We dipped into Louisiana for the day and really covered a lot of ground!
We left the hotel pretty early with my mother in tow and stopped at the site of the Dixie White House
on the way out. Now rebuilt a couple of times after both Camille and
Katrina, it isn't the original home, but President Woodrow Wilson was
said to have spent some time here in Pass Christian...
After that brief stop, we crossed over into good old Louisiana...
and
set off to make a stop at the Louisiana State Capitol building in Baton
Rouge - or "Red Stick" as B is now continuously calling it!
Unfortunately, I didn't notice until our second stop that my camera
setting had been bumped and all of our photos from there are blurry...
Oh well, an excuse to go back and visit again, I suppose...
Regardless
of the photo quality, the Louisiana State Capitol building is quite
different and unique looking in comparison to the other ones nearby
including Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi...
The art deco structure is the tallest of the U.S. State Capitol buildings...
We
really liked seeing the states listed step by step. Below is B
sitting on the South Carolina step, not that you can tell!
Before
moving on, we just had to find the little plaque commemorating
President Zachary Taylor and one of his residences that once stood
nearby...
Now, on our way in we noticed a little dive of a restaurant called Frostop
with a big figural rootbeer mug sign outside. With B's most
favorite treat being rootbeer and the "Rootbeer Walks" he looks forward
to taking with Hubby once a week in both the spring and summer, we knew
that we just had to stop in for lunch.
It honestly wasn't half bad... It was definitely a dive, but the free refills of rootbeer sealed the deal...
With
bellies full of rootbeer, we made our way back over to New Orleans,
thankful that the rain had held off for most of the morning.
Once we got to town, it was a different story... Awful downpours and storms...
We left Grandma in the car to rest and headed in to explore the Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium, a spot that had actually been on my list of things to do the last time that we were in town...
In my opinion, it was just a little pricey, but the littles surely enjoyed it.
We observed and learned about several insects through a variety of different exhibits...
We
were all four fascinated taking in the leafcutter ant exhibit ~ it was
awesome to watch them (so closely) carry pieces of both leaves and
flowers in a perfect line with such precision...
The littles loved the underground exhibit that I found to be just a little creepy...
We all loved climbing in the appropriately named, "Love Bug", to learn more about just that ~ love bugs!
From
there, my brave little B seized the opportunity (if that's what
you would call it?) to taste (ewww!) bugs... I can't believe that he
actually did it, and I really can't believe that he actually liked it
and ate 6 pieces of the Cinnamon Bug Crunch!
Though we had seen something very similar during our most recent visit to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, seeing the different stages of a butterfly first-hand never seems to get old...
My
own little M's favorite area by far was the butterfly garden ~ she
was really in her element while in there amongst the fluttering
butterflies...
She just sat there happy as a clam with them all around her...
"Hi
butterflies! You are my friends! I love you butterflies! Do you like
my dress (with butterflies, of course)? I love you!"
She
even tried consoling her big sister. "They won't hurt you. They are
my friends. This one is Cindy. Cindy, how are you today? I love you!"
You
see, L is ever my cautious one and isn't really too keen on anything
where she doesn't feel fully in control of the situation. She loves
butterflies, but doesn't really want them too close to her and certainly
doesn't want them landing on her...
M, on the other hand, would want nothing more than the whole room full of butterflies to follow her around...
Yep, that's my little "Butterfly Whisperer"...
She really would've sat there for hours...
Instead, she had to say goodbye to her new friend, Cindy...
Oh, I wish I had recorded her conversations...priceless...
...and, Cindy??? Where in the world did she come up with that name?
Oh, the joys...
After
making sure we had no butterfly friends trying to hitch a ride out of
there on our clothes, we reunited with my mother and drove out to Uptown
to grab a quick dinner and check on my uncle's old house... We ended
up driving around in circles trying to wait out the torrential downpour
before finding his house right where he left it (of course) all those
years ago, on General Pershing Street...
Once the rain subsided a bit, we headed back out of town and back to Mississippi to turn in for the night...
One last adventure tomorrow...
