Baton Rouge, Louisiana is a meeting destination where the draw is the experience. Offering many venues that can support a meeting of any size, with breathtaking views of Baton Rouge as your backdrop, your group will be enchanted with the variety of great activities that range from sightseeing and the musical sounds of the local nightlife to tours of the famous swamp lands.
Set along the Mississippi River, Baton Rouge is a city of presence, both Louisiana's capital and seat of East Baton Rouge Parish. These days, Baton Rouge is an amalgam of commerce and tradition, its oil refineries and chemical companies juxtaposed against antebellum plantations and a prominent Cajun heritage. The port city's history also includes Governor Huey Long's controversial public tenure and violent death in the Capitol he built. The edifice is still a tourist draw, as are the Old State Capitol, the USS Kidd, and the Old Governor's Mansion. Folks also relish riverfront casinos, bustling nightclubs, Cajun-Creole restaurants, and the vigor of LSU and Southern University. All these influences color the richness that is now Baton Rouge, insinuating themselves into the region's haunt of zydeco, its earthen beauty, and a past that lingers yet today like Spanish moss in southern trees.
Things to do in Baton Rouge:
Belle of Baton Rouge – Docked on the Mississippi River near the convention center, this triple-deck riverboat easily takes care of those who want to indulge in a bit of gaming. Blackjack, roulette, craps, and mini-baccarat comprise the table games, while video poker and slot machines offer more individual entertainments.
Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center – If you want to get out of town and browse Louisiana's natural beauty, this center offers wonderful sightseeing. A mix of forest and swamplands, the 101-acre area shelters a wealth of flora and fauna, and easily accessible nature trails invite folks to check out picturesque vistas themselves and catch a glimpse of alligators, birds, foxes and more.
Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge – You can't miss this well-situated riverboat casino, which is docked on the Mississippi across from the State Capitol. Boasting tens of thousands of square feet of space, Hollywood Casino guarantees that you'll find something to wager on. Among the options you'll encounter are video poker, roulette, blackjack, slot machines and craps.
Magnolia Mound Plantation – Nestled in a grove of gracefully arching trees, Magnolia Mound began as a small, late 18th-century home and was expanded into a plantation home. Its French Creole styling is relatively simple, and the home, elevated on piers, features a generous porch. One of Louisiana's oldest wooden structures, it also features a coved ceiling and French and Caribbean details. Along with the home itself, guides in period costume point out gardens, dependencies, and slave cabins. One of the closest plantations to Baton Rouge.
