Day Trips from West Baton Rouge

A Day Close to home in Baton Rouge

10:00 a.m. Visit the USS Kidd.
Walk the decks of this historic warship and nautical center
right on the Mighty Mississippi. See a full scale model of the
USS Constitution gun deck and tribute to
General Chennault's Flying Tigers - a fully restored
P-40 fighter plane.

11:00 a.m. Walk across the street and a block north to the Old State Capitol. This building, which looks like an old castle, houses La. political and governmental history. Noon Walk back across the street to the Argosy Casino for a scrumptious meal in the beautiful atrium at the Sheraton Hotel.

1:15 p.m. A few blocks west is the Old Governor's Mansion, a Georgian style building constructed in 1930 to look like the U. S. White House.

2:30 p.m. The Louisiana State Capital began as the dream of one man - Huey Long.
It has since become a symbol of the pride, the history and the spirit of Louisiana's people. Constructed in 1930's, it is the tallest capital in the United States at 450 feet high. The view from the 27th floor is spectacular.

3:30 p.m.
Option 1 - Go shopping at the Mall of Louisiana.
Option 2 - Visit the Rural Life Museum. The museum is a 450-acre research plantation including a commissary, overseer's house, kitchen, slave cabin, sick house, school house, blacksmiths shop, sugar house and grist mill and barn.

7 p.m. Dine at a restaurant close to your West Baton Rouge hotel, or arrangements can be made to dine at Poplar Grove Plantation, a home built as part of the 1884 World Exposition in New Orleans and barged here.

A Day in Plantation Country North

9:00 a.m. Leave your West Baton Rouge Hotel for St. Francisville.

9:50 a.m. Arrive at your first stop, Rosedown Plantation. Glorious, century old gardens at Rosedown and Afton Villa,
inspired by the fabulous gardens of 18th century France,
have been restored to their original grandeur.

11:00 a.m. Just 10 minutes from Rosedown is the Myrtles Plantation, located on U.S. 61. This 205-year-old National Register home is one of America's Most Haunted Homes. Noon Dine at the famous OxBow Restaurant on the grounds of Myrtles Plantation.

1:30 p.m. Travel into the woods to Greenwood Plantation. Built in 1830 in Greek Revival style, it burned in 1960, was restored and was the location for several movies, such as North & South.

2:30 p.m. Stroll quaint antique stores, gift shops and artists' galleries in downtown St. Francisville. After shopping, return home to your West Baton Rouge hotel.

Plantation River Road South

10:00 a.m. Begin your Plantation Country tour at the West Baton Rouge Museum.
Experience pre-Civil War life in the South and learn about sugarcane from the field to the factory. View Allendale slave cabin, a French Creole plantation home and a 22-foot model of a real sugar mill.
Optional stop: The Port Allen Depot is free and open Tuesdays-Thursdays 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Visit a 1940s refurbished caboose and train depot, and life along the railroad during that period. Estimate a 20-minute tour time.

11:30-1 p.m. - On to Nottoway Plantation Restaurant & Inn, the largest plantation home in the South.
Built in 1859, this Greek Revival and Italianate mansion boasts 53,000 square feet. Have lunch in the elegant yet casual Randolph Hall restaurant.

2:15 p.m. A tour at Laura Creole Plantation details the life of women, slaves and children, and is said to be the best history tour in the U.S.

4:00 p.m. Arrive at Oak Alley - The most photographed plantation in the South. Located in Vacherie on Hwy, 18, it is a National historic landmark. Dine at The Cabin Restaurant on your way back to your West Baton Rouge hotel. Unique in all the world, The Cabin began as one of the ten original slave dwellings of the Monroe Plantation, and is approximately 150 years old.

Optional Stop - Cross the Mississippi River at Donaldsonville Hwy 70 (Sunshine Bridge) to visit other famous plantation homes such as Houma's House Plantation and Gardens, located on the River Road.