Written by Ell
| 07 November 2008
This will be a sadly shorter Road Trip Guide for what's probably the best road trip in the SEC. The road to Baton Rouge runs through New Orleans, and that means good food, good drink and good times.
Most Tide fans (myself included) will stay in New Orleans. Baton Rouge is a nice enough place, but it's just not New Orleans. My other issue with Baton Rouge is it's too spread out to enjoy on the night before a game. At least that's my experience. At any rate, on with my tips.
We're motoring out of Tuscaloosa in a couple of hours, and hoping to make it to New Orleans for a late lunch. Head to either
Central Grocery, home of the
original muffaletta, or
Mother's, most famous
home of the po boy. Either way, you win. Both places offer ridiculously good food that everyone should experience once before they die.
Waste the afternoon down in the French Quarter - I suspect you might be able to find a place that'll serve you a beverage or three. Antonio Langham unwittingly tried to destroy our program by signing a cocktail napkin from
Pat O'Brien's - at least that's the legend. There are piano players here all day (and night... and morning) long, and they'll guarantee a fun time for all.
If you're more into jazz, head down to
Preservation Hall. Expect to pay too much for cocktails (like WAY too much), but enjoy some top notch jazz.
When it's dinner time, you're like a kid in a candy store. Seriously, I could write an entire book on the food in this town. Of course, there's the famous stuff. Food Network star
Emeril Lagasse has several restaraunts here (
NOLA is amazing).
Brennan's and
Commander's Palace are staples. Another Brennan,
Dickie Brennan, owns a steakhouse so good, it should be illegal. Seriously, if you have a bad meal here, you have only yourself to blame.
On Saturday, we traditionally head to the
Mellow Mushroom in Baton Rouge. There's nothing special about this particular Mellow Mushroom except you can walk from there to the stadium, and televisions are plentiful. Actually, we generally use this as our base of operations for the day.
This year, however, we've been given a tip about
The Chimes. Supposed to be delicious food (and drink) and also a walk from the stadium. It's a long walk, but everything is a long walk from Tiger Stadium.
It should be a fantastic game and a great time. Be careful guys, the LSU fans aren't very happy with our coach, and could decide to take that out on us. Have a safe trip!
