brandy had never been there, so we just walked around a bit. Tulane was my 50th campus to visit. Yes, I count...are you surprised? After Tulane, it was on to Cafe Du Monde for some famous beignets in the French Quarter. Good stuff. Then it was off to check out the French Quarter and Bourbon Street. It was...well...Bourbon Street, nothing more, nothing less. We circled back by Jackson Square and the Cathedral de St. Louis and took a few pics before heading back to Starkvegas. Good trip. Check.

"Wait til They Get a Load of Me"

For those familiar with the classic Batman movie with Michael Keaton as Batman and Jack Nicholson as The Joker...you'll understand the title line. Brandy went Halloween costume shopping early this year. Will really does like his costume...he was running all over the house in it.

First Trip to Red Stick (aka Baton Rouge) for MSU vs. LSU

We rested for a week after the Ohio trip and then headed off to Baton Rouge, LA to LSU's campus and a trip to Tiger Stadium (aka Death Valley). We were told by many folks that we should prepare for the worst...i.e. little kids giving us the finger, cussing us...adults flinging unheard of things in the area of opposing fans. However, I've got to say, the fans were not as advertised and the stadium itself, while quite big, is looking pretty rough. They had a Preserve Death Valley campaign going so they obviously know it needs some work. Tiger fans didn't say much at all other than the usual "Tiger Bait" chant. That we can handle. A crowd of about 94,000 watched both offenses play terrible and eventually State lose again at Death Valley, where we haven't won since 1991. We are 3-18 vs. LSU over the past 21 years, including last year's game at home where we had two chances to win from the the 6 inch line and couldn't pull it out. Anyway...we took a bunch of pics of everything, including Mike the Tiger and the Golden Girls. We even eat a bowl of Jambalaya while we were there. Cross that one off the list. We may try for Arkansas' stadium next year if we play that game in Fayetteville and not Little Rock. By the way...the Prisoner Bus is indeed that, though we joked when we mentioned it was LSU's defense. No one at the LSU tailgate thought that was funny. Imagine that...