After we checked out of our hotel, we made a beeline for the
Audubon Zoo before they decided to close it again. It was a cold rainy day, but we spent a couple of hours walking the grounds.
The Audubon Zoo is beautiful with gorgeous old oaks everywhere, but I have to admit that some of the enclosures for the animals could've used some serious upgrading. This struck me as a bit odd considering they are taking in plenty of money ($12.50 for an adult ticket) and are open fairly limited hours (10-4 daily, closed on major holidays). By comparison, the
San Antonio Zoo, which I consider to be a fabulous, well-run facility is only $9, open 365 days a year, and is open from 9-6 rain or shine and
not according to the whims of lazy employees. Again, Terry would say that I expect too much from Louisiana, but come on...take a little pride especially if you are trying to encourage tourism post-Katrina.
Sigh! Okay, my rant is over.
After leaving the zoo, we drove down I-10 to Baton Rouge in nasty, cold, rainy weather. You'd think it was winter or something. ;P
We met Big T and Kelly at the
Sheraton Convention Center where they were preparing for the
Krewe of Artemis Mardi Gras parade. Krewe of Artemis is an all-female krewe in Baton Rouge and they had at least 19 floats—all Broadway-themed—lines up under I-10 waiting for the rain to let up. It was cool to see the inside of the floats and I was amazed at how many beads they loaded up to throw.
Sadly, the rain nd, more importantly, the lightning didn't let up so the parade had to be canceled. I felt badly for Kelly and all the women that had worked so hard all year to prepare for the event. We did get neat bags with special mardi gras beads in them though and we spent the rest of the evening partying in the hotel suite. Kelly and Beth know how to host a party: lots of decorations and ridiculous amounts of food and drink!
Cramer showed up and we walked over to the
Belle of Baton Rouge Casino for a little while. Terry did fairly well at the craps table, but I think all I won was an increased chance of lung cancer. The riverboat casinos all seem to be insanely smoky. Makes me miss smoke-free Austin.
