Welcome to the forums Rhoan.  I hope you find it useful and informative.  Unfortunately we don't seem to have many (if any) Baton Rouge ppl here other than Bayou Halfling and he pretty much posts up to keep us updated on Bablecon or somesuch in Baton Rouge.  I am sure you can find a group in BR rather than make the Drive to NO to game.  I can't recall the name of the game store(s) in BR to point you to but someone else may have that info to pass on to you.  They may be a good place to start, see if there is a meetup group in BR for D&D or whatever else you may be interested in.

I know it is not much help but that is about all I can offer.  Again, welcome to the forums and I hope you have found a place to hang out or at least come visit now and again.

Kev