Sunday, September 4, 2011

Baton Rouge and my second couchsurfing experience

Arriving into Baton Rouge, I found a sandy beach somewhere on the northwestern shore of the Mississippi right as a storm was rolling in.  I had already arranged for my second couch surfing experience here in Baton Rouge before I had arrived.  I met Karien just over the levee after about fifty mosquito bites. Karien was a nice 21yr old Cajun redhead from southern LA, about an hour south of NOLA.  She had moved to Baton Rouge to go to LSU.  As the main campus for LSU, Baton Rouge is a big college town with lots of partying.  Its was the weekend before the first week of school.  Everyone had gotten into town and the bars were full but it had been awhile since I hit the shore so a shower was the first order of business.  The second was obviously food and drink.  At a local tavern, Chimes, I had my first experience with gator.  Alligator is delicious; I love gator; it taste kind of like chicken, only better.  It is now one of my favorite foods.  We tried many local beers, my favorite being the Abita IPA.  Over the next day and a half, I relaxed a lot as the last four days before I arrived were all fifty mile days.  My body needed a rest and time to recuperate for my short push for New Orleans.  Karien was wonderful and helped me with anything she could.  Couch surfing is great, who ever came up with this idea should be put up for some kind of award.  The web site has allowed me to have a wonderful experience in a city that would otherwise be a fairly uninviting river town.