An Underrated Day Trip :: Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge
On a whim, my family recently took a day trip to Baton Rouge for our youngest daughter’s birthday. The main reason for the trip was to take our daughters to watch the Mermaid Show at the Blue Zoo, located within The Mall of Louisiana. We spent the whole day inside the mall, and had an absolute blast! Baton Rouge is only about an hour’s drive from Lafayette, so it was a perfectly reasonable day trip for a Sunday!
Here’s why spending a day inside The Mall of Louisiana could be the perfect day trip for your family!
Blue Zoo
The Blue Zoo is an interactive aquarium located inside The Mall of Louisiana! The main attraction we wanted to see was the Mermaid Show, but we also got to see the Pirate Show! My family enjoyed seeing the animals and experiencing the other features of the aquarium!! We spent a lot of time in the interactive play area at the very end of the aquarium, which included water tables, an indoor playground, and the stage area for both the Pirate and Mermaid shows!
Build-A-Bear
A little-known fact about Build-A-Bear stores is their “Pay Your Age” birthday offer! During the month of your child’s birthday, they can get the special Birthday Bear for the price of your child’s age! We paid $2 for the Birthday Bear for my child’s second birthday! Any “extras” such as the sounds and clothes are extra fees. For this visit, we opted to not add any extras, to truly make the bear $2. My daughters had so much fun visiting Build-A-Bear and going through the special process of choosing their bears, getting them stuffed, “washing” the bears, and creating the birth certificates for their bears!
Carousel
At the Mall of Louisiana’s food court, there is a beautiful carousel for children and adults to ride together! Our daughters have been on a carousel before at Zooisiana in Lafayette and also at Carousel Gardens in New Orleans, but it is not something they get to do often, so this was such a fun activity for them! The girls loved admiring the beautiful horses on the carousel and spending time on the ride!
Food Court
The food court immediately brought me back to the 90’s, when my family used to frequent malls over the weekend. It was so nice to have so many food options in one area for everyone to pick from. I noticed that there were not many families on their phones. Instead, everyone was eating at the food tables and enjoying each other’s company, which was so refreshing to see!
Play Areas
The Mall of Louisiana has multiple play areas inside their mall for children to use and get their energy out! For parents of young children, these areas are so helpful to keep the kids happy and occupied!
Riding on the elevators and escalators
Don’t underestimate the fun and excitement of simply riding on elevators and escalators! Our daughters were so excited to travel from place to place in the mall simply by hopping on an escalator or elevator!
Other features of the mall worth noting
Rentable car strollers, a cotton candy machine, a nice bathroom in Dillards with a whole room for diaper changing, and free samples from Auntie Anne’s!
