I was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Women's Hospital on Airline Dr. A year later my father was transferred to Cherry Hill, NJ and then nine years later transferred to The Woodlands, TX where they reside now (I am currently in Houston attending law school downtown). I've been asked many times about my affinity for LSU and Louisiana in general: "Why would you love the armpit of America?" "There is nothing to do in Baton Rouge." "The only good thing in that State is the gambling." "LSU is (enter repetitious offensive word)" My father, who grew up and lived in Baton Rouge until we moved to New Jersey, has asked me on several occassions if I could live in that city for my whole life to which I reply "Of course, if given the chance." Most of that is my undying love for LSU but there are other factors at work here, people. I distinctly remember waking up, during our yearly Christmas visits, in my Grandma's home to the scent of dew accumulating on the windows outside. My brother and I would run outside, usually with some form of LSU merchandise on our bodies, and pick the spanish moss wound around the branches of the trees. The air is different in Lousiana; there is a crispness, a sense of comfort in the cool winds breaking off the bayous. In Tiger Stadium, the winds change. The breeze billows against the course exterior of the stadium and races up the pillars, pulsing to edge over to the crowd below. The wind fights the tumultuous yells being tossed around by avid fans and is misdirected at every turn. It's no longer a force of nature but an evolved surge; one that takes years of grit and experience to perfect. The atmosphere is revitalizing. I take Interstate 10 from Beaumont and breathe free once I cross the state line and am welcomed by a Fleur de Lis. The rest stop, currently being reconstructed, immediately after that Welcome sign is the epitome of Louisiana. Oak trees border the hospitality center and create a cone vision towards the lake that borders the area; they brew Community Coffee. You know, the liquid that, when brewed, makes you think "I'm home." The scenery is beyond compare. As my car's nose points upwards when crossing the Horace Wilkinson bridge over the Mississippi my head darts to the left to find the capitol standing proudly over the river emanating light across the historical roadways below. I feel like a kid again as I sit up straight in my seat and get antsy trying to peer over the dash, and impeding barrier, to catch a glimpse of Death Valley growing larger with every bump over the metal teeth burrowed in the cement. Even the oil refineries, at night, seem mesmerizing with their illumination. I could go on but I'm probably boring most of ya'll. I just felt like sharing and seeing if there were similar experiences. Maybe I'm :insane: but I know what I love.
Dude I got those same question during my time in the Army and I would reply the same, "No WHERE in this country can you stand in one spot walk 25 miles in any direction and be surrounded by a different culture" I told my wife when we were dating that if she wanted to marry me then she would have to leave Texass because I refused to live ANYWHERE else. This is where I was born and this is where I will die!
I absolutely love the Woodlands, i used to date a girl from Porter. The Amazon Grill on Kirby in Houston is one of my favorite places of all time. The appetizers that are the corn tortilla shaped like an ice cream cone, with the grilled chicken and pico inside and a scoop of guac at the top is the best app i have ever had in my life. I love Houston. But i love Baton Rouge more.
I've been living in Austin for about 2.5 years now and I like it a lot, but I plan on moving back to LA in 5-10 years... Austin is great, but it's not home.
I sincerely miss the food. I am a pretty good cook. But its really a sad time when I go out to restaurants here.
I miss home a good bit, in Houston\Katy area since I graduated in 2000. I go back a good bit, as all the family is there. Usually around 6 times a year, Hammond Area, if you want to get exact I grew up in Pumpkin Center and went to Ponchatoula High. Wish I could live there and make a good living, but my field there just wasn't many great jobs in the area. I don't know if I could move anywhere else now though, I find Houston\katy to be very a great place to live. And its not a bad drive back home. Woodlands area was my second choice to by a house, but as I work in Sugurland, logical choice was the west side.
Ditto. As much as I loved growing up in Louisiana, I absolutely love living in The Woodlands. My wife is from Kingwood, and gets pissed when I call her a Porter girl. :lol:
lsu_mackey, are you trying to write an introduction to a book? I am indifferent. When I moved to California, I was very homesick. I left my friends and extended family and entered a place where the political and social climate differed strongly with the one found in Louisiana. It was hard getting used to. I hated Cali at first, but as time went on and I learned the ins and outs of the city I lived in, it wasn't so bad. Making some really good friends who shared a lot of my interests helped me forget about Louisiana a lot of the time. I always repped LSU, no matter what, but I was satisfied after a few years in Cali with living there. Now, I'm back home and I have no friends. Everyone at school (SLU) seems to live in either Mandeville, New Orleans or Hammond, making it hard to travel (an hour or so) just to hang out. Back in Cali, I lived 3 minutes from my best friend. I miss that, and maybe that's why my affinity for Louisiana is now non existent. Perhaps if I develop more relationships, meet my wife here, settle down and have kids, that will change, but at this point, I don't care where I live. It seems to me that it is the people who surround you that make where you are living worth inhabiting (if that makes any sense). Kind of like LSU. It's not just the colors or the history or the university or even the team that makes it so special, but the unity and shared passion of the people, no matter their color or creed, who surround you in Tiger Stadium that makes it all worth while.
Mackey, I know what you mean. I lived in Houston for about three years (BTW, going to So Tex, huh? I still have a copy card from that library after doing research there; the first office I worked in in Houston was on Fannin) and would stop at the Welcome Center for coffee every trip home. And, especially in the fall and winter, I loved catching that first glimpse of the top of the bridge and the Capital while still west of Port Allen. I agree that nowhere is like Louisiana. There's nothing wrong with Houston. In fact, I really liked going to Astros games, there were some nice golf courses around town and, frankly, if you can't find what you're looking for in Houston it probably doesn't exist. But it still wasn't home. We made the decision to come home (another BTW, the Louisiana Bar doesn't get any easier the longer you put it off; take that sucker first chance you get) and, while things haven't all worked out the way we thought they would, I can't see myself going back to H'Town (or anywhere else, for that matter) to live again. I saw a statistic somewhere -- Louisiana has the largest proportion of native born residents. In other words, people generally don't leave, and if they do they usually manage to find their way back. :geauxtige:geauxtige:geauxtige
SLU??? Don't you mean tUOLH ??? The Other University of Louisiana - in Hammond :lol:. (add Abita Springs to the list of where your far away friends live)
