Frosty's of Baton Rouge

While I'm not traveling, here is a post from an earlier trip that originally appeared on another of my sites on February 12, 2008.

I worked a half day on Saturday, then left the office and drove to the downtown Baton Rouge area for two reasons; one, to eat lunch at a "hamburger shack" that several people had recommended and two, to do some photowalking around the area. I took about 160 photos over a three hour period and hopefully will have them posted on Flickr in the next day or so. That three hours only covered the southern portion of the downtown area, so my plan is to return in the next couple of weeks and photowalk the northern part of the downtown area.

Now, several people told me that before I leave Baton Rouge (and that won't be a while, as far as I know, but I was going to be in the area anyway so...)I must try the food at Frosty's, a sort of hole-in-the-wall restaurant that serves hamburgers, fries, onion rings (mmmmmm), shakes, floats, seafood, po' boy sandwiches, and...ROOT BEER!

Frosty's of Baton Rouge exterior view.

As you can see in the photo above of the exterior of Frosty's, they pride themselves on their root beer. Too bad I've never been able to stand root beer, so I had to pass on that particular beverage choice. The outside reminds me of an old 7-11 store, with all the plate glass on the front and side, and even with it's angled placement on the corner of the block.

I ordered a cheeseburger with everything but onions, onion rings and an unsweetened iced tea. It's not something I'm really supposed to eat and I'll hear about it from my wife and my doctor, but you have to take these opportunities when they present themselves. The cheeseburger was a tasty hunk of meat; thick, juicy, nicely grilled and definitely NOT swallowed up by the bun. The onion rings were thinner and not as flavorful as I had expected, but they weren't bad, just less than I had hoped. The iced tea was VERY unsweet, for which I was grateful. Sweetened tea makes me gag.

Frosty's of Baton Rouge interior view.

Looking at the photo above (taken with my Blackberry, so it's not as sharp as it could be) you can see that the interior looks like a conglomeration of an old Steak n' Shake counter, old Denny's booths and an old Dairy Queen "special" board on the counter. The grill, fryer, bun warmer, etc were right behind the counter in full view of the customers, like the old Royal Castle restaurants used to be set up. The smell of grease was heavy in the air and the old jukebox in the corner was playing disco music the entire duration of my dining experience. The janitor was actually dancing as he swept and mopped the floors.

It was fun, even in it's "hole-in-the-wall ness" atmosphere. I won't make a  habit of going there to eat, but I'll probably try and be sure to stop by one more time before I leave Baton Rouge.

The French Quarter in New Orleans

While I'm not traveling, here is a post from an earlier trip that originally appeared on another of my sites on November 18, 2007.

Last Monday, which was Veterans Day, I took the opportunity that being off work afforded and visited the French Quarter and Bourbon Street while I was still in New Orleans.

Frankly, I was not impressed with the city of New Orleans and, after spending a few hours strolling through the French Quarter, was at a loss to explain why anyone would be attracted to this part of the city either. The only clean part of the Quarter is Decatur Street, which is like a several-block long tourist trap full of little shops selling cheap trinkets, T-shirts and other various over-priced junk. So, of course, I bought some.

A block or two over is a completely different story. The streets and sidewalks are cracking, crumbling and difficult to walk on safely because of their unevenness. The walls of most buildings are in the same condition. The streets are filled with bags of garbage as well as loose garbage and the air itself is filled with the stench of that garbage. I watched shop owners hosing down the walls and sidewalks around their businesses to wash off the urine and vomit that had been "deposited" the night before.

Maybe it's a different experience in the darkness of night with some alcohol in you, but in the harsh light of day and clear-mindedness of sobriety, it is not a pleasant encounter on the senses.

I have photos from my visit that you can see by clicking on the Flickr badge over on the right column.

New Orleans' Roads

While I'm not traveling, here is a post from an earlier trip that originally appeared on another of my sites on November 10, 2007.

Leaving my hotel each day as the sun rises and returning after dark has limited my view of New Orleans to not much more than their road system. I have a theory as to how the design process occurred. Someone grabbed a huge handful of cooked spaghetti, dropped it on the ground, looked at the ensuing tangle of pasta and said, "Let's build a road system that looks like that!"
And so they did.

And, if driving on the Huey P. Long bridge twice each day is any indication, they used thin spaghetti.

I thought I got used to driving on narrow roadways after motoring around Scotland and France, but at least on those narrow roads there were strategically placed "pull offs" you could move onto when opposing traffic was approaching. Granted, on the Huey P. Long bridge the two lanes on each side are going the same direction, but the lanes are so narrow that if two SUV's attempted to ride side by side with one in each lane, you'd be hard pressed to see 6 inches of daylight between them. The first morning I drove over the length of this  bridge I had to peel my  hands off the steering wheel when I reached the other side. I've since learned to try and stagger my compact (thank you, thank you, thank you for a compact car this time) car's position in the empty spots between other vehicles so that we're never driving side by side, but sometimes there's an idiot who wants to race by and is weaving in and out of the two lanes we're allotted. I look dubiously at the rusted railings on each side and wonder if they will hold when my car hits them or if I'll take the 135 foot plunge into the Mississippi River.

I have my doubts.

If you've ever driven across the Huey P. Long, then you know I'm exaggerating a little. The two lanes are a pretty standard 9 feet (each) in width. I think it's just the knowledge that if you go over the rail it's along way down. Supposedly there is a widening project in the works to change the bridge into three lanes that are 11 feet (each) in width going each direction.

In addition to the maze-like tangle of roadways, I've found that a good amount of streets are not blessed with signs identifying them by name. I don't know if this is a not-yet-repaired problem resulting from Katrina or if it's meant to add to the city's charm. I'd have to offer the opinion that if it's the latter, it's not having the desired effect. I've gotten lost a couple of times and probably will again if I go somewhere unfamiliar.