I finally made it to Death Valley!!

I've lived in Louisiana for 42 years, had a brother that graduated from LSU, known countless people who have gone to football games at Tiger Stadium and I'd still never been to the infamous Death Valley but I can't say that any longer. I can now say I've had the full game day experience!  I won GREAT tickets at the luncheon - 50 yard line, 28th row on the LSU side plus a friend has club level season tickets and he and his wife weren't going to the game that weekend so he gave me his tickets so we could experience the club level, as well. Going to a game means lots of walking so Kenneth opted not to go and Katie went with me instead. Kenneth and I drove to Cracker Barrel off of I-20 and Katie met us there Friday morning for breakfast and then we headed to Baton Rouge. We stayed at a hotel downtown within walking distance of everything we did except the football game. Had two wonderful meals, toured the USS Kidd, got great free parking at the stadium, walked through the tailgaters (and were quite entertained, I must say), saw Mike the Tiger, hung out while waiting for the team and the band to parade down the street and people watched while listening to live music and had the BEST time!!

Hotel room was nice, but the view was a brick wall...good thing we were only there to sleep!

Couldn't have gotten a cuter driver for the weekend!

Had dinner at Stroubes Friday night...SO good! We split the Blue Crab and Ricotta Gnocchi appetizer and then for dinner split the Redfish with crawfish risotto, grilled asparagus and lump crab meat. And I've gotten to where I like to try craft cocktails now so I ordered a Pomegranate Cosmo and it was delightful!

Lunch the next day was four stories up at Tsunami Sushi right on the Mississippi River. We opted for window seating vs. balcony seating because it was quite windy. 

Loved the views!

Got the Wasabi Bloody Mary here and it was very tasty!

The sushi was very good, too!

Headed to tour the USS Kidd

We love touring any ship we can! We toured several in Charleston when she was there travel nursing, in Bremerton when she was there and now in Baton Rouge!

I don't know which of these bunks would be the most desirable.

Fun fact: The captain's mess also doubled as the operating/procedure table during battle to take care of the injured men because of it's proximity to the deck. Note the surgical light above the table.

Going through the museum after touring the ship

This was a really cool way to spend a couple hours!

It was so nice to be able to walk everywhere from the hotel especially since the Lord blessed us with beautiful weather for the weekend!

It was an 8:00 game, but we got there around 4:00 to take in all the sights!

Mike was outside napping. So happy we got to see him.

This was the Cajun band that was playing when we got there and then around 6:00 a different band played - both bands were really good.

Sitting on the ground with our back against a wall, feet propped up, people watching. And my goodness, it was about the most entertaining bunch of people I've ever had the pleasure of watching! This group of young men walked by (I only see two here though) and while it looks like they're wearing purple shirts, that's paint and each had a letter, as well. Not sure what they spelled, but they had to be cold. It got down to 46 that night!

The cheerleaders coming down the street getting the crowd fired up.

It was also Alumni night for the band, dance line and flag twirlers so this was them coming down the street.

And of course, the mascot.

Pic as SOON as we walked into the stadium - it was pretty impressive!

The view from our seats. We stayed here until the third quarter. It got pretty chilly by then!

Up and down these ramps...I certainly got my exercise this weekend!

The players warming up

The band coming onto the field to get things kicked off

L S U !!!!!!!

Love seeing this...

Geaux Tigers!

Alumni in the yellow and the band next to them. And Katie and I both agreed we would NOT want to be the band leader in the white standing on some kind of sketchy box...I think I would fall over backwards!

Halftime performance

View from our club level seats

Thanks for the tickets, Tommy and Cindy!

While the seats were outside, the club was inside, heated with free food! So we had a late dinner and watched the rest of the game up here. The balcony was more protected from the wind therefore much warmer than field level.

Passing by the stadium headed back to the hotel

Pretty colors on the way home!

Well here's the Old State Capitol that should be about 20 pictures back...it's a beautiful old building, don't you think?  

What a fun trip with Katie I had!! So happy to have these memories...:)