Baton Rouge
After a short detour we made it to Baton Rouge in the early afternoon. We went straight to the theater and bought tickets for the Matrix and then shopped for a hotel; there appear to be no camp sites around Baton Rouge. We settled in and ran out to play mini-golf which happened to be right outside our hotel.
The movie had strong visual effects but wasn't as interesting as the original. My theory is that in the first movie we find out about everything along with Neo so it's as if we're with him and experiencing his journey along his side. In this movie we're observers on the outside. There are some amazing fight scenes and the duplication trick is neat. It gives the viewer a lot of thought-provoking theories and it ends with a huge cliffhanger. If you go to the movie, make sure to stay all the way to the end because the preview of the third movie is right after the everlasting credits.
In the morning, we went to downtown Baton Rouge to check out the magnificent Capitol Building which is the tallest in the country and has an observation deck on the 27th floor. We really liked Baton Rouge; it's very green, quiet and pretty.
We then drove to Avery Island to see the Jungle Gardens. The gardens are private property owned by the Tobasco sauce company. There is a bird sanctuary and a ton of alligators, turtles, frogs, and fish. There are beautiful sunken gardens and a buddha. The place is truly magnificent.
We've decided to go back up through Arkansas and Tennessee and pick up the Appalachian Trail from there so we're now on the way to Arkansas and will probably camp around Shreveport tonight.
The bookreading has become a challenge. Neuromancer proved too hard and the second Bridget Jones too stupid. We've switched to Nickel and Dimed.
Gas: $10.51@1.35 and $11.33@1.41
Toll: 50cents in Avery Island
Entrance: $12.00
Miles on the car: 4050
Lodging: Microtel Hotel around Baton Rouge @ $51
States: LA
Sites: Baton Rouge, Jungle Gardens
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