After visiting the Gulfshore of Alabama, including Orange Beach and Pensacola, FL, we decided to break up our return trip to Dallas with an overnight visit to Baton Rouge (Red Stick). To say the least, we we not overly thrilled with the visit.
The Courtyard by Marriott was fine and close to all the attractions downtown, as well as being reasonably priced, but the city seemed dirty and there was a lack of things to do downtown. The exception was the government area which featured the Old and new Statehouses and the plaza facing the Mississippi River. I'm sure during football season, it's a zoo.
After experiencing the warmth and hospitality of the folks along the coast of Alabama and Mississippi, we found the citizens of Baton Rouge to be a bit less friendly and not very helpful with things to do in the area...in their opinion. I usually value a local opinion on what to see and do.
One highlight was a Sushi restaurant called Tsunami, which was located on a high floor in one of the buildings a couple of blocks from where we stayed. We had a table by the window with a view of Ol' Man River. The rolls were outstanding and prices were reasonable, they even had Sapporo on draft.
Perhaps if we explored more parts of the city, we would have had a different opinion, but this was an overnight stopping off point for our return back home. We probably will pick another area to stop if we're headed back in that direction. to very impressive.