Live from Baton Rouge

Kris & I are traveling together more this year than we have in the entire time we've been together. (which is a loooooooong time!) We came to Baton Rouge to visit with his family, and we'll be spending tomorrow in New Orleans before I fly back to the 'nati. He'll be visiting more family, road-trippin' it solo, and most likely won't be back for Thanksgiving, but that's ok, I have lots to do with my shoppe.

Something I noticed Road Trippin' it down here is the mallification of America. It was hard to find local places to eat at, or other wise patronize. We stopped in at a Lowes and a Walgreens in Baton Rouge, and we could have been in the same stores down the street from our home. It's all so homogenized, it's almost not fun to travel in the states.

So I stood in protest. OK, Cracker Barrel for brunch, but only because that's somewhere we only go when we are traveling. We stayed in a mom & pop hotel on the way down, though, and ate at a local BBQ joint. Then in Baton Rouge, we visited a plantation and a little cabin restaurant. (Staying with Kris' parents.) Making reservations for a hotel in the Quarter tomorrow, I was torn....I knew it was a gamble either way, but an independent hotel was more likely to still have post-Katrina problems. After looking at reviews, however, it looks like a crapshoot either way. We'll have fun, I'm not worried about that.