For this week’s Thursday Doors, hosted by Norm 2.0, I thought I would revisit one of my favorite places-home. While this in no way represents all of the wonderful places and doors I know and love, it is a nice little collection from our most recent visit. Included are some doors from my former homes, places I loved and miss in so many ways.
While I have learned you truly can’t go home again as in turning back the clock, there absolutely is no place like home…
One of these doors led to a very nice room at the Renaissance Hotel where we stayed on our last visit to Baton Rouge. It is a nice hotel, comfy and pretty quiet. And the bartender there introduced me to my favorite whiskey to date- Angel’s Envy.
One of my favorite things to do in Big BR is to shop and eat at Perkins Rowe. It has a New Orleans feel and some eclectic shops as well as Barnes and Noble and a great movie theatre. Pictured here is my most favorite “girlie” shopping venue, Charming Charlie. While this is a chain, I have to say the store in BR is the best I have shopped in to date. The best part is how they have color coordinated sections with clothing, shoes, handbags and jewelry in each, as well as always having sale items. 👏🏻💕
Another favorite place of mine since I was old enough to remember is the Louisiana State Capitol building. It was built as a replica of the Empire State Building and is the tallest capitol building in the US. I love walking up the steps which are engraved with each state, along with the date of becoming an offical state in the Union. We have taken so many visiting friends and family there. Once inside, you can tour the senate chambers and take the elevator ride all the way to the top where you can view the city and surrounding areas. If I close my eyes I can feel the building sway ever so slightly, something all high rise buildings must do to remain stable. The project, initiated and overseen by famous (and infamous) Huey P. long, would also become his burial site after being assassinated inside the very structure he fought so hard to have built. The bullet holes were left in the wall.
I was very disappointed that on this day the building was closed to visitors. 😕
The grounds around the capitol are lovely, scattered with live oaks, although the most ancient ones were all but destroyed by hurricanes Katrina and Gustav in the last decade. Azalea bushes line the walkways and there is a fort on the property as well that offers tours. My favorite thing to do is climb the hill overlooking the lake to sit atop one of the antique cannons that still are in place, remnants of another time.
This hill and the Governor’s mansion were used in the Richard Pryor film The Toy. If you haven’t seen it, you should.
But the driving around, visiting our old homes was bittersweet. I have lots of great memories wrapped around this Southern city and had so many good times there growing up and raising a family. Here are a couple of the old haunts.
Of course when we lived there, these places had much nicer yards filled with blooming things. The doors in the second place were awesome, very Southern style.
Sadly, I can’t show you the doors to one of the homes where so many family memories were created when our sons were still at home. When we went to look at it, we found that it had been leveled to the ground. The owner finally sold out to the commerce along the highway….
But, as I said before, home is where the heart is and this trip was to see my family finally back in a new home after losing theirs in the awful floods of last Summer. To see them smiling and on their on again was the happiest moment of the journey. To me, this was the most marvelous door of all-their door to freedom and home.
Hope you all had a great Thursday. I did!
Tropical Affair 
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