Friday, November 22, 2019, Louisiana State Capitol Building, Baton Rouge, LA

Today we drove into Baton Rouge to visit the Louisiana state capitol. We had to retrace our trip along I-10 that included the longest bridge I have ever traveled. We found out the 20+ mile stretch crosses the Atchafalaya (pronounced uh-CHA-fuh-lie-uh) river/swamp. Construction of the roadway involved first building a canal so they could bring in construction materials. It has to be one of the most expensive sections of the Interstate Highway system and I can't even imagine the headaches if they ever try to widen it to six lanes.

Louisiana has one of only four high rise capitol buildings in the country and it certainly did stand out. As we crossed the Mississippi there was nothing to hamper our view of the capitol building.

There was a definite Art Deco flavor to the architecture. There were a lot of Pelicans in the stonework so I thought I would ask about them. The problem was I actually asked why there were so many penguins. That got some very funny looks before we realized my mistake. The Pelican is the State Bird of Louisiana. 

At 34 floors and standing 450 feet high it was the tallest state capitol in the U.S. when built in 1932

Governor Huey Long had this Capitol built in the middle of the Great Depression. Completed in 14 months (March of 1932) at a cost of 5 million.

The senate chambers had one rather distinctive sight we were supposed to make sure we did not miss.

Stuck in the ceiling was a splinter of wood from a desk that was blown up by a bomb detonated many years ago. They even had a light on so you didn't miss it.

The splinter remains from a bomb blast that occurred on a Sunday in 1970 (no one was injured.)

At least they know how to decorate for Christmas. The trees, wreaths and flowers were very festive.

The choice of marble and granite in the halls was very intriguing. So many interesting colors and varieties. With very little effort we spotted lots of fossils embedded in the walls.

The walls are covered in the most colorful stone/granite, but its origin remains a mystery.

Below you see where a bullet ricocheted taking a divot out of the pillar when Huey P. Long was assassinated. It all seemed a bit too much. I think most people would have covered it up and tried to forget about the whole gruesome incident. Between the bomb in the senate and this, I decided Louisiana politics is not for the faint of heart.

Huey Long was assassinated in 1935, just three years after completion of the building.

An elevator took us to the 24th floor where we were able to catch another elevator to the 27th-floor observation deck. Outside we had an unobstructed view in every direction. Capitol Lake was to the north and had a lot of open space and trails around it. I suspect it gets a lot of visitors on a warm, sunny day but today there were no other takers.

This is still the tallest capitol in the U.S. today.

Looking to the south we saw just a few tall buildings and the bridge crossing the Mississippi. The first picture of the capitol above was taken as we crossed that bridge on our way in.

Between the trees and the paint, Joani liked this splash of color in an otherwise monochromatic panorama below us.

The observation deck and its panoramic views were certainly the highlight of this capitol building. It was not our favorite but better than some others and definitely worth visiting.