Daily Miles: About 8 riding around town
I slept well last night. I was tired from not getting much sleep the previous night which was coupled with the mentally exhausting day of riding. I feel I’m more mentally exhausted on this trip compared to other trips I’ve been on. I feel very tense most of the day when I’m riding and negotiating the roads. Seldom is the ride enjoyable the majority of the day. Physically I find it pretty easy- a lot easier than hiking anyway. My butt has gotten tougher and I am able to sit on the bike for a lot longer than I previously could so that must mean I’m becomming an expert now (yeah, ok…).
I woke up and made some breakfast of bagels and peanut butter and grabbed my camera and headed out to explore and photograph the city. The sky was blue and the sun was shining on all the tall buildings, basking them in a warm and shining glow. Baton Rouge is a cool little city and the architecture here is very beautiful, especially the state Capitol Building, which rises into the sky at the northern edge of downtown and watches over the city.
I said this yesterday but the Baton Rouge downtown area is very clean. I was expecting to see many homeless people here but there simply are none- or none that I have seen. There hardly isn’t any trash either. It’s just clean. I don’t think I’ve seen a cleaner downtown area than here to be honest.
While I was walking away from the Capitol building a car stopped up next to me. An African American woman in her late 20s got out and asked me, “Hey Baby, is this outfit okay to wear to church? Like, is it appropriate? It’s not too much is it?”
She had on a pair of tight black jeans with black high heels and a blue blouse that revealed a little too much cleavage.
“You look great!” I said.
“You sure, honey? I just don’t know…”
“Really,” I said. “You look fabulous.”
Her eyes opened wide hiding her too blue mascara and she smiled a big grin with her cherry red lipstick. “Thank you, thank you! I was so nervous this wasn’t good enough. Have a blessed day, sir.”
And with that she hopped into her beat up Honda Civic and drove away to fetch herself some salvation, at some church, somewhere nearby in the city.
I walked towards the river and the wind was gusting something severe. The area was under a wind advisory and I was happy I wasn’t riding as it was comming in from the north west, the direction I am heading. A man approached me and asked where the Hollywood casino was. I shrugged and pointed down the road. There was a sign that said Casino but it didn’t specify which one. “Maybe down there,” I said.
“Thank you, sir!” He shouted over the wind, one hand clasping the top of his hat so it wouldn’t blow away into the milk chocolate River.
One person heading to the house of God, another heading to the house of chance; both searching to find happiness in something else.
The waves in the river were choppy and dense. The low drone of cars over the interstate 10 bridge was barely noticeable over the roaring wind. My jacket flapped as I strolled along the red brick pathway on the levee. I wasn’t heading anywhere. Not to church. Not to the casino. Not happy and not sad. Just a man wandering and thinking about things and places and people and ideas.
