DAY 3: Laissez les Oreilles roulez (9/25)
BATON ROUGE -- The fun thing about vacationing in the Central time zone is that you can keep your Eastern schedule and not look too weird. Granted, waking up at 6am CT/7am ET on a Saturday is uncommon.
The first stop of the day was in Lafayette to visit the U-Louisiana campus there. And although the University of Florida may claim they are "The Swamp", UL-Lafayette has an actual swamp habitat -- complete with at least one baby alligator that I spotted -- out back of the student union.
The next stop was the Gulf coast, specifically Grand Isle. The literary types among you might recognize the town as the setting of the 19th-century novel by Kate Chopin, "The Awakening." (Brief plot: Woman chafes against Victorian prudery.) I recognized it as the last town on Louisiana Route 1. As my part of the Gulf recovery, I had a tuna sandwich at the Starfish Restaurant, and tanked up the car next door.
During the return trip up the Mississippi, I went through a torrential downpour that slowed traffic to a near-standstill. Fortunately, I arrived in the West Baton Rouge Parish community of Port Allen safely and in plenty of time before the game.
Good, because when unpacking, I realized that the power cord to my laptop was missing. And though housekeeping at last night's hotel didn't see a power cord, I can't think of anywhere else I'd leave it. So after some consultation with my tech team, I elected to get another power cord at Best Buy. ($60 got me the cord, surge protector, and 10 possible protector-laptop connectors.)
As for the game, for the second straight year I found streetside parking close to the stadium. I even got a round of applause from some Texas-based LSU tailgaters, despite my less-than-stellar parallel-parking skills.
My seat in section 640, row EE could have been considered God's seat, if my seat weren't so high. Fortunately, the stadium had escalators to access the upper deck. The vocal person next to me from Martinsburg was apparently a failed candidate for the offensive coordinator position ("Pass the ball, and then pass it again!") and didn't recognize me as a WVU fan until late in the 1st quarter when I related a '90s-era highlight to him. (Gold is a common color to both West Virginia and LSU, so the confusion could happen to even a sober person.)
What else did we learn from the LSU game program? Apparently, Les Miles' full name is Leslie -- his son is named [Leslie] Matthew Jr -- and his daughter's nickname is Smacker. I don't see the connection between the nickname and being one of the top younger swimmers in the country, but whatever.
Losing 20-14 after two missed field goals can seem disappointing, but with a newly road-tested sophomore QB working in the face of 92,000+ fans, it gives me hope.
As for the night in music:
"Louisiana Saturday Night" (pronounced "Loozyana", natch)
"Callin' Baton Rouge"
The first stop of the day was in Lafayette to visit the U-Louisiana campus there. And although the University of Florida may claim they are "The Swamp", UL-Lafayette has an actual swamp habitat -- complete with at least one baby alligator that I spotted -- out back of the student union.
The next stop was the Gulf coast, specifically Grand Isle. The literary types among you might recognize the town as the setting of the 19th-century novel by Kate Chopin, "The Awakening." (Brief plot: Woman chafes against Victorian prudery.) I recognized it as the last town on Louisiana Route 1. As my part of the Gulf recovery, I had a tuna sandwich at the Starfish Restaurant, and tanked up the car next door.
During the return trip up the Mississippi, I went through a torrential downpour that slowed traffic to a near-standstill. Fortunately, I arrived in the West Baton Rouge Parish community of Port Allen safely and in plenty of time before the game.
Good, because when unpacking, I realized that the power cord to my laptop was missing. And though housekeeping at last night's hotel didn't see a power cord, I can't think of anywhere else I'd leave it. So after some consultation with my tech team, I elected to get another power cord at Best Buy. ($60 got me the cord, surge protector, and 10 possible protector-laptop connectors.)
As for the game, for the second straight year I found streetside parking close to the stadium. I even got a round of applause from some Texas-based LSU tailgaters, despite my less-than-stellar parallel-parking skills.
My seat in section 640, row EE could have been considered God's seat, if my seat weren't so high. Fortunately, the stadium had escalators to access the upper deck. The vocal person next to me from Martinsburg was apparently a failed candidate for the offensive coordinator position ("Pass the ball, and then pass it again!") and didn't recognize me as a WVU fan until late in the 1st quarter when I related a '90s-era highlight to him. (Gold is a common color to both West Virginia and LSU, so the confusion could happen to even a sober person.)
What else did we learn from the LSU game program? Apparently, Les Miles' full name is Leslie -- his son is named [Leslie] Matthew Jr -- and his daughter's nickname is Smacker. I don't see the connection between the nickname and being one of the top younger swimmers in the country, but whatever.
Losing 20-14 after two missed field goals can seem disappointing, but with a newly road-tested sophomore QB working in the face of 92,000+ fans, it gives me hope.
As for the night in music:
"Louisiana Saturday Night" (pronounced "Loozyana", natch)
"Callin' Baton Rouge"