LSU Rural Life Museum

Only a few minutes after you turn off Essen Road in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and head towards the LSU Rural Life Museum, it seems impossible that you are still in Baton Rouge. 

There are rows and rows of crops and flowers, depending on the time of year, and large oak trees all but block out the fact that the Interstate 10 is right there.

There is a separate fee for the museum and the gardens.  If the temperature is right, I highly recommend checking out the museum grounds and the gardens. 

The museum itself is mostly air conditioned, with air conditioned bathrooms right inside the entrance and un-air conditioned bathrooms at the exit to the grounds.

Some of the exhibits are quite macabre.  There is a beautifully carved Rolls Royce (I believe) hearse.  There are also several coffins that make you believe people must have been much smaller way back when.  They have examples of jewerly, including some hair jewelry, broaches made from deceased loved ones' hair. 

Once you leave the museum and enter the grounds, there are several buildings to peek into, but most of the buildings cannot be entered.  The exceptions are a beautiful church, a store, and the oldest wooden jail in Louisiana, complete with a ball and chain.  Most, if not all, of the buildings have a plaque letting you know where the building was originally and who donated it to the Rural Life Museum. 

Then there are the gardens.  To get to the gardens, you have to go back into the museum building.  If you go when the azaleas are blooming, the gardens are truly breathtaking.  There are a couple buildings in the gardens, including one private residence.  There area also two ponds.  Once again, it's outside in Louisiana, so bring bug repellent, but honestly, this is one of the most beautiful places in Baton Rouge.

There are several events throughout the year, including Haints, Haunts, & Halloween, which we have been to and was very enjoyable. I highly recommend the LSU Rural Life Museum as a must-visit place in Baton Rouge.
http://appl027.lsu.edu/rlm/rurallifeweb.nsf/index