225 Magazine [May 2026] by Baton Rouge Business Report

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Who will be the CHAMPION?

Join us for the celebration and be the first to know who won awards in all your favorite categories. Enjoy drinks, live music, and a variety of bites from Court to Table.

Host Sponsor: June 25th | 6:30 p.m. Court To Table Kitchen & Bar

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What’s Up

15 Bouquet-making tips from a pro

18 What’s new: Southdowns Grille and more

20 Baton Rouge’s live music evolution 27 High school girls’ flag football

30 Local finds to pack for your next vacay 32 Cover story 34 Louisiana’s most unique outdoor destinations

Weekend getaways

46 Restaurants worth the drive 48 Themed routes to follow

50 Adventure awaits at these in-state campsites

52 A hilltop inn in St. Francisville

58 In the kitchen with a booming sourdough biz

Locally sourced road-trip snacks that satisfy

Dining in: A meal for Mom

Kid-friendly nutrition tips for summer

Baton Rouge’s Shakespeare obsession

Old State Capitol’s Louisiana Purchase exhibit

The USS Kidd comes home

Banksy works spotted in New Orleans

Paddle up!

READY FOR AN adventure? Pack your bags; we’re hitting the trails for summer trips centered in the great outdoors. This issue is packed with destinations for nature lovers, from trails and gardens to campsites and kayak routes. Featured on the cover, Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge fits the theme with room to hunt, fish, hike and boat while taking in the natural scenes of Louisiana, home to abundant flora and fauna. Find 26 other outdoor-focused spots to visit around the state, along with other regional destinations, starting on pg. 32. Consider this issue your reminder to start planning your next vacay. Don’t say we didn’t give you any ideas!

COLLIN

Great escape

ALMOST ALL THE TIME, having tall trees planted near a house is a good thing. They provide shade over a swing set, soften the hard corners of the architecture, and even lower electricity bills. But when a Cat 5 hurricane is headed straight for your city and those trees are old, and maybe a little unhealthy, and located directly outside the bedrooms, your perspective changes a little.

That was the scenario a few years ago when the tropical forecast was predicting the worst for Baton Rouge. The towering gum trees planted along two corners of our house were top of mind when my family decided it was time for what we coined our “evacu-cation,” going just far enough beyond the hurricane’s predicted path to be out of harm’s way until south Louisiana got the all-clear. We were looking for somewhere within a day’s drive, and somewhere that would be pet-friendly for our labradoodle, Louis. We landed on Lake Catherine State Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas, a city we had visited briefly during a vacation a couple of years earlier. What started as a way to outrun a storm turned into a memorable family getaway, a bonus vacation at the end of an already fun summer. We were lucky to be able to nab a last-minute reservation for a cabin on the lake, and we soon met other Louisianans who had gone there with the

same idea in mind. We sat on a front porch swing, walked on a pier, ate junk food and watched the sun set. It was Louis’ first vacation, and he was living it up—taking boat rides and promenading through the historic district like a high-roller during Hot Springs’ heyday. He scampered around a botanic garden, snuck a bite of a chicken salad sandwich, and tried to chase a peacock. The high winds back home were the

furthest thing from any of our minds. Most getaways aren’t sparked by such extreme circumstances, and with a little time for planning it’s even easier to find a vacation destination that’s tailored to your interests. This issue is all about the many such spots found in the great outdoors both within Louisiana and in nearby states—yep, Arkansas included. Whether you’re into spine-shaking off-road biking or you prefer strolling slowly through sculpture gardens, there’s something for everyone included in our cover story.

Oh, and that hurricane? It wound up sparing our trees and our house after all— though our fence was a goner. The next year, we decided to have those too-closeto-the-house trees removed. No more worries about them crashing through the roof—but also no more excuses for a great escape.

What I really know, of course, is that there’s no excuse needed when it comes to travel. Weather or not, sometimes the best reason to hit the road is just because you can.

Kelli Bozeman Editor-in-Chief

Paradise city

My friend Monica and I were freshmen at LSU when we spent the night outside of a Sound Warehouse music store to score standing-room tickets to a Guns N’ Roses concert at the Assembly Center. She reminded me recently that another would-be ticket buyer in line asked her what her major was at LSU and, when she told him it was architecture, replied, “Oh, like the dad on The Brady Bunch?” The concert itself proved to be worth the wait (and the cringey conversation). We found ourselves right up front against the railing, and she swears to this day that Axl Rose looked into her eyes a few times while belting out “Sweet Child O’ Mine.” Memories like ours are what made Baton Rouge a concert mecca for a few decades. Read more about how the touring live music scene has evolved here over the years—Elvis has left the building, folks!—and what it might take to bring the music back at full volume in Olivia Deffes’ story starting on pg. 20. Welcome to the jungle!

JORDAN HEFLER

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Publisher: Julio Melara

EDITORIAL

Editor-In-Chief: Kelli Bozeman

Managing Editor: Olivia Deffes

Features Writer: Maggie Heyn Richardson

Digital Staff Writer: Catherine Clement

Digital Content Strategist: John McElwain

Staff Photographer: Collin Richie

Contributing Writers: Ava Borskey, Tracey Koch, Laura Furr Mericas, Jeff Roedel, Olivia Tomlinson

Contributing Photographers: Jordan Hefler, Amy Shutt

ADVERTISING

Vice President, Sales: Elizabeth McCollister Hebert

Sales Operations Manager: Kynley Lemoine

Sales Director: André Hellickson Savoie

Multimedia Marketing Consultants: Abbie Bayham, Jamie Hernandez, Ella Shipp

Sales Intern: Reagan Karczewski

Digital Operations Manager: Devyn MacDonald

Partner Success Manager: Matt Wambles

Content Creator: Londyn White

Digital Operations Coordinator: Addison Champagne

Data Analyst: Sydney DeVille

Content Strategist: Emily Hebert

STUDIO E

Corporate Communications Strategist: Mark Lorando

Custom Content Editor: Lisa Tramontana

Video Lead: Taylor Stoma

Video Intern: Zack Eddy

Production Coordinator: Angelle Theriot

ADMINISTRATION

Chief Technology Officer: James Hume

Marketing Director: Ashleigh Ward

Business Manager: Tiffany Durocher

Business Associate: Kirsten Milano

Business and Office Assistant: Sarah Kleinpeter

Receptionist: Cathy Varnado Brown

CREATIVE SERVICES

Creative Services Manager: Ellie Gray

Art Director: Hoa Vu

Senior Graphic Designers: Melinda Gonzalez Galjour, Sidney Rosso

Graphic Designers: Aniya Dunn, Lea Showers

AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT

Circulation and Client Experience Manager: Ivana Oubre

A publication of Melara Enterprises, LLC Chairman: Julio Melara

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CONNECT WITH US

First Look: Okki Tokki brings its build-yourown bowls to Perkins Road East Baton Rouge food news roundup: Softserve margaritas, Pi Day deals, Middendorf’s pop-ups and more

Readers’ notes

Re: Our inside look at the new joint location of Les Amis Bake Shoppe and City Roots Coffee Bar

“So excited! Loving this concept ” —@sammcolleen

“That’s a nice collab! I love that!!” —@aheartforsuccess

Re: Our First Look feature on New Orleans-born fitness studio Hype Haus’ first location in Baton Rouge “@hypehausfitness is worth the HYPE!!!

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Sports Physicals Event

Saturday, May 16

8 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Elite Training Complex - Burbank

5444 Burbank Drive Baton Rouge, LA 70820

Sports physicals are available at no cost to you.

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What ,s up May

Stem class

Tips from a micro-flower farmer on creating stunning spring arrangements BY

MAGGIE HEYN RICHARDSON // PHOTOS BY COLLIN RICHIE

ARMED WITH DAINTY flower shears, Jaclyn Williams bends down to snip off a dew-sheened yellow poppy.

“She’ll be a ‘whimsy,’” Williams says, revealing a tendency to humanize her flowers while explaining the poppy’s role in today’s arrangement. Each stem plays a part, she says, and a whimsy is a final pop of personality.

“I don’t like things too tight,” Williams says. “Maybe because I grow them and I’m very emotionally connected to them, I want each flower to have a moment.”

A research scientist at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center by day, Williams’ desk job is replete with precision. Flowers give her a chance to bend the rules. She follows a few principles to achieve her signature look, the most important of which is to let the flowers speak for themselves.

Williams opened her micro-flower farm Mist & Mallow in 2022, creating loosely elegant designs for brides and flower fans while spreading the word about the relevance of preservative-free blooms. Operations take place in her sunny Mid City backyard, where she plants a curated list of about seven species that perform well in south Louisiana’s climate. They also provide the shapes and sizes that befit her airy, uncluttered style.

Turn the page to see how she does it.

Rise and shine

Williams harvests in the morning when flowers are at the peak of hydration. Stripping leaves from the bottom half of each stem, she places the flowers in a bucket of water to rest.

Assemble the base

Gathering stems between her fingers, Williams starts with greenery like sweet pea, or other large, prominent options, to frame the arrangement. “I think in terms of forming a V or W,” she says.

Add line flowers

Next, Williams chooses elongated blooms, like colorful snapdragons, to act as line flowers, which further defines the overall shape.

Build up with filler

Williams relies on so-called filler flowers like larkspur, corncockle, daffodils and nigella to fill large gaps while also maintaining a freeform look.

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Bring in a focal

With the base, line and filler flowers established, pop in focal flowers to make a statement. In the spring, Williams uses ranunculus, cheerful blooms that resemble small peonies. Don’t forget the whimsy

“Finish things off with a flower that just kind of pops,” William says. Red and yellow poppies are her go-to choice this time of year.

Know when to stop

Negative space is your friend. The goal is to highlight the flowers, not crowd them. “When you’re looking at the arrangement,” Williams says, “I want you to catch a little bit of everybody.”

SAVE THE DATE

Mist & Mallow will host “An Evening in the Garden” floral workshop at 6 p.m. on May 5 at The Modern Munchkin Co. The event will include a floral design demonstration and hands-on arrangement making. Space is limited; register at mistandmallow.com

In 1976, Vincent Cannatella opened Coffee Call with a simple idea: great coffee, fresh beignets, and a warm place to gather.

Though we lost Vincent last summer, his spirit lives on in every cup — and the Cannatella family remains committed to honoring the tradition he built. Fifty years later, Baton Rouge has been with us every step of the way.

Join us Wednesday, May 20th as we celebrate half a century in business.

We’re celebrating 50 years with 50% off all dine-in items, all day long. In the afternoon, a Second Line brass band will keep the party going in true Louisiana fashion. Our gift to the city that made us a Baton Rouge tradition.

Wine and dine

Compiled by Catherine Clement

NEW RESTAURANT Southdowns Grille is now open in the space that was the former home of Solera. The Perkins Road eatery was developed by longtime business partners Brian and Tiffany Dykes and Kelwin and Lynda Clark, who also own Bin 77 in Perkins Rowe. Solera’s sales lagged during the week and the lunch business never caught on, Dykes says. In its stead, Southdowns Grille promises a Swiss Army knife-style approach, with familiar dishes prepared using novel ingredients and techniques. Eric Sibley, who served as executive chef for Solera, created the new menu. Standout dishes include blue crab fritters and grilled artichoke with herbed yogurt, shaved fennel and crispy shallots. Expect weekday specials like cornbread-stuffed crabs and Cajun pork roast. On Sundays, the restaurant will serve “chicken and bubbles,” or fried chicken with biscuits and white gravy and sparkling wine. Craft cocktails and happy hour are expected to be a big draw. The wine list features about 25 easy-to-drink wines by the glass. Find it on Facebook.

What else is new?

Tastebud trip

Nammìi Asian Kitchen on Highland Road allows guests to get a taste of Vietnam without leaving Baton Rouge, thanks to a menu of cozy classics and decor from the owners’ personal collection. Husband and wife co-owners Chau Huynh and Tam Nguyen aim to introduce customers to dishes beyond the familiar Vietnamese staples of pho and banh mi. These dishes include hu tieu, a porkbased noodle soup, and bò né, a sizzling steak and egg dish served on a cast-iron plate. nammiikitchen.com

Cool beans

Sip lattes and snack on local treats at the new Mid City coffee shop Las Brujas Coffee & Grocery. The shop serves air-roasted coffee, small-batch baked goods and sustainable groceries from regional purveyors. Order espresso and drip coffee drinks served with local or A2 dairy and house-made syrups, along with organic loose-leaf teas and refrigerated jars of Las Brujas cold brew in 12 different flavors. lasbrujascoffee.com

Take a look

Major eyewear store Warby Parker has found its latest home in Baton Rouge’s Perkins Rowe. Since 2010, Warby Parker has been designing and selling high-quality prescription glasses at a fraction of traditional retail prices. Find its new storefront between The Terraces’ leasing offices and the Kendra Scott jewelry store. warbyparker.com

Around 225

You say you want an EVOLUTION

Baton Rouge was once a must-stop for musicians. But what will it take for the Capital City to find its rhythm again with touring acts?

BY OLIVIA DEFFES

THERE’S NO DENYING that Baton Rouge has got the beat. It’s home to a talented group of musicians, charming venues and music-focused fests.

But when major acts announce tours, Baton Rouge rarely makes the list.

Much to the chagrin of local music lovers, southern stops usually cap at a handful of shows in places like Atlanta, Dallas and the occasional New Orleans.

New projects are trying to change that tune, with plans in place to make Baton Rouge more attractive to promoters. Experts say getting back into the rhythm with a consistent schedule of live entertainment would positively impact the local economy, introduce fans to acts they may not have heard of, and help retain locals with concerts right in their backyards.

With a rich history as a town that

has hosted some of the biggest names in music, the Red Stick has all the right notes. It just needs to hit them.

But how can it establish itself in a market where it seems to have lost its foothold?

Something’s happening here, what it is ain’t exactly clear

If you’ve tuned into local entertainment news, you may have heard about the Death Valley Live concert series or the new LSU arena project set to be completed in 2029. Both initiatives aim to pull Baton Rouge out of its sad spot of 11th lowest in the country for large concerts per capita, as ranked in a study by SeatGeek.

In March of this year, Death Valley Live kicked off with a concert from Zach Bryan. This month, it will continue with a joint show from Post

Malone and Jelly Roll. Announced in November 2025, the series formed from a partnership between LSU Athletics, Baton Rouge Area Foundation, the Greater Baton Rouge Economic Partnership and Visit Baton Rouge to bring “world-class entertainment and special events to one of the most iconic venues in America.”

The initiative utilizes Tiger Stadium during the LSU football team’s off-season. The stadium has proven to be a successful and suitable venue for live music in the past–who could forget Bayou Country Superfest, or when Garth Brooks’ stadium show registered as an earthquake?

“I do think we are positioned very well to take advantage of what’s coming and become a music destination again,” Visit Baton Rouge president and CEO Jill Kidder says. “We saw that with the Garth Brooks concert several

JORDAN HEFLER

Garth Brooks at Tiger Stadium in 2022

years ago in Tiger Stadium. … I think that so many people were excited about that concert, and we saw the advantages in our community. People came in, they spent the weekend with us, they ate in our restaurants, they bought gas in our gas stations, they shopped in our shops, and it was just a huge economic impact.”

Zach Bryan’s concert proved to be a strong start. At press time, Visit Baton Rouge senior vice president of marketing and communications Laura Cating shared that the show had an expected 70,000 attendees and $25.1 million in economic impact for the city. Bryan shopped in local stores while in town, and mascot Mike the Tiger even joined the singer on stage for a rendition of his hit “Revival.”

LSU Athletics’ deputy athletics

director and chief revenue officer Clay Harris says future bookings rely on several factors and that fans should expect only a few big concerts a year, paired with other potential events like monster truck rallies or traveling sports shows.

“It’s a great revenue initiative for the city of Baton Rouge and LSU,” Harris says. “We have a beautiful stadium that’s only open really seven to eight times a year for major events, for football games, and we want to try to open those doors more and create more moments and experiences for our people.”

Then there’s the new $428 million arena project that aims to phase out the PMAC with a new multiuse, 15,000-capacity facility that can accommodate sports games and live entertainment,

along with other university and community-wide events, draws similar to when the PMAC first opened back in 1972.

The arena project, backed by many local officials and notable names including LSU alumnus Shaquille O'Neal, has had its share of controversy. Last July, the CEO of Oak View Group, the firm chosen to develop the facility, was indicted. Since then, there haven’t been many updates on the project.

Reminisce about the days of old with that old time rock ‘n’ roll

Baton Rouge was once known as a must-stop destination for most touring routes through the South. This meant that popular music artists were repeat visitors, pleasing crowds composed of crammed-in

college students and other eager fans.

Looking back at lineups from venues like the PMAC, formerly known as the LSU Assembly Center, feels much like thumbing through your dad’s old record crates. Elvis, the Rolling Stones, the Eagles, Elton John and the Doobie Brothers once performed on LSU’s campus, cementing it as a mecca for music.

LSU archivist Zach Tompkins shares that old Gumbo yearbooks in the university’s Special Collections contain page after page of student photography depicting rock legends, giving these publications a similar feel to flipping through a copy of Rolling Stone

“[Baton Rouge] is a great stop between Houston and New Orleans, and you’ve got a baked-in

Elton John played the River Center in 2016.

The Rolling Stones opened their 1975 American tour at the LSU Assembly Center.

contingency; LSU has, in population, exploded since the 1950s,” Tompkins says about the city’s past as a music destination. “We had a few thousand students to tens of thousands. So all of these people could buy tickets to see Cat Stevens or whoever. … It kind of just seemed to me like lightning in a bottle.”

Behind much of the madness was the late Dr. William “Bill” Bankhead, who served as the Assembly Center’s director from 1971 to 1982. During those years, he booked rock greats, shook their hands and made sure their packed shows went off without a hitch.

Seeing legends in their element gave Bankhead countless stories–so many that, with the urging of his family, including son John Bankhead, he penned a book about the experience titled The Greatest Shows on Earth. Inside, Bankhead told his best stories and enlisted others to share their memories,

like son John and Del Moon, an LSU alumnus who headed the LSU’s Union Pop Entertainment Committee, a student organization that helped Bankhead keep a pulse on who was cool to book and aided with pre- and post-show happenings.

“The Assembly Center was very instrumental in launching bands, pushing bands’ careers, and also just making it so that people had a central location to go through that area of the United States, whether it was a stop or a rehearsal or both,” John Bankhead says.

“I think being on the campus and having the core of those students in there for every show, and that time with that attitude that they had towards music, it was just electric,” Moon adds. “Every show. Always electric. It’s not quite the same today. … The people were tuned in. And the tickets were only five bucks!”

Fast forward to the late ’80s

through the ’90s, and the scene changed. The pace of shows at the Assembly Center began to slow, and the Riverside Centroplex, now the Raising Cane’s River Center, started to compete for talent.

Other LSU-adjacent venues like the recently shuttered Varsity Theatre used to pack the house with alternative acts like 311, No Doubt, Blind Melon and Gin Blossoms and later secured artists like Tyler Childers, Haim and Arctic Monkeys in the 2010s. Oh, if those checkered floors could talk.

So why did artists start bypassing BR? There’s no one reason, really. John Bankhead and Tompkins cite that the LSU Assembly Center’s success was due in part to it being the right place at the right time. Moon agrees and adds that the music meant more at the time, with songs doubling as anthems for his generation. He also credits disco as a killer of concerts, with venues favoring a dancefloor

controlled by DJ-led sets.

And while times, tunes and venues have changed, they all agree that Baton Rouge shouldn’t be counted out as a music town, especially with its star-studded history as an entertainment hub.

“We’re in a very new age of music, and it’s constantly evolving,” John Bankhead says. “And one thing that I do love is that with all that’s going on, it just makes it more important for live entertainment. And I think you’re seeing that in society, where they can’t get enough of live bands and live entertainment. I love it.”

Stairway to heaven

So when can we expect Baton Rouge to once again be a prime destination for promoters? It’s hard to say. But it is clear that we’re moving—or rather grooving—forward. At least local leaders are having more conversations regarding Baton Rouge’s presence in the live entertainment scene and

Lynyrd Skynyrd was on its way to play LSU’s Assembly Center when the band was involved in a plane crash in 1977 that killed three of its members. The reformed version of the group came to Baton Rouge in 1991 on a reunion tour. The band played at the Riverside Centroplex, now the Raising Cane’s River Center, and honored old tickets from that cancelled show in 1977 for those who had held onto them.

Local fans pack venues for traveling acts, like this crowd at Death Valley Live's Zach Bryan show in March.

are forming partnerships to get things going.

As for an encore of happenin’ musical lineups like those of yesteryear, we probably won’t get back to the one show every eight days like Moon says the LSU Assembly Center used to average while he was in school. Because Bob Dylan said it best, “The times, they are a-changin’.”

With other venues in the state, Baton Rouge really has to sell itself as a must-stop for artists. Alysia Guin, director of marketing and partnerships at Raising Cane’s River Center, shares that it’s not as easy as calling promoters up and working out a quick deal. And if they’ve already booked the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans or the Cajundome in Lafayette, Baton Rouge is most likely out of the question due to its hour-drive proximity to these spots.

really work well for y’all,’” Guin says. “We just have to fight for our spot because if not, we’re gonna keep losing out to Lafayette and New Orleans. Then, some tours just go from Houston straight to New Orleans, or skip over Louisiana completely. So it’s a constant battle for sure.”

Guin cites the River Center’s smaller capacity compared to the Cajundome and lack of suite levels as other factors that cause promoters to pass. The venue’s arena has not undergone major renovations since its opening in the ’70s. She also says that acts have more elaborate setups than they did in the ’90s and 2000s, which requires some intense rigging for the venue to accommodate.

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“We’re basically trying to make promoters’ lives easier, and saying, ‘Hey, this routing would really,

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Harris shares a similar complexity for booking shows for the Death Valley Live series. Critical factors include audience interest, LSU Athletics’ schedule, how the booking can draw economically for the city and the university, and how potential artists have

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Zach Bryan at Tiger Stadium

performed in similar markets. Kidder adds that the city’s need periods are also important, highlighting times that Baton Rouge could use a tourism boost or when concerts might compete with other events. Post Malone and Jelly Roll’s show during Memorial Day weekend is expected to be a big win for the city since the holiday is usually slow for local businesses and hotels.

And while seeing the big names and collecting ticket stubs for shows in the Capital City is enticing, there’s more to creating a well-rounded music scene here. Cating and John Bankhead agree

that having a more mid-size venue for artists can help, and Moon points out that Baton Rouge should look to genres it knows locals will love, like blues, country and the occasional rock and roll.

So the next time you see your favorite band skip out on the Red Stick, don’t get discouraged. A live entertainment resurgence could be in BR’s future, and established venues are doing their best to book enticing names and cool up-and-coming acts.

The future of Baton Rouge’s touring music scene may be cloudy, but it’s not bleak. So start saving your ticket money.

Chelsea’s Live 600

Lainey Wilson at the River Center in 2025

Girls gridiron on the

The fast-growing sport of flag football is catching on with female players at Louisiana high schools

BY CATHERINE CLEMENT // PHOTOS BY COLLIN RICHIE

St. Michael players and coach Joshua Ardoin (second from left) talk strategy in a timeout during a rainy game against St. Amant High School in March.

JOSHUA ARDOIN HAS experienced many proud moments this year as head coach of the first girls’ flag football team at St. Michael the Archangel High School.

These moments are often the result of pre-game preparations and game-time decision-making. Ardoin remembers a game played early in the spring season against Woodlawn High School, where preparation started with a review of the opposing team’s game play.

“We had broken down film throughout the week,” Ardoin says. “There was something we saw that we thought we could take advantage of, so we put in a new play, went out, practiced and played.”

But all of this preparation came to a halt when the game started. “Right when we got into the game, they were doing something different from what they had shown on film,” Ardoin says. “I really wanted to get that play. I thought we could bait them.”

Ardoin encouraged the girls to be patient and keep trying even

though things weren’t initially going their way. It wasn’t long before their strategy proved useful.

“We hit the play and scored. I was telling [the players] afterwards, ‘That whole process is quintessential football right there. And if we can do that, if as a team we can study our opponent, put in things that allow us to adapt within a week, and you guys can run it effectively, the sky’s the limit on what we can end up doing. That’s a mark of a good football team.’”

In recent years, girls’ flag football has claimed its place as an emerging sport in high school, collegiate and professional settings. Thanks to programs like NFL Flag, girls across the United States can now compete at their own schools.

As the sport gains more support and funding, more opportunities emerge. According to the NFL Flag program, 30 states have official high school flag football programs for girls. Flag football, for both men and women, is even making its Olympic debut at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

For girls in Louisiana, the opportunity to be a part of this national move ment is now a possibility. In partnership with the NFL, the Louisiana High School Athletic Association has launched a pilot program to bring flag football to high schools across the state.

St. Michael’s inau gural flag football team, along with the rest of the state’s teams, started up practices in late January and began game play in March. Ardoin, who also works with the boys’ football team, immediately noticed a difference when coaching these girls.

freshmen to seniors. Some students are part of other sports teams, and some have never played a sport before.

“I’ve never coached girls before, so it’s been kind of interesting to see a little bit of a different dynamic,” he says. “They’re much

Although there is no tackling in flag football, many of the game’s essential elements remain the same as traditional football. The teams

St. Michael freshman quarterback Elaina Stricker is off and running.

Louisiana is now one of more than 30 states that offer flag football to high school girls.

are smaller, with five to seven players on the field at a time rather than eight, and rules about physical contact are stricter, but many of the roles remain the same.

Senior Ava Rodrigue decided to join St. Michael’s new team at the end of her volleyball season. She had played flag football with her dad and brother growing up but says she was surprised to learn just how much goes into a game. “I wasn’t really expecting it to be as mentally demanding as it is,” Rodrigue says.

“I guess volleyball is a lot of thinking, and I was kind of expecting [flag football] to be more laid back, but it’s actually almost more than volleyball.”

With support from the New Orleans Saints and many interested high schools, girls’ flag football is currently in a probationary period. The LHSAA program began in 2024 with 10 teams

in Jefferson and Orleans parishes and has grown this year to over 60 teams across 10 districts. Several schools in the Capital Area are part of the pilot program, including Woodlawn, St. Amant, Louisiana School for the Deaf, GEO Next, Northeast, Scotlandville, Glen

Oaks and Madison Prep. If all the LHSAA’s terms are met during this probationary period, a committee will vote to sanction girls’ flag football in Louisiana.

St. Michael’s Athletic Director Robert Smith says he hopes for success statewide so the sport can

continue to grow at the school. “We’ve got kids that don’t play any other sports, that are out there and being successful, contributing and learning how to be part of a team, learning how to work with others, learning how to win and how to lose, so it’s definitely something we want to continue to grow,” Smith says. “I hope that the Saints and the LHSAA can help make that happen because I think our kids love it.”

Current players want to see the program continue as well. Brynnan Kuber, a senior at St. Michael who plays wide receiver on the team, says she is grateful to be a part of this unique experience. “To have this opportunity as the first class to do it—I’m just grateful,” Kuber says. “Being able to see it possibly become an actual sport, I feel like it would be so fun to come back and see the growth.”

Pack it up

Take a little bit of Louisiana with you with these travel goodies that aim to make your summer road trip easier

BY CATHERINE CLEMENT // PHOTO BY COLLIN RICHIE

THE SUCCESS OF any trip hinges on effective packing. Luckily, Baton Rouge is home to many stores stocked with summer essentials. Whether you’re months ahead in the trip planning process or scrambling to find last-minute supplies, we don’t judge. For any road trip or cross-country flight, these items will keep you cool and covered. Starting with a sturdy yet sleek leather duffel to keep all your items safe, we’ve found what you need to enjoy any trip.

1. The Game Headwear “Crawfish Gameday” trucker cap, $35, Perlis

2. Swig “Louisiana” 40-oz. mega mug, $50, Wanderlust by Abby

3. Coola organic sunscreen spray, $32, Ulta

4. Supergoop! “Glow Screen” sunscreen, $38, Sephora

5. Goodr “Mick and Keith’s Midnight Ramble” polarized sunglasses, $30, The Backpacker

6. Martin Dingman "Rudyard Polocrosse” saddle leather duffel, $998, Carriages

ALABAMA’S BEACHES RULE #11: Summer Agenda : BEACH IN THE MORNING. POOL IN THE AFTERNOON.

On Alabama’s Beaches, there’s no rush to do it all. Just space to enjoy children playing in the sand, conversations that linger, and evenings shaped by simple plans. Plan a Family Getaway.

Lying in the sand with a book in hand is never a bad idea. But this summer we’re turning our attention to a different kind of vacation—one that encourages exploring and wandering and maybe even logging some exercise minutes on that smartwatch. Within a day’s drive of the Capital Area are countless opportunities to be active in the outdoors. Our “Happy Trails” tagline isn’t limited to terra firma; though there are plenty of hiking paths, mountain bike tracks and garden strolls waiting to be discovered, we’re also setting our sights on paddle trails that let visitors slowly glide through Louisiana bayous and cypress swamps by canoe or kayak. Up for an adventure slightly farther afield? This guide also includes weekend itineraries for unique getaways in neighboring states. No matter how or where you choose to roam, every path leads to a destination worth finding. And maybe even a little time for sitting with a good book and enjoying the view.

KELLI BOZEMAN

Rip Van Winkle Gardens in New Iberia

Summer of

From its northernmost points to the Gulf Coast, we’re showing off 26 of Louisiana’s most unique outdoor destinations

BY OLIVIA DEFFES, MAGGIE HEYN RICHARDSON AND KELLI BOZEMAN

POVERTY POINT WORLD

West Carroll Parish

First formed in about 1500 B.C., these earthworks give a snapshot of life during the time of early Native Americans. The site features large man-made mounds and semi-circular ridges created by ancient civilizations and used for trade, ceremonies and other tribe happenings. In-ground structures and a vast collection of artifacts left behind give an idea of what everyday life was like for these native people, who exchanged goods, foraged and dwelled near here. povertypoint.us

CHIMP HAVEN

Shreveport

At this sanctuary, monkeying around is highly encouraged. Located in Shreveport, Chimp Haven is the world’s largest chimpanzee refuge, with 200 acres and nearly 300 chimps. The goal of the nonprofit is to provide federally owned chimps, most retired from research, an enriched, healthy life and the freedom to roam and hang out in nature. Scheduled tours and monthly events like Chimp Chats give the public a glimpse inside. chimphaven.org 1

Shreveport

This gallery, born out of a family’s love for fine art, now welcomes visitors and aficionados to pore over works that span thousands of years. Just outside, botanic gardens featuring 40 landscaped acres provide natural artworks of native azaleas, irises, coneflowers, lilies and other blooms. rwnaf.org

AMERICAN ROSE CENTER Shreveport

Stopping to smell the roses is a must at this blooming attraction, which is the country’s largest park devoted to roses. Serving as the national headquarters of the American Rose Society, these gardens sprawl over a 118-acre space filled with plants, statues, fountains and, of course, lots and lots of exquisite rose specimens. See the thorny stars at their peak until late May or from midSeptember to late October. rose.org/american-rose-garden

EAGLE’S NEST PADDLE TRAIL AT BLACK BAYOU LAKE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE Monroe

Tucked among quiet neighborhoods on the northern outskirts of Monroe is a picture-perfect wildlife refuge with a 1,600-acre moss-draped lake at its heart. The best way to explore this natural gem is by paddling its shallow waters, getting up close to the bald cypress and water tupelo trees that line the 5.1-mile out-and-back trail.

That’s about two and a half to three hours of serene time on the water. Along the way, you may spot alligators and turtles sunning themselves by the water, as well as coyote and deer lurking on the shore. Bring binoculars so you can spot the paddle trail’s namesake eagles nesting with their babies in areas only visible from the water.

The Black Bayou Eagle’s Nest Paddle Trail is part of the Ouachita Paddling Trails, a network of six waterways that range from still lakes to the more challenging open water along the Ouachita River. Throughout the year, Ouachita Paddling Trails network hosts guided paddles at Black Bayou Lake and the other waterways; check the Discover Monroe-West Monroe Facebook page for details on upcoming events. Kayaks are available for rent from Ouachita Paddle and Provisions in West Monroe, which also sells gear for paddling and camping.

Before or after tackling the paddle trail, stop at the restored 1880s Acadian-style house that serves as the wildlife refuge’s visitor center to explore interactive exhibits, then check out the conservation learning center to see live animal exhibits. fws.gov/refuge/black-bayou-lake

BIEDENHARN MUSEUM AND GARDENS

Monroe

With two museums, gardens and a historic home to explore, there’s sure to be something to pique your interest at this complex in Monroe. Learn about the Louisianan who first bottled Coca-Cola and browse a collection of Bibles kept by his daughter, opera singer Emy-Lou Biedenharn, who also developed the grounds’ Elsong Gardens after being inspired by English design on trips to Europe. bmuseum.org

CANE RIVER CREOLE NATIONAL HISTORIC PARK

Natchitoches

Creole history comes alive at this site that features a railway depot, two plantations, trails and other historic structures. Through guided tours and self-guided, audio-aided exploration, visitors can learn about those who lived on the land for 200 years. nps.gov/cari

KISATCHIE NATIONAL FOREST

RIP VAN WINKLE GARDENS

New Iberia

Swaying Spanish moss and roaming peacocks are the hallmarks of this lush stop, which also features hundreds of old oak trees, resident spoonbills, 15 acres of semitropical gardens and an 1870s mansion once owned by Joseph Jefferson, the actor known for playing Rip Van Winkle. Stop by to walk through the gardens and then stay a spell at the on-site cottages or get a bite at Cafe Jefferson. ripvanwinklegardens.com

Spanning seven parishes and encompassing more than 604,000 acres, the Kisatchie National Forest is an escape into central and north Louisiana’s piney woods, a shady respite from the summer heat. With well-maintained trails, the state’s only national forest is a great place for a day hike or a weekend of camping—complete with stunning foliage, fresh air and birdsong.

If you’ve never been to Kisatchie, figuring out where to start can seem intimidating. Among the most popular experiences are the Valentine Lake Recreation Complex and the Wild Azalea National Recreation Trail. From Baton Rouge, it takes just over two hours to reach this part of the national forest.

The secluded recreation area around the 46-acre Valentine Lake is a convenient place to situate yourself for hiking, biking, camping, fishing and picnicking. Motorboats aren’t allowed, making it easier to catch the sound of water lapping and frogs croaking. Bring along a fishing pole and drop a line from one of two fishing piers. There are 14 first-come, first-served campsites, six of which are positioned on the shoreline.

The area is also home to the northern trailhead of the famed Wild Azalea National Recreation Trail, known for its spring color and year-round beauty. Most visitors don’t tackle the trail in its entirety, opting for an out-and-back journey of their own design.

On the drive back to Baton Rouge, slow down in Krotz Springs and pick up a link of boudin or a sack of cracklins. The town is known for two things: speeding tickets and an impressive concentration of Cajun meat markets. fs.usda.gov/kisatchie

COURTESY LOUISIANA OFFICE OF TOURISM

COURTESY LOUISIANAOFFICEOFTOURISM

JUNGLE GARDENS

Avery Island

Cool down from a Tabasco factory tour by taking a stroll or roll through this semitropical garden, located near the saucy operation. First opened to the public in 1935, Jungle Gardens was born from Edward Avery “Ned” McIlhenny’s love and curiosity for nature. Once McIlhenny’s private estate dedicated to conservation, the attraction is brimming with must-see features, including a large Buddha statue, a waterbird colony known as Bird City, tall bamboo stalks and native wildlife. junglegardens.org

BAYOU VERMILION PADDLE TRAIL

Lafayette

Hop into your canoe or launch your boat on this water trail with branches extending from the Vermilionville living history museum to Acadiana Park Nature Station and Lake Charlo. Armed with an interactive online map, those cruising the trail can dock at places along the way, including recreation areas and local businesses, before paddling on. apps.lafayettela.gov/paddletrail

PREHISTORIC PARK

Breaux Bridge

Step back into the land before time at this familyfriendly park where dinosaurs come to life. Learn about all types of prehistoric creatures that once ruled the world by embarking on a tour of the attraction’s Dinosaur Trail, packed with towering figures that move and roar. Kiddies can live out their Jurassic Park dreams by buzzing around in tiny safari cruisers or playing paleontologist in the sandy, bone-filled fossil pit. Talk about a rawr-some time! prehistoric-park.com

THE BEAST St. Francisville

You’re not going to want to forgo a helmet for this one. Better yet, suit up for this biking trail with all the protective gear. With 8 miles of steep slopes, deep dips, bridges and challenging turns, even adrenaline junkies will want to hold on tight to their handlebars. Located in the West Feliciana Parish Sports Park, The Beast traverses through wooded hills and deep ravines and is considered one of the state’s most challenging trails. wfprec.com

LAST WILDERNESS SWAMP TOURS

Plaquemine

A swamp tour might spark images of airboats whooshing through waterways in search of marshmallow-fed gators, but there’s a more serene way to enjoy Louisiana’s aquatic beauty. Small-group excursions by Last Wilderness Swamp Tours reveal

the Atchafalaya Basin through a tranquil lens.

The family-run business provides guided boat tours for up to six or guided kayak tours for up to 10. Private tours are also available. Last Wilderness was founded by Dean Wilson, who serves as executive director of the conservation nonprofit Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, along with his son Al Wilson and daughter Silvia Wilson Drinkwater. Dean grew up in Spain, and the three proprietors offer tours in Spanish and English.

The excursions are a chance to lose yourself in

the majestic Atchafalaya, home to Spanish mossdraped cypress trees and scores of wildlife.

Last Wilderness doesn’t use airboats, which can disrupt fauna. Instead, guests board a motorboat or kayak to wind through channels between cypress knees. The tour company also doesn’t lure wildlife by feeding them. They let things unfold naturally. Take along water and snacks, and wear sunscreen. This is a chance to see Louisiana’s best side up close and personal. lastwildernesstours.com

COLLIN RICHIE

COURTESY

MARY ANN BROWN NATURE PRESERVE

St. Francisville

Escape from the hustle and bustle of city life as you explore 109 pristine acres of nature. At this home of local flora and fauna, expect to spot chipmunks, birds, native blooms, butterflies and more. Get your steps in by embarking on a self-guided hike on one of the preserve’s well-marked trails, or simply get lost in the great outdoors by taking in the sights and sounds of this preserved green space. nature.org

CAT ISLAND NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

St. Francisville

Have you ever seen a 96-foot-tall, 1,500-year-old bald cypress tree?

Gaze upon the rooted behemoth at the Cat Island National Wildlife Refuge, a 10,000-acre habitat that’s home to diverse wildlife and ripe for outdoor adventures. Cast a line, observe migratory songbirds, or go for a hike on an easy trail that leads right to the national champion tree itself. fws.gov/refuge/cat-island

MOUNTAIN BIKE PARK AT BOGUE CHITTO STATE PARK

Franklinton

Dirt paths and mounds bob and weave throughout this park that’s ideal for the adventure hungry. The trails accommodate all mountain bike experience levels, with tracks for beginners and a dual-slalom course, wall rides and a Tower of Terror jump for experts. The space also supports veterans who use the bike park for adventure-based therapy. lastateparks.com

RIVER ROAD AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM

Donaldsonville

Reopened in March after a two-year-long renovation, this museum educates the public about African American history in south Louisiana through exhibits, artifacts, art and historic structures. With a location in Donaldsonville, right smack in the middle of what’s known as “Plantation Country,” the space has spent over 30 years dedicated to addressing the history that is often underrepresented or overlooked in traditional retellings. riverroadaam.org

CANE BAYOU CANOE TRAIL AT FONTAINEBLEAU STATE PARK

Mandeville

Grab your paddles, zip up your life jacket and get ready to cruise along this water trail popular with canoers and kayakers. This trail may only be about a mile and a half long, but it’s packed with different sights and wildlife as the water meanders through marshes and along shorelines. Cane Bayou is one of many waterways that feed into Lake Pontchartrain, but unlike others, it has largely kept its natural state, seemingly unchanged and unaltered. canoeandtrail.com/cane-bayou

TAMMANY TRACE

St. Tammany Parish

Across the United States, abandoned rail lines are being transformed into smooth trails for biking, blading, scooting and strolling. One of the best examples of this is the Tammany Trace, which stretches from downtown Covington to Slidell. Covering 31 miles that run through Abita Springs, Lacombe and Mandeville, the trail allows hikers and bikers to take a tour of the Northshore with spots to stop at local coffee shops, restaurants and other nearby attractions.

The paved pathways also hold a bit of the area’s history as the stretch was once used by the Illinois Central Railroad. The abandoned tracks were purchased by St. Tammany Parish government in 1992 and were remodeled and asphalted to become pathways for pedestrian use, thanks to grants and federal funds. It has since been extended to cover more area. A 2017 inductee in the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s Hall of Fame, the Tammany Trace provides a safe space to trek with historical significance, while also giving its users access to both Louisiana’s landscape and the Northshore’s retail and culinary hidden gems.

“The Tammany Trace is the crown jewel of St. Tammany Parish, attracting over 300,000 visitors annually to our 31-mile trail,” St. Tammany Parish President Mike Cooper says. “The Trace is more than just a trail, it is the cultural heart of St. Tammany.” stpgov.org

BESTHOFF SCULPTURE GARDEN AT NEW ORLEANS MUSEUM OF ART

New Orleans

After browsing the collection of paintings, artifacts and other works at NOMA, take a detour outside the museum to gaze at the larger-thanlife displays in its adjoining sculpture garden. Featuring over 90 works, including a towering safety pin, a mirror labyrinth and Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE sculpture, this collection exists within the lush landscape of City Park, enhancing the outdoor space rather than distracting from it. noma.org/ besthoff-sculpture-garden

23 24

NOLA MOTORSPORTS

PARK

Avondale

Satisfy your need for speed at the nation’s largest karting track, located just 30 minutes outside of New Orleans. Grab a go-kart and race around the 2.75mile track complete with 16 turns and a mile-long straightaway. Check the website calendar for NOLA Track Events that allow participants to bring their own cars and motorcycles onto the track. nolamotor.com

MANDALAY NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

Houma

With over 4,000 acres of freshwater marsh and cypress-tupelo swamp, this wetland area provides a home and space to wade for waterfowl, migratory songbirds, fish and other wildlife. Coast through on a boat or take the short out-and-back nature trail to the observation deck at this refuge, which serves to conserve and protect the natural

PEVETO WOODS SANCTUARY

Holly Beach

Calling all birders! Grab your field guides and binoculars and head to this 40-acre coastal sanctuary preserved by the Baton Rouge Audubon Society. With a location south of Lake Charles that’s right in the middle of migratory paths that cross the Gulf of Mexico, Peveto Woods provides refuge for birds that need to rest their wings or take a break from the long flight path, making it a great place to spot a variety of species. braudubon.org/conservation/sanctuaries

PINTAIL WILDLIFE DRIVE AT CAMERON PRAIRIE

NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

Bell City

Observe migrating birds along with butterflies, ducks, geese and gators on this 3-mile loop that habitat hops through scrub, prairie and freshwater marsh southeast of Lake Charles. Connect with wetlands all while staying in the comfort of your car on the drivable trail, or step out onto the boardwalks to get up close to waterbirds and dragonflies. fws.gov/refuge/cameron-prairie

LOUISIANA WETLANDS EDUCATION CENTER AND WETLANDS TRACE

Jean Lafitte

Newly opened in March in the Barataria Basin, this center focuses on the state’s coast, its environment, those who use it and preservation of the fragile area. After exploring the center’s immersive exhibits, experience the wetlands for yourself by walking along the adjoining boardwalks and trails in the nature preserve. louisianawetlandscenter.com

If you’re a local business, this is your chance to reach engaged 225 readers by advertising in the most anticipated issue of the year.

Boost brand awareness, attract new customers and promote your company in the issue readers keep all year as a trusted guide for dining, shopping and entertainment.

•

Spend a weekend in

TexasCountryHill

CUE WILLIE NELSON and pack the bohemian chic. Texas Hill Country is a refreshing slice of the Lone Star State with vibes that fall somewhere between fancy and rugged. Made up of a constellation of towns between Austin and San Antonio, the region is known for its many wineries, outdoor recreation and eclectic shops and restaurants. Fredericksburg, the natural hub, is a great place to start. But this is a choose-your-own-adventure kind of place that invites roaming.

MAGGIE HEYN RICHARDSON

FRIDAY, 3 P.M.

Arrive in Fredericksburg and check in to the Albert Hotel

The boutique Albert Hotel, just off Main Street in historic downtown Fredericksburg, makes for a comfy and elegant base of operations. Numerous shops and restaurants are reachable on foot. The hotel has pet-friendly rooms, a botanical-themed spa, a sunken limestone pool with a bar, and onsite dining. Plop down your bags, then head for the spa for a trendy scalp massage, followed by lounging by the pool with a frozen margarita.

FRIDAY, 7 P.M.

Dinner at Hill & Vine

Change into something fun and take a rideshare to Hill & Vine, one of Fredericksburg’s most popular eateries. The restaurant doesn’t take reservations, but you can pass the time with a craft cocktail from an upcycled VW bus outside. Worth the wait, dinner features Texas-influenced cuisine like pan-seared redfish with cilantro chili butter and pineapple pico de gallo or local bison Bolognese.

FRIDAY, 9 P.M.

Drinks at 78624 The Bar Head back downtown for a nightcap at 78624 The Bar, known for an espresso martini made with bitter Aztec chocolate, a Fridays-only Japanese-style cocktail, and other detailed drinks. The stylish spot is set in a historic building around the corner from the Albert, making for an easy walk home.

Grab a glass! Texas Hill Country is home to many wineries and vineyards.

COURTESY TRAVEL TEXAS

SATURDAY

SATURDAY, 9 A.M.

Breakfast at the Old German Bakery and Restaurant

Wake up refreshed and ready to experience a taste of Fredericksburg’s culinary heritage at the Old German Bakery and Restaurant, located a half mile from the Arnold. Don’t miss the apricot jam crepes and German pancakes.

SATURDAY, 10 A.M.

Shop downtown Fredericksburg

Spend a couple hours shopping for new looks, kitchen goods and gifts for kids, friends and pets. Haberdashery Boutique on Main Street is a favorite for the flower child-inspired looks spotted throughout Hill Country.

SUNDAY

SATURDAY, 5 P.M.

Road trip to New Braunfels and check in to the Gruene Mansion Inn

Hit the road and head about an hour south to enchanting Gruene, once its own town but now a historic district incorporated into the city of New Braunfels. Gruene is home to shops, restaurants and picturesque places to stay like Gruene Mansion, a restored property originally built in 1872. Each room is bedecked in an eclectic design.

SATURDAY, 7 P.M.

SATURDAY, 12 P.M.

Head for a winery

Visiting a winery (or several) is a must-do in Hill Country, home to more than 100 wineries. It’s the second most visited wine region in the country, behind only Napa Valley. Head for Siboney Cellars in Johnson City, a hip spot with a hillside tasting room. A premium tour will take you through the vineyard, cellar and production room. When hunger hits, nosh on a shareable “culinary board” with cheese and charcuterie that pair neatly with Siboney’s wines. Empanadas are available on Saturdays.

Dinner overlooking the river

Stroll to the shabby chic Gristmill River Restaurant & Bar, located in a former cotton gin at the base of a water tower on the Guadalupe River. Bring the heat with an order of Texas Torpedoes, deep-fried, bacon-wrapped, cheese-stuffed jalapeños served with chipotle ranch.

SATURDAY, 8:30 P.M.

Live music at Gruene Hall

Walk next door to Gruene Hall for live music. Founded in 1878 and the oldest continuing dance hall in Texas, the unassuming spot has hosted legendary performers like George Strait, Garth Brooks and Merle Haggard. Its famed “Willie Door” was originally built in 1996 for Willie Nelson to reach the stage without hassle. Once the show ends, head next door to Gruene Mansion for a good night’s sleep.

SUNDAY, 10 A.M.

Breakfast at The Pantry

Refuel with a cup of coffee and a breakfast taco at The Pantry inside Gruene Mansion. Before checking out, stroll through downtown to explore its quaint shops, paying a visit to Gruene General Store for a novelty T-shirt and fresh fudge.

SUNDAY, 12 P.M.

Explore Guadalupe River State Park

Hit the road, stopping for snacks and water, and head for Guadalupe River State Park about 30 minutes away. Spend the afternoon hiking and birding along the picturesque Barred Owl or Painting Bunting Trails, two flatter, easier walks located near the park’s entrance. Take in the region’s characteristic beauty before saying goodbye to Hill Country, at least for now.

Shops in downtown Fredericksburg

Gristmill River Restaurant & Bar

Hot Springs,Spend a weekend in

Arkansas

FRIDAY, 4 P.M.

Check in at Lookout Point Lakeside Inn

This lauded property on Lake Hamilton is the perfect base camp for exploring Hot Springs. Each room overlooks the lake and is dressed with luxury linens. The inn welcomes guests to try out its canoes, kayaks and pedal boats, and there’s also a firepit area where you can sit and enjoy cocktails and s’mores by sunset.

FRIDAY, 7 P.M.

Drinks and dinner at Superior Bathhouse Brewery

Raise a glass to this historic city at the only brewery in a U.S. National Park and the creator of the world’s only beer brewed with thermal spring water. The 1916 building on Bathhouse Row originally offered guests hydrotherapy and massages; today, the menu offers varieties like Spa Town Honey Brown and Chaude Fontaine Gold, or a “Beer Bath” with tasters of all 18 beers on tap, plus a perfectly paired food lineup. FRIDAY

ONCE A PLAYGROUND for mobsters and Major Leaguers, the city named for its natural thermal spring waters still bubbles with excitement nearly two centuries after President Andrew Jackson designated it as a federal reservation. All eight of the early 20th-century bathhouses that drew visitors here from around the world still stand in a proud row today, but they aren’t all that’s worth seeing in this mountainous destination that’s less than seven hours from Baton Rouge by car.

KELLI BOZEMAN

SATURDAY

SATURDAY, 9 A.M.

Breakfast at The Best Café Open and beloved since 1933, The Best Café on Ouachita Avenue is reliably busy on weekend mornings, with good reason—the menu includes a wide range of breakfast picks that go beyond the basic. Choose the crème brulée French toast or the pork belly skillet hash for a solid start to your day.

SATURDAY, 11 A.M.

Bathhouse Row tour

Head to the heart of this town to learn about what has made the water here so special for centuries. Start at the 1915-built Fordyce Bathhouse, now a visitor center and museum, where you can see three floors arranged the way they would have been when early visitors came here for medicinal baths; don’t miss the third-floor gymnasium complete with vaulting horse and wooden parallel bars. Then meet a park ranger out front for a short tour that delves into the springs’ natural history, and climb the steps to the Grand Promenade for an easy walk with picturesque views. Finally, back down at street level, stroll down the row of century-old

bathhouses, popping in to peek at any that catch your eye.

SATURDAY, 1 P.M.

Lunch and spa treatment at Quapaw Baths & Spa

Step inside this 1922 Spanish Colonial Revival building on Bathhouse Row for a light lunch in the onsite café— think pimento cheese sandwich or hummus and veggies—followed by your choice of an assortment of treatments using the same healing waters that first drew visitors more than a century ago. The spa offers aromatherapy mineral baths, massages, facials and more, and booking in advance is recommended during peak travel months. On your way out, look up and take a moment to appreciate the mosaic tiled dome atop the building’s roof.

SATURDAY, 7 P.M.

Dinner at Vault

chimichurri to foie gras cognac butter. The list of creative sides changes with the seasons and incorporates locally grown vegetables. For the most memorable evening, book the private dining experience inside the building’s actual former vault, now leveled up with a colorfully painted ceiling, plush banquette seating and a curvaceous wood table.

SATURDAY, 9 P.M.

Drinks and music at The Ohio Club

A turn-of-the-20th-century bank building is now home to this sophisticated eatery known for its steaks and lamb chops with a la carte toppers ranging from

SUNDAY

SUNDAY, 10 A.M.

Breakfast and caffeine at Kollective Coffee & Tea

No need to have anything heavy after a night out like last night, so this vegan- and vegetarian-friendly coffee shop is the perfect place to fuel up before an active day. The food menu is built on organic and locally sourced ingredients, with pastry highlights include quinoa banana bread and blueberry soy muffin. In the mood for more protein? Regulars rave over the eggs Florentine served over grilled naan bread. Wash it down with pour-over coffee or mint matcha.

SUNDAY, 10 A.M.

Stroll through Garvan Woodland Gardens

Mid-morning is the perfect time to start your visit to this hidden gem of a botanical garden set on a peninsula at Lake Hamilton. Follow the path to a Japanese garden where you can feed the koi in the waterfall-fed pond, then over the Floating Cloud Bridge—a great spot for a photo!—to the Southern Inspiration Garden and Camellia Trail. The path also winds past a wildflower meadow,

Arkansas’ oldest operating bar began with an onsite casino in 1905 and was a destination for celebrities including Al Capone and Babe Ruth. Al Jolson and Mae West are among the most notable entertainers who performed here, and live music is still on tap four days a week.

fern glade and daffodil hill. Kids and kids at heart will love the fairy village, the model train garden and especially the three-story treehouse. Have lunch al fresco at the onsite Chipmunk Café, where the chicken salad croissant and Greek salad wrap are stellar choices. Before leaving, stop inside the Anthony Chapel, a glassand-wood structure that embraces its natural setting and is a popular wedding venue.

SUNDAY, 2 P.M.

Get out on the water at Lake Catherine

On your way back to the interstate, stop at Lake Catherine State Park and discover one more reason they call Arkansas the “Natural State.” At the marina, rent a pontoon boat, water bike or paddleboard to explore this 1,900-acre lake created by a hydroelectric dam project in the 1920s. After soaking up the serenity of the lake, hike the 2-mile Falls Branch Trail along streams and through the forest to see the impressive waterfall that makes this one of the area’s most scenic walks. Grab some snacks from the visitor center store before you get back in the car for the drive home.

The three-story treehouse at Garvan Woodland Gardens

Anthony Chapel

Spend a weekend on the

Natchez Trace

FRIDAY

FRIDAY, 5 P.M.

Check in at Linden Historic Bed and Breakfast, Natchez

In a city that’s billed as the “Bed and Breakfast Capital of the South,” there’s no shortage of charming accommodations near the southernmost point on the Trace. This late 1700s home operated by sixth-generation family owners is set on seven tree-shaded acres. Each guestroom has its own private bath; a canopy bed, fireplace and adjacent balcony make the second-floor Marjorie’s Room a top choice.

THE 444-MILE NATCHEZ Trace Parkway, which begins in Natchez, Mississippi, and ends in Nashville, is one of America’s most iconic roadways— not just because of its current attractions but because of its history as an ancient dirt trail along which Native Americans walked. The speed limit is an easy 50 miles per hour, meaning you must take the time to savor the sights as you navigate the parkway’s dips and bends.

FRIDAY, 7 P.M.

Dinner at The Castle Restaurant

The original carriage house of Dunleith Historic Inn, one of Natchez’s most prominent historic homes, now serves as a memorable restaurant.

Get cozy in the warm wood and brick dining room and start with the oyster artichoke and brie bisque, then savor pecan-crusted redfish or an open-faced smoked duck pastrami cheese melt. Ensure sweet dreams by ending with the mile-high banana cream pie.

KELLI BOZEMAN

Cypress Swamp

SATURDAY

SATURDAY, 8 A.M.

Set off on the Trace

After breakfast in the china- and silver-set formal dining room at Linden, hop in the car and hit the Trace. You won’t have traveled long before you reach the first attraction you’ll want to pull off for: Emerald Mound, at Milepost 10.3. This second-largest Indian mound of its kind in the United States covers more than 8 acres and was built and used between 1200 and 1730 C.E.

SATURDAY, 9 A.M.

Mount Locust and Potkopinu Trail

Take a short drive to Mount Locust, a restored former inn at Milepost 15.5. The inn is one of the oldest structures in Mississippi and one of more than 50 such inns that once operated along the Trace. Talk to rangers and walk the grounds before taking another quick drive to Potkopinu, a section of the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail that features a 3-mile hike through primeval sections of the Old Trace between Mileposts 17 and 20. Some sunken areas here, worn down by centuries of human and animal traffic, are more than 20 feet deep.

SATURDAY, 11 A.M.

Rocky Springs

At Milepost 54.8 near the town of Port Gibson, follow a half-mile trail through the Rocky Springs section of the National Scenic Trail to see the remnants of an abandoned town, including a church and cemetery.

SATURDAY, 12:30 P.M.

Lunch at Mama Hamil’s, Madison

This downhome buffet restaurant not far from the Trace is well worth the midday pitstop, with a wide following among locals who pack in for lunch Monday through Saturday. You’ll find everything from fried chicken and barbecued ribs to catfish and mac and cheese; add some butter beans and turnip greens to your plate to make Mama happy.

SATURDAY, 2 P.M.

Cypress Swamp

An abandoned river channel is now a trail that winds through tall cypress trees at Milepost 122. Keep your eyes peeled for alligators sunning themselves on logs.

SATURDAY, 3:30 P.M.

French Camp

This historic village at Milepost 180.8 gives the feel of an early 1800s settlement, with points of interest including a sorghum mill and a log cabin, as well as a pottery studio and gift shop. If it’s open, stop at the Council House Restaurant at the village to try the famous bread pudding. Note that a detour may be required after this stop due to road repairs; check nps.gov/natr for the latest details before you go.

SATURDAY, 6 P.M.

Blackland Prairie and Parkway Visitor Center

The Blackland Prairie section of the National Scenic Trail is about six miles long and great for hiking, if you’re ready to stretch your legs again. Just across the parkway at Milepost 266 is the Trace’s official Visitor Center, which offers exhibits, a bookstore and an opportunity to chat with a ranger.

SATURDAY, 7 P.M.

Check in at Hotel Tupelo, Tupelo

Go from ancient history to midcentury modern chic at this boutique hotel in downtown Tupelo, about halfway up the Trace. Each guestroom features a platform bed and luxury linens. For an Elvis-centric experience in the city of his birth, book the memorabilia-filled King’s Suite.

SATURDAY, 7:30 P.M.

Dinner at Park Heights

Walk out of the hotel and past the Elvis statue in Tupelo Fairpark on your way to this dining destination that serves modern twists on American classics. Choose an app like tomato pie or harissa-crusted tuna, then try local veggie-loaded summer garden pasta or pan-roasted salmon over leak and sweet pea risotto.

SUNDAY

SUNDAY, 8:30 A.M.

Coffee at Tupelo River Coffee

Grab a pastry and a signature honey cinnamon latte or matcha latte at this downtown favorite café and roastery just a short walk from the hotel before starting the northern leg of the Natchez Trace journey.

SUNDAY, 9:30 A.M.

Tishomingo State Park

Welcome to the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, where you can hike, camp, rock climb, fish or canoe in Bear Creek. This park, which features dramatic rock formations, is accessible from Milepost 304.5. After your stop, it’s time to start picking up the pace (but keep it to 50 mph—the speed limit is strictly enforced).

SUNDAY, 12 P.M.

Meriwether Lewis Monument and Fall Hollow

After crossing into Tennessee, your next stop is the burial site of Meriwether Lewis, best known for his expedition out west with William Clark from 1804 to 1806. The site is marked by a monument and period-style log cabin at Milepost 385.9. Six miles up the road, take a short walk from the parkway to see a 20-foot waterfall at Fall Hollow.

SUNDAY, 1:30 P.M.

Lunch at the Loveless Café, Nashville

Accept your prize for completing the drive in the form of hot buttered biscuits at the Loveless Café, which opened in 1951 and still serves dishes made with original family recipes to adoring fans. You’ll know you’ve arrived when you spot the original neon sign. Tuck into the breakfast-all-day menu or choose from famous Southern favorites including country ham and fried chicken. Full and happy, spend the rest of the day exploring Nashville or take the interstate home for an “express” version of your northern journey.

Mount Locust

ONTHE TRAIL OF

225Magazine stafferssharememorable dining experiences within anhourortwo’sdrivefromtheCap

Bear’s Restaurant Covington

Po-boys don’t get better than this. Trust me—and the line of patrons packing in for lunch. Wrapped up in paper like a gift, these handhelds have earned their cult following. My go-to is the French Fry, a carb lover’s delight with fries, gravy and roast beef “debris” on St. Bruno Bread Co. French bread (bakery owner Steven Gottfried is a Covington native like me). My advice for first-timers? Pounce on any empty table. Order it dressed. Remember, hours are limited. I even debate taking PTO just to snag lunch at this not-so-hidden gem.

– Olivia Deffes

The Saints

St. Francisville

It was already a best-kept secret among fans of West Feliciana Parish, but further proof came when the St. Francisville Inn’s The Saint Restaurant was named a Michelin-recommended restaurant in 2025—one of only two in the Capital Region. The restaurant’s layered Southern aesthetic is joined by a menu awash in elegantly rendered Cajun and Creole favorites, like the brunchtime crabcake Benedict, served with eggs baked in a ramekin, fluffy biscuits and hollandaise sauce. Enhancing the meal are several newish boutiques and stores just steps away along St. Francisville’s revived North Commerce Street.

– Maggie Heyn Richardson The English Tea Room

Emeril’s

New Orleans

Don’t let the words “tasting menu” fool you. You’ll leave Emeril’s delightfully full, still mulling over what is sure to be a once-in-a-lifetime meal. Months later, I’m still talking about this dining experience and trying to recall all the mind-blowing bites. Between courses, expect little extras—like a tour of the kitchen, tableside snoballs and the cutest mini oyster po-boys—to keep you satiated and make you feel like the only table in the restaurant. After the last bite of dessert, it’s clear that those two Michelin stars are very well deserved.

– Olivia Deffes

Middendorf’s

Seafood Restaurant

Manchac and Slidell

Come casual and come hungry. Middendorf’s is one of those road food restaurants that should be on everyone’s bucket list. The original location on Lake Maurepas in Manchac has been drawing a crowd since it opened as a roadside shack in 1934. A second spot in Slidell opened in 2019, and in March the restaurant held an extended pop-up at Passé All Day Café in downtown Baton Rouge. The menu spans Louisiana seafood favorites, but the impossibly thin catfish served with fries, hush puppies and coleslaw is a must. The family-friendly haven keeps kids busy with a popular sand play area and animal enclosure.

– Maggie Heyn Richardson

Social Southern Table

Lafayette

On my first visit to this Johnston Street restaurant on the way to see the Cajun Christmas lights at Acadian Village in Lafayette, I spent half my time laughing at the eatery’s holiday decorations recreating scenes from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, complete with Cousin Eddie in a bathrobe. But it was the food that brought me back, beginning with the warm sweet potato biscuits served with butter and peppered honey. Other menu standouts include the Social Reuben sandwich made with Poupart’s rye bread and the short rib grillades served with tomato gravy over polenta. Worlds away from Clark Griswold’s Christmas turkey, indeed!

– Kelli Bozeman

Grapevine Café

Donaldsonville

Grapevine Café is a small local spot located in downtown Donaldsonville, just 40 minutes away from the Capital City. Dishes consist of large portions of south

Louisiana favorites, helping diners feel right at home from the first bite. The café serves plenty of seafood options, classic Southern comfort foods and a variety of cocktails. Whatever dish I’ve tried, I’ve left satisfied, but I suggest tasting one of the restaurant’s signature red sauce pastas.

– Catherine Clement

The English Tea Room and Eatery

Covington

Pinkies up! I’m a sucker for a proper British afternoon tea, which is why this charming restaurant tucked into a house in a quiet section of Covington has been a favorite of mine for years. The pages-long list of tea selections and the individual-size teapots ensure that each person can sip the flavor they favor—in a dainty floral china teacup, of course. The food menu is loaded with English classics from Coronation chicken salad to Scotch eggs, but I usually go with the “high tea,” which comes complete with a three-tiered server topped with bonbons, fruits and sandwiches with the crusts

cut off. I’ve been known to ask for extra scones to take home, and even though the late Queen Elizabeth II decreed that the jam goes on before the cream, I take the other side in this debate.

– Kelli Bozeman

Bon Temps

Lafayette

If you’re going to dine in Lafayette, you have to eat an authentic Cajun meal, and Bon Temps certainly fits the bill. Open every day for lunch and dinner, Bon Temps is a popular pick for residents, and it’s probably one of the first recommendations you’ll receive from a local. The restaurant’s seafood dishes include perfected versions of Gulf Coast staples. You can taste the clear Cajun influence in the seasoning of every dish— even in more mainstream fare like alfredo pasta and ribeye. I could probably get by on just the side options; the corn maque choux, jalapeño cheese grits and sweet potato mash supply just as much flavor as their main dish counterparts.

– Catherine Clement

The course at Cypress Bend Resort at Toledo Bend Lake is one of the highlights of the Audubon Golf Trail.

TRAIL

Guide

Follow these themed routes to experience Louisiana’s culinary lore and fascinating sites

BY MAGGIE HEYN RICHARDSON

LEAVE IT TO Louisiana to use food as an organizing principle for traveling. The state’s nine culinary trails make it easy to experience Cajun and Creole flavors across a single region. But food isn’t the only theme to shape these statewide experiences. There’s something for history buffs, golf fans and culture vultures, too.

ANDOUILLE TRAIL

German immigrants brought their expert sausage-making skills to Louisiana, smoking the famed dense sausage with the French name, andouille. The Andouille Trail spans Convent to Boutte along Louisiana’s German Coast south of I-10. Visit restaurants and smokehouses that make and use authentic andouille across towns like Lutcher, Garyville, Reserve and LaPlace. andouilletrail.com

LOUISIANA’S AUDUBON GOLF TRAIL

Named for American artist and naturalist John James Audubon, famous for his birds, the Audubon Golf Trail is all about birdies. The trail assembles 18 challenging courses set against stunning natural backdrops. explorelouisiana.com/activities/ golf/audubon-golf-trail

CAJUN BAYOU FOOD TRAIL

BAYOU COUNTRY CRAWFISH TRAIL

Crawfish are a big part of life across Louisiana, both during the “heads” season, when boils are in full swing, and the “tails” season, when sweet tail meat fuels culinary creativity. The Bayou Country Crawfish Trail showcases the bounty of restaurants and boiling shacks across Lafourche and Terrebonne Parishes. crawfishtrail.com

They might look unassuming, but the restaurants and gas stations up and down Bayou Lafourche hold a variety of flavor-packed signature dishes. The Cajun Bayou Food Trail collects these experiences into a route peppered with poboys, fresh seafood, smoked sausages and one of the last spots in the country to prepare blood boudin. lacajunbayou.com/places-to-dine/cajun-bayou-food-trail/

CAJUN BOUDIN TRAIL

There’s no denying the abundance of boudin in and around Lafayette, where homey Cajun meat markets sell a reliable combination of the iconic pork and rice sausage and its many spinoffs. The town of Scott is ground zero. Buy a link, a dozen boudin balls and a grease-stained paper bag of cracklins and load up on stuffed chicken and pork chops for later.

lafayettetravel.com/food-drink/food-tours/boudin/

LOUISIANA CIVIL RIGHTS TRAIL

Fearless Louisianans fought racism to advance their rights over the course of the state’s history. The painful but hopeful story unfolds through nearly 40 historic sites crisscrossing the state, including museums, plantations, churches, cemeteries and universities. louisianacivilrightstrail.com

LOUISIANA FILM TRAIL

NO MAN’S LAND GAS STATION EATS

More than 2,500 films have been shot in Louisiana, including Beasts of the Southern Wild, 12 Years a Slave, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Pelican Brief, Monster’s Ball and Steel Magnolias. Find your favorite movie on the trail’s website, then journey to the small town or big city where it was shot. explorelouisiana.com/film

LOUISIANA OYSTER TRAIL

Raw on the half shell or chargrilled with buttery garlic sauce, oysters have special significance in Louisiana. The Louisiana Oyster Trail guides fans through a proliferation of restaurants in Jefferson Parish, home to the original Drago’s, which pioneered the chargrilled oyster technique. visitjeffersonparish.com/ restaurants/oyster-trail

LOUISIANA HOT SAUCE TRAIL

In the era of shows like Hot Ones and competition hot sauce consumption, it’s a great time to experience the Bayou State’s storied embrace of fiery flavors. The Louisiana Hot Sauce Trail is an electronic trail linking users to locations to buy or learn about hot sauce, from Panola Pepper Corporation in Lake Providence to Tabasco factory tours on Avery Island. explorelouisiana.com/ louisiana-hot-sauce-trail

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In St. Landry Parish, we like to zydeco, fais-do-do, two-step, cook, paddle the bayou, and do just about a bit of everything. Find your favorite festival, celebration, outdoor event, or music concert.

May - September Events

09 MAY 10AM-6PM | Louisiana and the American Revolution

Celebrate America’s 250 with this event highlighting Louisiana’s Role in the American Revolution. Reenactors will honor the Opelousas Militia, vintage dancers will perform, and artisans will demonstrate their skills.

23 MAY 9AM-11PM | Cankton Accordion Festival

Cankton is the Accordion Capital of Louisiana! Celebrate with authentic Cajun music, dancing, food, and family fun.

13 JUN 8AM-2PM | Canoe Races & Anything Over Rice Cook-Off

Bayou State road trippers know they’re bound to find something original and tasty in statewide gas stations and convenience stores. The No Man’s Land Gas Station Eats trail leads visitors to quickstops along the state’s western border that hold fried chicken, barbecue and Mennonite baked goods. visitnomansland.com/ plan-your-trip/gas-station-eats

SHRIMPLY DELICIOUS FOOD TRAIL

The Cajun Coast around St. Mary Parish is home to an abundance of shrimp served simply or creatively along the Shrimply Delicious Food Trail. More than 40 restaurants along Highway 90 make up the trail, including Rita Mae’s Kitchen in Morgan City and The Forest Restaurant in Franklin. cajuncoast. com/shrimp-trail

SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA BOUDIN TRAIL

The sheer number of Cajun meat markets in Louisiana necessitates a second official boudin trail, this one winding through the state’s southwest environs. Explore the savory handiwork of boudin purveyors in Vinton, Iowa, Sulphur, Moss Bluff and others. visitlakecharles. org/food-drink/ cajun-creole/ swla-boudin-trail

The Port Barre Lions Club presents Canoe Races and a Cook-Off where you can enjoy the outdoors, kids can race their canoes, and enjoy great food.

13 JUN 4PM-10PM | Rockin’ on the Runway

Enjoy a car show, airplane rides, live music, kid’s activities, and more at this aerobatic event in Sunset.

04 JUL 9AM-10PM | Lebeau Zydeco Festival

Enjoy live zydeco music and dancing all day long at the Lebeau Zydeco Festival.

11 JUL 10AM-2PM | Krotz Springs Quilter’s Guild Show

Check out the Krotz Springs Quilter’s Show where the tradition of quilting, needle-craft, and folk-art are kept alive.

15 AUG All Day | Fête-Dieu du Teche Eucharistic Boat Procession

This 40-mile procession along the Bayou Teche commemorates the journey of the Acadians over 250 years ago.

05 SEP | Original Southwest LA Zydeco Music Festival

The Original Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Music Festival is the perfect opportunity to dance to your favorite zydeco musicians.

26 SEP All Day | Louisiana Mosquito Festival

Celebrate Louisiana’s unofficial state bird, the mosquito, with live music, vendors, a cook-off, blood drive, and kid’s activities like fun jumps and arts & crafts.

PITCHperfect

Louisiana campgrounds have something for everyone

BY MAGGIE HEYN RICHARDSON

ITS LEGIONS OF fans believe that camping is the best form of travel, offering flexibility, affordability and a chance to hit the open road with the family pooch. Saying “no thanks” to big city vibes and hotel upcharges, devotees are all about natural settings, outdoor experiences and the chance to meet up with likeminded adventurers.

“People in Louisiana love to be outside, so camping is big,” says Camille Weishuhn, marketing director at The Backpacker. “We’ve seen hunting decrease, but camping has held up and gained traction, along with other outdoor activities that you can do while camping, like birding.”

Camping comes in many forms. RV lovers swear by their motorhomes and travel trailers. Glamping is big these days, too, with a growing number of sites across the Gulf South drawing a discriminating cohort with actual beds under souped-up tents. And traditionalists enjoy timeless primitive campsites across the state’s many public lands. Apps like Hipcamp connect them to serene spots on private lands, too.

While it’s tempting to idealize this back-to-nature approach, Weishuhn reminds campers that successful excursions require preparation.

“Start with a camping checklist to make sure you have the essentials,” she says. “Remember, at least part of the time you’ll be in the dark without power, so things like a headlamp are a must.”

Weishuhn grew up camping in the Kisatchie National Forest and says it’s also critical to think about how you’ll sleep.

“I ask people how their camping went, and if they say, ‘Well, it was just okay,’ I know it’s because they didn’t sleep well,” she says. “A good sleeping pad is even more important than the bag.”

And don’t forget to place a tarp down before you pitch the tent, she adds. It’ll prevent the floor from becoming wet overnight.

Finally, prep your meals at home, Weishuhn says.

“Crack eggs into a mason jar and bring your veggies and chicken precut,” she says. “It’s a lot easier and you’ll cut down on the smells and waste that attract raccoons.”

WHERE TO GO

Gator Grounds RV Park

Bunkie

A favorite among RVers with families, Gator Grounds RV Park feels more like a casual resort than a camping trip. Park the motorhome and splash in the indoor and outdoor water parks and lazy river, then head for the zipline, catch-and-release fishing pond or playground. There’s also a golf course designed for 9- and 18-hole play. An onsite convenience store makes it easy to source necessities, and if you’ve taken a vacation from cooking, hit the Gator Grill for pizza and burgers. On Saturdays in June, there’s a dance party followed by an outdoor movie. gatorgrounds.org

Lakeside RV Park

Livingston

With a thicket of trees on one side and a lake on the other, Lakeside RV Park provides a quiet escape combined with wholesome family fun. Take a stroll along the 17-acre lake, cook over a campfire and share conversations with fellow travelers. Cool off in the swimming pool and enjoy a break from the sun at the shaded playground and picnic tables. The lake features a beach, swimming area and kayak rentals. Spend the day exploring Tickfaw State Park, just a 20-minute drive away. rjourney.com/park/la/lakeside/

Bayou Glamping Co.

Westlake

Located on a bend in the river, Bayou Glamping Co. combines lush beauty with cushy amenities like air-conditioning and king- or queen-size beds under enclosed canvas tents. The campsite is situated on a quiet peninsula where the Houston and Calcasieu Rivers meet. Spend the day fishing, swimming, sunning on the floating dock, or exploring the shoreline by kayak. Communal spaces include a full kitchen, lounge and bathhouse, fire pit and barbecue grills. bayouglamping.com

Lake Fausse Point State Park

St. Martinville

Enveloped by 6,000 acres in the Atchafalaya Basin, this park feels like a true escape into swampy wilderness and a rare chance for a digital detox. Entertainment comes in the form of birding, hiking the trails, or renting a canoe. There’s something for every type of camper, including RV hookups, waterfront cabins and primitive campsites. Fans of this hidden gem come from around the country to take in its hauntingly beautiful sights and sounds. lastateparks.com

COURTESY

LOUISIANA OFFICE OF TOURISM

The shores of Lake Bruin are among scores of scenic spots for camping around the state.

Home

of the

has a

The library

Governor’s Suite

stately feel befitting its name, with a blue velvet Chesterfield sofa and striped club chairs.

Rooted REFUGE

BY LAURA FURR MERICAS

St. Francisville’s Shadetree Inn takes its natural next step

PERCHED ON A lush hilltop in St. Francisville, Shadetree Inn has attracted visitors for decades with its serene style and unfettered access to the natural environment.

But its debut, like many a restoration project, was spurred on not entirely by a desire to design, but out of necessity.

Back in 1993, Ellen Kennon and the late Kenwood Kennon were expecting their first child, Alexandra. With all the excitement surrounding the new baby, the couple realized they needed a place for visiting grandparents.

Kenwood, a conservationist and fixture in the St. Francisville community, had already converted a property in the woods a few minutes from downtown into an antiques shop with a bachelor pad

The porch of the Gardener’s Cottage is one of many outdoor spots for guests to relax and enjoy the quiet surroundings.

Dreamy blue hues pair with natural wood tones in the bedroom of the Governor’s Suite.

above it in the 1970s. With the help of Ellen, an interior designer who’d recently swapped the frenetic pace of New York City for the quiet charm of small-town living, the two would transform the lofted space into a quiet, Adirondackinspired retreat.

It wasn’t long before Ellen and Kenwood realized they had much more than a mother-in-law suite on their hands, so they opened the space to travelers. Within the first year, the bed-and-breakfast was featured in Southern Living, and about five years later the couple closed up the antiques shop to fully convert the property into what’s now known as Shadetree Inn.

Over the decades, Shadetree maintained its essences as a secluded nature-filled escape, blending Kenwood’s rustic south Louisiana flair with Ellen’s elegant and astute attention to detail. Still, the property has continued to evolve.

Some of the most significant changes to Shadetree have taken

place in the last few years.

In 2023, a tornado ripped through the area and toppled the property’s central pecan tree. Shadetree’s loft took the brunt of the hit, but today has been restored. The 10-foot-tall cathedral ceilings remain the stars of the space and are now lined with Louisiana red heart cypress pulled from the original home’s exterior. A new blue, red and green plaid carpet and a private deck play into

the space’s cabin-like vibes, which Ellen says have drawn numerous honeymooners over the years.

“It’s cozy up there,” Ellen says. “It’s not as big as the other spaces, but it’s very romantic.”

Shadetree’s Sun Porch suite, the second space added to the B&B, was also revamped. Originally divided off from the home’s front porch, today the glass-enclosed dining space is filled with natural light and a wraparound banquet.

Ellen’s “Moutarde” paint color from her custom Full Spectrum Paints line saturates the walls, which are trimmed out in her “Peridot” green.

A modern-day, fully renovated bathroom is a new perk here, plus access to the expansive treetop deck through a “hobbit door,” originally built by Kenwood.

Around the same time of the renovations, Shadetree partnered with Louisiana Hospitality

Group, which manages other local properties like the St. Francisville Inn and Hotel Toussaint, allowing the Kennons and their patrons to reap the benefits of a full-time staff, housekeepers and the Inn’s Michelin-recognized restaurant, The Saint.

Shadetree also expanded, taking in a space Ellen was using to run Full Spectrum Paints to create the Governor’s Suite. Named in honor of Kenwood’s father, Robert

The newly renovated Sun Porch bathroom combines leafy green details with sleek marble and pebble tiles.

Guests staying on the Sun Porch enjoy a glass-enclosed living and dining space with banquette seating.

Guests can gaze out on the treetops from the Loft, which suits the scene with its Louisiana red heart cypress cathedral ceiling and walls.

The walls and ceiling of the Gardener’s Cottage bedroom wear a leaf-patterned wallpaper that seems organic to this setting.

Ellen Kennon pulled vibrant nature-inspired hues from her own paint line to bring the living room of the Gardener’s Cottage to life.

Floyd Kennon, who served as Louisiana’s governor in the 1950s, the space presents a more stately and luxurious style.

Ellen enveloped the suite in a special greenish-blue color, dubbed “High Maintenance,” created with local designer Heather Melancon. Blue brocade fabric lines the upholstered headboard and drapes the walls in matching panels separating the bedroom from a book-lined library.

Still, the most significant change to Shadetree in recent years has been the loss of Kenwood himself.

In the later phase of his life, Kenwood resided in what’s now known as the Gardener’s Cottage. He moved offsite in 2025, but the charming abode stands as a capsule of his legacy.

A homey front porch, where regulars would often find Kenwood taking in the views or watching the birds, is adorned with twinkling string lights and stripped-down rocking chairs.

Inside, light pours through 13 salvaged stained-glass windows. Ellen’s “Moutarde” and “Peridot” drench the living spaces, intended, she says, to invoke ideas of spirituality, positivity and healing. The snug bedroom is wrapped in a green leafy wallpaper, signaling to the canopy outdoors.

“It was so magical,” Ellen says of working on the Gardener’s Suite. “I have to say, that whole project, it was as if angels were helping us.”

Following Kenwood’s death in January, Alexandra, the impetus for the project, has come on board as owner. Working alongside her mom, and with the help of Louisiana Hospitality Group, she hopes to usher Shadetree into a new but not-so-different season.

“[We are] ensuring that Shadetree keeps that original DNA of this whimsy and this magic and this love for Louisiana and the local environment, putting that at the forefront of the experience,” Alexandra says. “That is so much of what Shadetree is for me.”

A shaded seating area on the elevated rear deck overlooks the hillside.

ROAD-TRIP SNACKS

MOTHER’S DAY MEAL

FLOUR power

IT’S SATURDAY MORNING and a line stretches out the door of a storefront in a well-worn Jefferson Highway strip mall. BlueRabbit Bakehouse’s homemade sourdough, rumored to be some of the best in town, is the draw.

Many in the queue hope to secure a Mary Kate, the cottage bakery’s top-selling rustic whole wheat bread. Others want The Grainwright’s Table, a loaf made from heritage red fife wheat flour. There are English muffins, sandwich breads and loaves studded with varying combinations of nuts, seeds, cheeses, cured meats and chocolate. A rotating selection of pimento cheese spreads, hummus and almond butters is on offer, too, perfect for slathering on sturdy, toothsome slices.

All the breads are sourdough, and most are made with flour that founder and sole baker Matt Bolton mills himself.

Bolton is part of a growing wave of regional cottage bakers selling small-batch breads to enthusiastic local fans. The pandemic inspired many of them to catapult hobbies into side hustles, but for Bolton, the motivation to start a bread business came from a life-changing event.

In 2022, he experienced three back-to-back heart attacks in a matter of hours, resulting in open heart surgery and a lengthy recovery. The event forced an epiphany. Bolton had spent decades in the stress-inducing world of running his own industrial construction company and quickly concluded it was time to walk away.

“I said, ‘That’s it. I’ve had enough,’” he recalls.

But at 59, Bolton still needed something challenging in his life. He turned to sourdough making, something he’d dabbled in for

From a side gig to a brick-and-mortar, BlueRabbit Bakehouse draws fans with its breads and spreads

MAGGIE HEYN RICHARDSON // PHOTOS BY COLLIN RICHIE

BlueRabbit Bakehouse's Orchard and Brie Black Pepper loaf

several years but hadn’t yet mastered. Bolton dove in, attempting to outmaneuver the bread’s finicky requirements by baking practice loaf after practice loaf.

His drive stemmed from a lifelong interest in food.

“Like most south Louisiana guys, I’ve cooked all my life,” he says. “All my siblings, my parents and grandparents were fantastic cooks.”

Growing up in Old Goodwood, suppertime saw the family of seven around the table sharing stories about the day. The phone was taken off the hook and the door locked, Bolton says. A couple of times a week, his father would bring home a fresh, warm French or Italian loaf from now-closed Baum’s Bakery on Florida Boulevard to serve with dinner. The bakery stopped selling hot loaves when Bolton was in his teens, he says.

“I’ve been mad about it ever since,” he says, pointing out a profusion of doughnuts and cookies that seem to dominate local bakery counters today.

Lamenting the lack of fresh bread inspired him to play around with baking it as an adult. He was already baking when the pandemic hit, but the nationwide yeast shortage brought by the shutdown sparked Bolton’s foray into sourdough.

“Sourdough is such a challenge because everything affects it— ambient temperature, flour temperature, time of the year, humidity,” he says. “You don’t realize how it’s going to turn out until you open the oven door for the big reveal.”

After retiring, Bolton baked routinely, keeping meticulous notes and dabbling with flours. Practice made perfect. His friends—who acted as guinea pigs—convinced him it was time to sell his breads. He converted his boat garage into a commercial kitchen outfitted with mixers, a bread oven, a large worktable and open shelves for ingredients and equipment, including a grain mill to process small batches of ancient grains ordered from farmers in the Midwest.

By January 2023, BlueRabbit Bakehouse was officially born.

Bolton began selling bread at The Artists Loft Market on Antioch Road and V. Watts Trade Mart in Livingston Parish, both of which helped build a loyal following.

In February, he opened his own 500-square-foot space on Jefferson Highway and brought in fellow small business owners Next Chapter Coffee Company and Crumb and Get It.

Bakery owner Matt Bolton has a menu of over 20 bread options ranging in flavor profiles and styles, along with a selection of sourdough English muffins, spreads, dips and more.

Regulars come from around the region for BlueRabbit’s artisan breads, some of which have earned the Ochsner Eat Fit label for their nutritional heft. Bolton currently sells about 200 loaves every Saturday and plans to increase his capacity and menu with a forthcoming second bread oven and a larger mill.

The popularity of the bakery

turned a former side gig into a full-time, one-man show that has Bolton milling, baking, bagging, labeling and selling the finished product.

“I love doing it,” he says. “For the first time, really, in 40 years, I’m doing something that I enjoy.”

BlueRabbit Bakehouse is open on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 17301 Jefferson Hwy.

Dearest Reader, Wedding season has arrived and with it, the perfect reason to celebrate.

inRegister invites you to the soirée of the season, an evening honoring brides, brides-to-be, and newlyweds of the Capital Region.

So let’s gather, dress to impress, and enjoy a night celebrating inRegister Weddings.

THURSDAY, JUNE 4 at 6:30pm

HILTON CAPITAL CENTER 201 Lafayette Street

Leave no CRUMBS

Fuel up for your next road trip with these easy-to-pack snacks from Baton Rouge shops

BY OLIVIA DEFFES // PHOTO BY COLLIN RICHIE

THERE’S SOMETHING

about long rides in the car that makes a person peckish. Whether you leave before breakfast or want to keep trucking through lunch, it’s important to stash a few treats in your backseat when taking a road trip. Plus, mindlessly snacking might just make the miles go by a little faster.

Before you hit the road, stop by these local shops to stock up on all the snacks, from sweet to savory. All locally made or sourced from Capital Region spots, these bites are sure to satisfy appetites while also serving as reminders of home while we’re away.

Here’s a handful of nibbles we’re packing for our next road trip:

1. Spicy fava beans from Cannatella Grocery

Known as a sign of good luck, you may have seen these legume seeds as part of a St. Joseph altar. But did you know they’re also a protein-packed snack? Italian speciality shop Cannatella Grocery stocks snack-size bags of these beans, roasted and tossed in a spicy coating, perfect for munching and crunching in the car or on the trails.

2. Lemonade from Leroy’s LipSmack’n Lemonade

Hydration is key, but sometimes plain old water is just boring. Quench your thirst with the tangy yet sweet Leroy’s LipSmack’n Lemonade. Find bottles of this Baton Rouge-born brand at stores like Oak Point Fresh Market, Rouses Market, Calandro’s Supermarket and more.

3. Zapp’s potato chips and Pointe Coupee Pecan’s Pecan Candy from Maxwell’s Market

With a vast yet curated selection of local goods, Maxwell’s makes a great stop for those heading out of town. Grab a few individual-size bags of Zapp’s chips and a pouch of Pointe Coupee Pecan’s sugared nuts to satisfy both sweet and salty cravings.

4. Granola and Chocolate Peanut Butter Bites from Siding with Citrus

Need a bit of energy to power through the ride, or want to make sure you’re geared up for the destination? Local meal prep biz Siding with Citrus, known for using clean ingredients, sells granolas and peanut butter and chocolate chip oat bites that provide sustenance and a quick boost. Find these healthier-for-you treats on Siding with Citrus’ website or grab the peanut butter bites from Light House Coffee.

5. Dried fruit and gummy candy from Southside Produce Mountains of fresh fruits and veggies dominate the selection at Southside Produce, but the fruit stand also has a selection of road-trip-ready treats, conveniently packaged in resealable bags. Munch on dried fruit like mess-free banana chips or get a sugar-filled pick-me-up from Southside’s sour gummy rings in flavors like green apple or watermelon.

6. Pepperoni sticks from Iverstine Butcher

Forget Slim Jim! Iverstine is making meat sticks sans all the junk. Head to the Perkins Road butcher to find these compact protein bites in a variety of flavors and meats. There’s also a selection of jerky because vacation doesn’t mean you have to take a break from meeting your protein goals.

ARTS COUNCIL OF GREATER BATON ROUGE AND THE RIVER CITY JAZZ COALITION PRESENTS

VINCENT HERRING’S SOMETHING ELSE

Menu for Mom

Get the whole family involved in cooking this easy Mother’s Day breakfast DINING

BY TRACEY KOCH // PHOTO BY AMY SHUTT

THERE IS NOTHING more precious than seeing your children’s gleaming faces on Mother’s Day morning as they proudly present you with a heartfelt and delightful breakfast. As the recipient of this well-meaning gesture, aside from the love and pride you feel as you gaze upon your adoring children, the real thought that inevitable pops into your head is: Yikes, what disaster awaits me in the kitchen?!

This Mother’s Day, to help keep damage control at a minimum in the kitchen, I thought of an easy yet delicious breakfast that the whole family will enjoy—and that doesn’t create an overwhelming amount of kitchen cleanup. I have dubbed this breakfast treat Papa’s Fabulous French Toast.

My dad, aka “Papa” to his grandchildren and now great-grandchildren, is a wonderful cook and has perfected the art of making truly the best French toast. It is slightly sweet, light and fluffy on the inside and golden and tender on the outside. It requires few ingredients, most of which are things you have on hand in the fridge and pantry. Plus, there’s not a lot of prep time and not many steps when making this dish, helping to make cleanup a cinch. His secret to this French toast is using day-old or slightly stale New Orleans-style French bread. Using this type of bread helps to ensure your French toast is light and fluffy every time. To round out this special Mother’s Day breakfast, I add a warm maple butter glaze as a finishing touch to the Frech toast, along with an easy recipe for praline-topped bacon. This simple and delicious breakfast menu is the perfect way to show the special people in your life how much you care.

Papa’s Fabulous French Toast with

Maple Butter Glaze

Yield: 4 servings

4 eggs

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 cup whole or 2% milk

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

3 Tbsp. avocado oil, divided

3 Tbsp. butter, divided

12 (1½-in.) slices day-old New Orleans-style French bread

¼ cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 170 to 200 degrees, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large shallow dish, whisk together eggs, sugar, milk and vanilla until well blended and sugar has dissolved.

Place a large heavy nonstick skillet over medium heat, and melt 1 Tbsp. oil and 1 Tbsp. butter. While skillet heats up, working in batches, dip 4 slices of French bread into egg mixture until well coated on both sides.

Once butter has melted, place dipped bread slices into skillet. Cook over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes per side or until French toast is until golden on both sides. Transfer onto lined baking sheet and place in preheated oven to keep warm. Add more butter and oil to skillet as needed; repeat dipping and cooking remaining slices of French bread. Serve French toast warm and dusted with powdered sugar along with warm Maple Butter Glaze on the side to drizzle.

MAPLE BUTTER GLAZE:

4 Tbsp. butter

1 cup pure maple syrup

1tsp. pure vanilla extract

In a small sauce pot over medium heat, heat butter until melted. Pour in maple syrup and vanilla extract, and heat through. Serve warm over French toast.

Easy Praline Bacon

Yield: 4 servings

½ cup chopped pecans

1⁄3 cup light brown sugar

¼ teaspoon Creole seasoning

8 slices center-cut bacon

Place chopped pecans in a mixing bowl. Add brown sugar and Creole seasoning; stir to combine. Line a microwave-safe dish with paper towels; place 4 slices bacon on plate. Place second layer of paper towels over bacon; cook on high for 3 to 3½ minutes. Bacon should be cooked but not crisp. While bacon is cooking, line a baking sheet with nonstick aluminum foil and preheat oven to 400 degrees. Carefully remove bacon from microwave and place it on lined baking sheet. Place remaining 4 slices of uncooked bacon on plate with paper towels and cook in microwave for 3 minutes.

Place second batch of cooked bacon on baking sheet. Sprinkle all 8 bacon slices with brown sugarpecan mixture. Cook bacon in preheated oven for 6 to 7 minutes or until bacon is crisp, sugar is melted and pecans are golden. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a platter to serve.

IMMERSE

YOURSELF

IN THE WILD + ALL IT’S PERKS...

A

ZOO MEMBERSHIP! WITH

PARENTING Like a Pro

How to keep your children thriving and your sanity intact in a fast-changing world

THE EXPERT

Q. H OW D O I KN OW IF I H AVE HYPE RTENSION ?

A. Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, can be deﬁned as consistently elevated blood ﬂow through your blood vessels. Hypertension is often called the “silent killer” due to the lack of visible symptoms in most people. Some people may develop symptoms if their blood pressure is dangerously high, such as headaches, dizziness, blurred vision, chest pain, or shortness of breath. If left untreated, it could lead to the development of strokes, heart attacks, kidney failure, blindness or heart failure

Follow up with your physician annually.

Follow up with your physician every 6 months.

Follow up with your physician

It is recommended that you have your blood pressure checked at least once a year

Q. H OW C AN I P REVENT OR REDUCE MY RISK OF HYPE RTENSI O N ?

A . The ﬁrst step of any treatment program should be a lifestyle modiﬁcation. This includes dietary changes such as, reducing salt intake and/or the introduction of the DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension), limiting alcohol use, eliminating tobacco use, weight loss, and regular exercise, if approved by your physician. If your blood pressure remains uncontrolled, despite taking the appropriate measures, your physician may prescribe blood pressure lowering medication.

AMANDA MARTIN, CEO OF STUDYVILLE ®

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ASK THE EXPERT

Dr. Eric Oberlander, Board Certified Neurosurgeon

WHAT IS THE REAL CAUSE OF CERTAIN NECK AND BACK PAINS — AND IS SURGERY TRULY NECESSARY?

Most neck and back pain that occurs as we age is related to degenerative arthritis of the spinal discs and joints. The spine wears out just like knees and hips. Much of the spine surgery we do is to “rebuild” the bad spinal segments.

MANY SPINAL AND NERVE CONDITIONS IMPROVE WITH CONSERVATIVE CARE. WHAT NON-SURGICAL TREATMENTS SHOULD I TRY FIRST?

We save surgery as the last resort and try Physical Therapy or Chiropractor Care first. If that doesn’t work, we will often try various types of injections and small procedures before surgery…kind of like WD-40 for the rusty hinges of the spine.

WHAT ARE THE RISKS, SUCCESS RATES, AND LONG-TERM OUTCOMES?

Spinal surgery is extremely complex. Outcomes vary considerably based on many variables….but most importantly do research on your surgeon. Look for fellowship training in spine surgery, which is advanced training for the surgeon after their basic training….my Fellowship is in “Minimally Invasive and Complex Spine Surgery”. A good outcome starts with a good plan. Many surgeries start with a bad plan, and the end result is suboptimal.

WHAT CAN I CHANGE IN MY DAILY LIFE TO PREVENT WORSENING PAIN?

See us early to get advice…and to establish a baseline MRI for your neck and back. Keep your weight in check and avoid tobacco products like the plague. Non-impact exercise like biking and elliptical is preferred to jogging or other high impact exercise.

HOW DO YOU FIND THE RIGHT SPINE SURGEON?

The Neuromedical Center has done that for you…all our surgeons are great. Also the insurance companies have the surgery outcome data….they know which surgeons are elite and whom avoid complications. There are entire insurance companies now that steer their patients to surgeons that get fewer complications and thus better outcomes. Lantern (Lanterncare.com) is one such company… they send me patients from throughout the south, even hundreds of miles away.

Dr Oberlander’s Physician Assistant, Shayne Brizzard is also his patient and recently had neck surgery.

MEET THE PANELISTS

EVANS Mayor City of Central EMILY GREENE, LOTR President First Choice Therapy

MARY STEIN

Assistant Library Director: Programs, Outreach & Collections East Baton Rouge Parish Library

SHAUN KEMMERLY, MD Chief Medical Officer and Interim President FMOL Health | Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Health

The Parenting Roundtable:

SONNY ALDRIDGE CEO United Community Bank

Raising Children in an Age of Uncertainty

Parenting in 2026 is not for the faint of heart. The world feels more unpredictable and the future less certain every day. How are parents to lead their children in the right direction when their own path forward is so unclear? That is the question we attempt to answer at this year’s 225 Parenting Roundtable. Capital Region leaders in health care,

education, finance and community services joined moderator Mark Lorando in the Melara Enterprises executive conference room to offer practical advice and share their unique professional and personal parenting perspectives.

Despite their different lenses, they all saw the importance of building resilience rather than demanding perfection; confronting

mental health challenges honestly and urgently; and teaching our children to embrace technology while simultaneously protecting them from it.

Their conclusion: We can’t predict the future. But if we provide safe spaces and prioritize family time over screen time, our children will be much better prepared for whatever happens next.

WADE

How do parents navigate that gray area between the opportunity and risk associated with children’s access to technology?

As adults, we spend too much time on technology, so it’s hard to think a child wouldn’t have the same temptation. Honestly, the only thing you can do is communicate. I have two teenagers, 18 and 16. Misinformation is something we talk about a lot. Cyberbullying is another issue. We know children who have been

We live in one of the greatest times ever, where we can have a phone in our pocket more powerful than computers 10 years ago. The key is knowing how to manage it and use it, not avoid it. As parents, we must teach discernment—how to discern whether something is right or real. AI is no different

Technology offers a lot of beneficial things. In schools we see smart boards, speech to text, word prediction software—things that foster greater independence. But we’re also seeing negative effects of excessive screen time. We’re seeing students come in with lower attention spans and difficulty with retention in the classroom, not to mention difficulty with delayed gratification. How do parents navigate

It’s here to stay. We have to learn how to manage it and empower parents. Kids ages 3 to 5 have 3½ hours of screen time a day; 6-to-10-year-olds, 6 hours; 11-to-14-yearolds, 9 hours; 15-to-18-year-olds, 7 hours—not including homework. That’s a massive amount of influence. Set boundaries. Don’t put it in the

Modeling the behavior is key—turn it off! Don’t just give a child a book—read with them. That reconnects what you lose when technology babysits your child. Digital literacy is key, but schools can only do so much. We’re all struggling with, “How do I tell what’s real?” The first thing is, don’t let the phone go into the

hit hard with that. It would be easy to say, “Limit their access,” but technology is so ingrained in everything they do. There’s really no way to take it away. Communication on the dangers of what can happen and how to conduct and protect yourself online is the key.

- SONNY ALDRIDGE

than the calculator was in the ’70s. Our job is to manage it in a way that’s beneficial and educational. The key is determining whether it’s accurate. Check multiple sources. Take what you read and fact-check it elsewhere.

- MAYOR WADE EVANS

that? First, be a role model. If you’re sitting on your phone and not interacting, you’re teaching that behavior. Limit your own technology. We need a balanced approach between digital use and real-world experiences. Engage with children in active play and get back to face-toface communication.

- EMILY GREENE

bedroom. Increased screen time affects socioemotional challenges—anxiety, depression, executive function. We need to balance screens with outside play and family activities. It’s a problem. We need to empower parents to manage this.

- DR. SHAUN KEMMERLY

bedroom. Use it at the kitchen table where we’re all part of it. Ask what they’re doing. Be cautious. Be intentional. The more technology we have, the more we need people. Keep gathering spaces alive—family activities, human interaction.

- MARY STEIN

Summer Reading Starts June 1 st

What makes the Capital Region a great place to raise children –and what can Baton Rouge and the surrounding communities do to make it even more special?

The Capital Region is a very special place.

Physically, we’re more connected than any other region in the state. We have two great universities, most of the industry, an amazing park system, an amazing library system—quality of life opportunities everywhere. The biggest problem is how we view this region. I can go down Jefferson

The Capital Region has great places for children to learn and grow. We’re fortunate to have many school systems that give opportunities for all learners, especially our neurodiverse students and those with disabilities. Community businesses are working with our diverse population, offering sensory modifications. Our children have endless opportunities to experience organized sports through BREC, the YMCA, or

Baton Rouge is a diverse, culturally rich, loving community. We have parks, libraries, the Knock Knock Museum. From a child’s lens— festivals, crawfish boils, Live After Five, music events, St. Patrick’s Parade—it feels unending. That’s important as we grow healthcare and recruit pediatric specialists. The community needs

It’s a big small town with endless opportunities, many of which don’t cost money. We just have to open our eyes. There’s still an intergenerational connection here. That connection is really important. We have such a robust faith community. You can find a tribe in sports, music, theater, arts. Many things allow us to be

The Capital Region strikes a good balance. We have opportunities—education, healthcare, culture—but we still have small-town values. I want my kids raised in a place where they want to stay. I remember standing outside a store with my daughter, and she wanted to ride one of those little carousel rides, but I did not have any cash on me. A stranger noticed and handed her

Highway and find 10 good things or 10 bad things. When we choose to look for the good, it’s amazing how much good we have. The key is to grow our next generation of leaders and teach people how to see the world around them.

- MAYOR WADE EVANS

schools. Children can experience our rich culture through a variety of affordable experiences such as our library system, the Baton Rouge Zoo, Louisiana Arts and Science Museum, and Knock Knock Children’s Museum. We also have a huge medical community able to provide collaborative care. The opportunities are there if parents seek them out

- EMILY GREENE

to be welcoming, and providers see the diversity here. Festivals and Louisiana culture are helpful in growing our medical community. What we need to do next is continue fostering safe places for kids and families to explore and excel.

- DR. SHAUN KEMMERLY

participatory. We need to be our community’s staunchest advocates. That starts with citizens whose eyes are open to what Baton Rouge has to offer. Word of mouth matters. When your neighbor says, “I’m going to this thing in the park or at the library,” you realize the opportunities are here.

- MARY STEIN

a dollar so she could ride. That’s where I want to raise my children. A lot of big cities are not like that. I travel for work, and in larger areas, you don’t get that same response. Here, people stay. You see rooftops, subdivisions, growth. We have that balance, and I think that’s why people choose to stay.

- SONNY ALDRIDGE

Welcome to

Mainstreet 2030 represents a bold and forward-thinking vision for the City of Central. By addressing critical issues such as flood control, enhancing recreational opportunities, and creating vibrant commercial and civic spaces, this initiative aims to transform Central into a more resilient, connected, and enjoyable place to live.

What are some common-sense ways parents can protect their children’s emotional and physical health in our increasingly fast-paced world?

We’ve gone from a play-based society to a phone-based society. Get back to basics. Sit down face-to-face and engage with your child. Really have a conversation where your child knows you’re intent on what they’re saying. Take time to play together, eat meals together, communicate over the family table, put away technology. That

e are seeing a lot of anxiety and depression. When you’re seeing signs of distress, talk to your doctor about it. We have pediatricians and advanced practitioners ready to be your partner. We’re training pediatricians to be more knowledgeable in mental behavioral health—anxiety, depression, ADHD. We’re connecting them to social workers

We see children morning, noon, and night— many not getting enough sleep. They may be getting screen time, but they’re not getting sleep. There are ways to slow things down so they can fall asleep at a reasonable time. We also see hungry kids. When kids are not “hangry,” there are more positive interactions than negative

Everything moves faster today, and kids are exposed to so much earlier. My son, at 11, was asking me about a conflict in the Middle East, and I remember thinking, I did not even know about things like that at his age. The level of information, and really the level of stress, that kids are carrying now is just different. As a parent, that can be challenging. Sometimes the hardest part is simply

Ithink we’re raising a much weaker generation. When a kid goes to school and is not equipped to do the work, we’re creating anxiety. We have to get back to teaching healthy coping skills. We have to teach them how to work through difficulties and still function. We have to create

goes a long way with emotional health. If basic needs are not met—a warm meal, a loving home— it’s difficult to thrive. Use outlets like arts and crafts and reading with your children. By going back to basics of communication, we can reduce anxiety and stress.

- EMILY GREENE

and psychiatrists, so families have quick access to care. We’ve created a child and adolescent fellowship to grow more providers who stay in the community. Talk to your pediatrician. You can trust that person. General pediatricians can wear a lot of hats—they are trained to help and want to be your partner.

- DR. SHAUN KEMMERLY

interactions. We also provide resources for parents—short videos on what you can do about cyberbullying, how to help your child self-regulate at different ages. We’re partnering with local health and wellness agencies and social workers— because our kids are struggling.

- MARY STEIN

recognizing what they are dealing with and how to respond. I was raised in an era where if you fell, you got up, dusted off, and kept going. That mindset still has value, but it does not always address what kids are facing today. Overall, parents need better resources to know how to handle these issues.

-SONNY ALDRIDGE

an environment where it’s normal to talk about problems. Remove the shame. Give kids and their parents permission to acknowledge, “I need help.” At some point, we have to stop coddling and get real again.

- MAYOR WADE EVANS

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Economic volatility is affecting every level of society. How do parents help their children prepare for a financial future that seems so uncertain?

Teaching kids about money—saving, investing—is important. Talking to kids about money in an appropriate way matters. We should be intentional in teaching children to give to others less fortunate. Many of our children and families are vulnerable; they struggle with finances and other social drivers of health. We screen patients at FMOL Health | Our Lady of the Lake for

Career exploration doesn’t just start when you’re in high school. Kids can try to be many things and that doesn’t have to mean a college degree. Trades are noble and we need them. It starts with parents—sharing why they made a decision, why they bought this instead of that. Little children love to play store, play cooking.

I’ll never forget as a young kid, walking down the street with my grandpa. I saw a penny on the ground, picked it up, looked at it, and threw it back. He almost had a heart attack! That has stuck with me my entire life. We’ve lost a little bit of that. Even in a financially stable home, our kids need

Don’t worry about the future—live in the present. Read everything. That builds critical thinking. We have to build resilience. Don’t solve every problem—let them learn how to solve problems. We push kids on paths they’re not ready for. Not all kids need the same track. That creates anxiety. We need to let children grow

Children learn from us as role models. We need to model smart financial behaviors— live below our means, avoid unnecessary debt, and plan for the future. Teach practical life skills—time management, money management. Teach children to set goals and delay instant gratification. Allow children to experience failure

financial insecurity, food insecurity, transportation. When families need help, we connect them to resources—food banks, emergency food boxes, clothing closets. It’s about recognizing needs and connecting families to resources to help them move forward.

- DR. SHAUN KEMMERLY

That builds numeracy and confidence. Don’t hide decisions. Children need to know you are investing for your future and for their future. Little things add up. Talk about the value of different jobs. Buy an experience, not a toy. That shared time is valuable.

- MARY STEIN

to be prepared for the day they’ll be on their own. My son and I were doing some yard work, and he said, “Why don’t we pay someone to do this?” I explained the cost and how much we saved. Things like that need to be reinforced.

- SONNY ALDRIDGE

and experience life instead of protecting them from it. We also need to slow down. We have our kids involved in too much. When we focus on what’s important, every moment becomes more valuable.

- MAYOR WADE EVANS

and guide them through it. If they earn money, teach them the importance of a budget and sticking to a budget. Make it concrete—give them choices and responsibilities so they can learn through experience.

- EMILY GREENE

How is your organization stepping up to support parents and their kids during these historically challenging times?

We’re out in the community—daycares, learning centers, health fairs, back-toschool fairs—bringing books and resources to children and caregivers. We teach parents so they can participate with their kids. We offer story times, STEM programs, free homework help till midnight— safe, vetted, monitored. We’re also redesigning spaces for interactive play where parents are

We do a lot of community outreach, but the gap we found was financial literacy for young people. People get out of high school and don’t understand how money works or banking or financial stability. We’ve put a big focus on that—visits to schools, after-school programs, churches. Our officers are required to do financial

As mayor, our role is to create stability in times of stress. We do that through nonprofits, helping families and kids however we can. We build capacity and resilience through the faith community, helping people learn how to manage and cope, especially when they don’t have access to mental health resources. We create

First Choice Therapy provides occupational, physical, and speech therapy in 21 school districts across Louisiana at no charge to parents. We provide services for children in their natural environments—schools, libraries, wherever they are. We work with teachers to provide resources not just for students receiving therapy, but for

FMOL Health | Our Lady of the Lake’s mission calls us to be a healing and spiritual presence for each other and for the communities we are privileged to serve. We deliver healthcare through our providers, nurses, clinics, and hospitals, both in person and virtually. We meet patients where they are. We offer parenting classes—from newborn care to adolescence—and a “ParentingU” podcast

involved. One of our main missions is to connect the helpers. Baton Rouge is filled with wonderful helpers, and we use our space, resources, and services to bring them together. It’s not just the books—it’s giving families opportunities to spend time together.

- MARY STEIN

literacy hours. We send things home for parents to open savings accounts and let kids go through the process. We’ve invested in tools like the Greenlight app, where kids go through financial literacy courses, manage allowance, chores, and spending. It sets a foundation.

- SONNY ALDRIDGE

an environment that brings people together and enhances quality of life. We have to be intentional—plan, grow strategically, and work with our school systems. Our job is to provide services in a way that supports families and creates an environment of continued progress.

- MAYOR WADE EVANS

entire classrooms. We provide home programs for parents to use over the summer to maintain skills. In addition, First Choice Therapy invests heavily in our therapists to ensure they’re using the most updated evidence-based practices so they can best serve students and families in our region.

- EMILY GREENE

covering a variety of topics. We partner with schools to provide healthcare centers with nurse practitioners and social workers, so kids don’t miss school. Partnerships amplify what we do—working with schools, nonprofits, and organizations to keep kids healthy, in school, and supported. None of us can do it alone.

- DR. SHAUN KEMMERLY

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PARENTING TIP SHEET: BUILDING RESILIENCE

HOW TO RAISE KIDS WHO CAN HANDLE SETBACKS

In an unpredictable, fast-changing world, resilience may be one of the most valuable—and most often overlooked—skills a child can develop.

Resilience doesn’t come from avoiding challenges, but from learning how to navigate them. Generally speaking, experts say, children are

a lot more resourceful than their parents give them credit for. In those moments when you give in to the temptation to step in and smooth things over, an opportunity for resilience-building is missed.

Here are five ways that experts say you can combat reflexive overprotectiveness:

• Don’t rush to fix everything. Allow kids to experience disappointment and begin working through it on their own.

• Praise effort over outcomes. If at first they don’t succeed … good! Reinforce persistence, growth and a willingness to try again.

• Model problem-solving. Talk through your own challenges so kids can see how to work through difficult challenges to a satisfying resolution.

• Normalize failure. Remind children that setbacks are part of learning, not something to fear or be ashamed of.

• Encourage independence. Giving kids appropriate autonomy builds confidence. And confidence is the cornerstone of resilience.

Emotional resilience isn’t built overnight. It develops gradually, through day-to-day opportunities to face challenges and come out wiser on the other side. For parents, the hard part is a not-so-simple matter of staying out of the way of the powerful lessons that natural consequences teach.

PARENTING TIP SHEET: RAISING MONEYSMART KIDS

EVERYDAY WAYS TO TEACH FINANCIAL CONFIDENCE EARLY

Financial literacy doesn’t begin with your first paycheck. It starts at home, often in small, everyday interactions between parents and their children.

Parents have a unique opportunity to shape how children think about money long before they’re making major financial decisions on their own.

• Talk about money openly. In many homes, the family finances are a taboo subject, reserved for private conversations between mom and dad and their financial advisors. Age-appropriate conversations about spending, saving and budgeting help normalize the topic and raise awareness in an organic way.

• Use allowances intentionally. Rather than a simple reward, think of it as a hands-on teaching tool about financial concepts like labor costs, flat rate vs. hourly wages, contractor vs. DIY, etc.

• Introduce “spend, save, give.” Breaking money into these three simple categories helps kids understand priorities and tradeoffs.

• Let them make mistakes. Yes, it’s painful to watch your child waste money that took

months of work to save on cheap merch or trivial pursuits. But those small missteps now can lead to smarter big decisions later.

• Connect effort to earnings. Whether through chores or small jobs, kids benefit from seeing how work translates into income.

By building these habits early, you can better prepare your kids for the real world … and reward yourselves with less adult child support after your kids leave the nest.

PARENTING TIP SHEET: THE FIRST PHONE

HOW TO KNOW WHEN YOUR CHILD IS READY FOR THEIR OWN DEVICE

It is a high-stakes question that is vexing parents earlier and earlier in their children’s development: Are they ready for their own smartphone? Unfortunately, unlike that other developmental rite of passage—the first driver’s license— there’s no legal age for going mobile. That leaves parents in that very subjective gray area of deciding for themselves whether the time is right.

Instead of counting years, parenting experts say, focus on your child’s overall readiness.

• Look for maturity, not milestones. Consistency with homework, chores and other family and school responsibilities signals readiness.

• Clarify the purpose. Is the phone for safety, coordination or social connection? Understanding the “why” matters.

• Start small. A basic phone or limited-access device can serve as a stepping stone.

• Set expectations upfront. Establish clear rules around screen time, social media, privacy and communication.

• Be transparent about access. Let your child know you may check the device. Trust but verify.

• Revisit the agreement. As your child grows, rules and expectations should evolve as well.

Handled thoughtfully, a first phone can be less about independence and more about teaching responsible, balanced use of technology. Know your child, experts say, and you won’t succumb to the worst justification for giving your child a phone: because all their friends have one!

ASK THE EXPERT

Casey Evans, Owner and Operator

WHAT MAKES YOUR RESTAURANT A GREAT SPOT FOR FAMILIES WITH KIDS?

From the moment you walk in, Dearman’s feels easy and comfortable, and that’s by design. We’ve been a community home base for 68 years, and that kind of history creates something you can’t manufacture. Nobody’s going to stress if a little one makes a mess or gets a little loud. Our staff genuinely loves when families come through, and that warmth and sense of actually caring just naturally extends to every family that walks in the door. When your community feels like family (one that this diner has literally grown up with for generations now), it’s not hard to make families feel welcome.

HOW DO YOU BALANCE QUALITY INGREDIENTS WITH OPTIONS THAT APPEAL TO PICKY EATERS?

In a way, our menu does that work for us. It lends itself to the child (or adult) picky eater in its simplicity. We’ve always kept things simple, not because we had to, but because we believe in doing a few things really well rather than a hundred things halfway. That simplicity naturally works in a picky eater’s favor. There’s no overwhelming

list of unfamiliar dishes. It’s real, straightforward food that people recognize and love. Simple and quality aren’t opposing forces; they go hand in hand.

WHAT’S ONE MENU

ITEM

OR EXPERIENCE FAMILIES SHOULDN’T MISS WHEN THEY VISIT?

The burgers have always been the star of the show since before I was born. However, I’m going to recommend trying the nectar soda. It’s a soda fountain classic you really don’t see anywhere else anymore: nectar syrup, which has this cherry-almond, almost cake / petit fours flavor, mixed with cream and soda water, topped with scoops of ice cream. It’s a Dearman’s exclusive as far as I know around town. Beyond that, I just hope every family that walks through our doors feels the warmth and kindness we put into everything we do.

ASK THE EXPERT

Chris Gendusa, Owner of Future Fitness

WHAT’S A GREAT TIP FOR HELPING PARENTS MAKE TIME TO WORKOUT?

Don’t let a busy schedule stop you. Write down your obligations and social activities to see where to squeeze a workout in. If you are an early bird and feel too tired to exercise in the afternoon, you may want to schedule your workout earlier in the day.

HOW IMPORTANT IS MEAL PREPPING?

One of the most important benefits of meal prepping is that it can help reduce the stress that comes with trying to eat healthier. Solving all your food decisions in advance really frees up some of your willpower and mental stress, helping you reach your goals faster and with more ease.

WHY CAN SOMEONE BENEFIT BETTER FROM PERSONAL TRAINING RATHER THAN DOING IT ON THEIR OWN?

Having a personal trainer to guide you through the correct positioning and form is invaluable. They can help ensure that you’re performing the exercise most effectively for your body. You’ll not only likely see better results but also avoid potential injury this way.

WHY DO YOU THINK MANY PEOPLE GIVE UP SO EASILY AFTER STARTING A REGIMENT?

Lack of time is one the most common reasons for quitting a fitness program. The modern work schedule doesn’t leave much time for self-care, but with the help of a personal trainer, you can develop a program that is both effective and efficient.

WHAT’S THE BEST ADVICE YOU CAN GIVE SOMEONE TO GET STARTED ON THEIR ROAD TO A HEALTHIER LIFE?

Drink more water. Most of us don’t drink enough water every day. Get enough sleep. When you don’t rest well, you compensate by eating more. Meditate, Eat healthy & Exercise regularly.

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InfaMedics is committed to providing compassionate, expert care to newborns and their families in Baton Rouge. Our team of neonatologists, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants supports parents through this important journey, caring for 5,800 babies annually at Woman’s Hospital, Ochsner Baton Rouge, and Lane Regional Medical Center.

Neonatologists

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How local families can help shape the future of children’s health

In Louisiana, where childhood obesity rates remain among the highest in the nation, researchers are turning to an essential partner in the fight for better health outcomes: local families. At LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center, the Pediatric Trials Team is leading that effort through its Pediatric Research Program and the statewide Pennington Generation initiative, both designed to better understand and improve health outcomes for children. The need is urgent. More than 40% of children in Louisiana are overweight or living with obesity, and the associated health challenges – from Type 2 diabetes to long-term metabolic conditions – are appearing earlier than ever before. Researchers at Pennington Biomedical are working to reverse that trend, but they can’t do it alone. They need families.

The Pediatric Research Program focuses on identifying the root causes of childhood obesity and developing real-world solutions. By participating in these studies, families not only gain access to cutting-edge care and resources but also contribute to discoveries that could benefit generations to come.

Several pediatric clinical trials are currently open and actively seeking participants. The BabyEE Pilot is enrolling infants between 1 and 3 months old to better understand early nutrition and development. The SPROUT study is similarly focused on infants, particularly those born at 35 weeks or later who are fed human milk. For older children, the COACH program offers a family-based healthy weight intervention for children ages 5 to 17 with obesity, emphasizing the role of parents and caregivers in building sustainable habits. Meanwhile, a Pediatric Study is recruiting adolescents ages 12 to 17 with excess body weight to explore new approaches to treatment and prevention. More research trial resources and information can be found at pbrc.edu/research-trials/.

What sets these programs apart is their emphasis on family involvement. Parents and caregivers are not just observers; rather, they are essential partners. From attending visits to helping implement lifestyle changes at home, families play a central role in shaping outcomes and ensuring that research translates into everyday life.

Beyond individual trials, the Pennington Generation study offers a broader opportunity for families across Louisiana to get involved.

Part of the Greaux Healthy initiative, this long-term research effort aims to track how physical activity, nutrition, sleep and other lifestyle factors influence children’s growth and development over time. Participation is designed to be convenient and accessible. Families can begin by visiting the Pennington Biomedical Healthy Moves Bus or a nearby health clinic for an initial assessment, which includes surveys and basic measurements like height, weight and waist circumference. Children ages 5 and older may also have body composition and grip strength evaluated. Follow-up visits occur annually, often through simple online surveys or community-based check-ins.

The study is open to a wide range of participants, from newborns to young adults up to age 24, as well as parents, expectant families and relatives of those who have joined the study. This inclusive approach allows researchers to better understand how health patterns develop across generations.

By participating in a clinical trial or joining the Pennington Generation study, local families have a unique opportunity to make a lasting impact – not just on their own health, but on the well-being of children across the state.

PARENTING TIP SHEET: SCREEN TIME

TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES THAT WORK

Screens are a constant in modern family life. For parents, the challenge isn’t eliminating them but managing them in a way that feels healthy and sustainable.

The goal is to create boundaries that support better habits without turning every encounter with an at-home digital device into a battle.

• Create “default off” times. Protect key moments like meals, bedtime and car rides as screen-free zones where connection takes priority.

• Co-view instead of policing. Watch shows, play games or scroll together when possible so you can better understand what your child is consuming. Nothing beats face-to-face interaction, but looking at a screen together is less isolating for your child than watching alone.

• Use controls sparingly. Parental controls can be helpful guardrails, but they shouldn’t replace ongoing conversations about responsibility.

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• Model the behavior. This is the hard part. Kids are quick to notice when parents are glued to their own devices. Consistency matters. And don’t even think about picking up that phone while you’re in the car together!

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• Focus on content, not just time. High-quality, age-appropriate content can be more valuable than strict time limits alone.

Ultimately, the most effective screen-time strategy is one that evolves with your child and keeps communication open. For better or worse, the screens on our digital devices are windows on our world. Parents should be intentional about keeping them open.

Advancing Excellence Through Collaboration

March 23–25 ULS welcomed leaders from the University of Memphis’ University Schools and Southern Lab School for a collaborative exchange, showcasing the ULS Experience - highlighting innovative instructional spaces, signature programs, and student life.

Strategic Alignment & Shared Innovation - Leaders discussed governance, sustainability, and long-term vision, while exploring the integration of academics and research. Collaboration across leadership, finance, and athletics sparked a meaningful exchange of ideas.

•

Sunny days Sunny days

Thrive AHEAD

Help kids have a healthy summer with nutrition and fitness tips from

Beach time can burn calories without kids even realizing it.

Pennington Biomedical Research Center scientist Amanda Staiano

BY AVA BORSKEY // PHOTOS BY COLLIN RICHIE

THE DAYS ARE longer, the weather is warmer, and kids all across the Capital Region are looking forward to a fun and carefree summer. At the same time, with less structured schedules, parents have to prepare for a host of summertime challenges, from childcare to meal prep.

With more snacking, disrupted sleep patterns and less organized physical activity, summer can pose a specific challenge for children’s overall health and wellbeing.

Studies from the CDC show that many children experience excess weight gain during summer break, with approximately one in five U.S. children affected by obesity.

Louisiana has the fourth-highest childhood obesity rate in the nation, according to statistics from Greaux Healthy, a Pennington Biomedical Research Center initiative designed to help educate families on treatment options. Obesity is a complex disease, but it’s a preventable one, with nutrition, fitness and healthy role models playing major parts in reducing children’s risk.

Dr. Amanda Staiano, director of Pennington’s Pediatric Obesity and Health Behavior Laboratory, has been studying family-based lifestyle interventions for healthy living for over 15 years. With a background centered in psychology, most of Staiano’s work involves the science of changing behaviors.

“With kids, we really focus on their behavior goals. That’s something that’s more within their control,” Staiano says. “We can’t control our weight on our scale, but we can try to work on reducing red foods, getting up and being more physically active.”

Rather than calorie counting, the “Traffic Light Method” provides a kid-friendly approach to nutrition that helps gamify healthy summertime snacking. Green light foods, like fruits and vegetables, are go-to foods that should be eaten daily. Yellow light foods, like 100% fruit juice, should be consumed less often. Red light foods, like candy and chips, have high calories and low nutrients. While you shouldn’t

remove red foods entirely, they should be eaten at a significantly reduced rate.

As a mom of two, some of Staiano’s go-to summertime snacks include smoothies that incorporate fruit and spinach and popsicles made with kefir, a milk product good for the gut microbiome.

“Summer represents a fun, exciting time where the schedules are a little bit different,” Staiano says. “It can be fun to try new healthier traditions, like going to the farmers market and picking out a brandnew fruit or vegetable that your family’s never seen before and figuring out how to cook it together.”

For families that have the time and space, planting their own backyard garden or growing herbs in pots indoors are great ways to reconnect with healthy food sources. Even something as simple as having your child help create the online grocery order can go a long way.

“We do find that involving the child and making them feel like they’re part of that decisionmaking process can really make a difference,” Staiano says. Another simple change that

Dr. Staiano’s summer nutrition tips for families

Hydration comes first. Summer months mean increased temperatures and outdoor activities. Encourage drinking water throughout the day. For variety, add fruit such as lemon, berries or cucumber slices for flavor.

Take advantage of seasonal produce. Summer fruits and veggies are often cheaper, fresher and more appealing.

Plan for busy schedules. Summer often means summer camps, travel and irregular routines. Pack snacks like nuts, low-fat string cheese, cut fruit and whole grain crackers to help avoid last-minute fast-food stops.

Get the kids involved. Let kids help pick out fruits and veggies at a produce stand or farmers market. Give them simple tasks like washing produce, assembling snacks and building their own plates. Kids are more likely to eat what they help prepare.

Keep it realistic. Aim for progress, not perfection! Small changes go a long way.

makes a big impact on childhood nutrition is switching out sugary, high-calorie beverages like energy drinks and sodas for water. Hydration is a key component for summertime health and wellbeing, especially when physical activity comes into play.

“Kids need to get about an hour of physical activity every day,” Staiano says. “That can be 15 minutes here, 10 minutes here. Trying to get them up and moving and not being stationary throughout the day can be really important.”

The Aspen Institute’s Project Play Initiative found that only around 20% of Baton Rouge youth receive the recommended 60 minutes of daily physical activity. Summer sports leagues and YMCA camps offer structured opportunities, but incorporating movement doesn’t always have to be so formal.

Staiano says many families see success with friendly fitness competitions, like seeing who records the most steps on their Apple Watch. And to beat the summer heat, she’s embraced exergames, or video games, apps and mixed reality that encourage movement.

Simple additions to family

routines, like walking the dog around the neighborhood or incorporating music into household chores, can also get kids up and moving in organic ways that add up. “Doing things as a family, I think, can be very helpful,” Staiano says.

When parents model healthy behaviors for fitness and nutrition, it can create sustainable habits that children carry with them well into adulthood.

“In the past 15 years, I’ve seen a huge progress toward making healthier communities and helping kids,” Staiano says. “We want them to not only live long lives, but healthy lives.”

Is your family looking for help achieving a healthy lifestyle?

Researchers at Pennington are currently enrolling participants in the COACH Study, where children with obesity and their caregivers receive nutrition coaching and community resource counseling. Parents interested in joining the study should talk to their child’s pediatrician or visit joincoach.org

In her role at Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Amanda Staiano studies ways that families can work together to stay healthy.

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Culture

LThe is back BARD

Baton Rouge is in its Shakespeare era

BY MAGGIE HEYN RICHARDSON

The Turner-Fischer Center for Opera put on Roméo et Juliette, sung in French with English supertitles, at the LSU Shaver Theatre in March.

LOUISIANA PURCHASE EXHIBIT

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OVE, BETRAYAL, WAR, death and family drama. Nobody does universal themes better than Shakespeare, whose well-known works and quotable lines never seem to go out of style. But if you feel like the English playwright is having a moment lately, you’d be right. The bestselling novel and 2025 Oscar-nominated film Hamnet, the 2023 Tony-nominated jukebox musical &Juliet, and a British South Asian interpretation of Hamlet in London last fall are part of the wave of recent Shakespeareinspired works circulating worldwide.

That backdrop is helping to energize a bevy of local Shakespeare-centric events here at home. This month, the Louisiana Shakespeare Company

hosts its second annual Louisiana Shakespeare Festival, a free gathering and vendor fair that gives attendees a friendly intro to the Bard. And in June, the recently formed Mid City Civic Theatre will stage Much Ado about Nothing as its inaugural summer show.

These follow other events that took place earlier this spring, including Ascension Community Theatre’s production of Romeo

and Juliet in February, the Turner-Fischer Center for Opera’s production of Roméo et Juliette at the LSU Shaver Theatre in March, and the Louisiana Shakespeare Company’s A Comedy of Errors in April.

“I think people are in the mood for Shakespeare right now because of things like Hamnet and, even though it’s a different time period, Bridgerton,” says Shannon Walsh,

LSU associate professor of theatre history and co-founder of the Mid City Civic Theatre. “We’re in a time of enjoying ‘period chic.’ We see those Regency and Renaissance stories as hip and cool.”

Walsh also credits the Louisiana Shakespeare Company for broadening local interest. Founded in 2023 by Jennifer Bouquet, Katy Truluck and Liz Odom-Dalton, the nonprofit aims to make Shakespeare accessible through annual spring and fall productions, a public library program and a one-day Shakespeare festival.

“Shakespeare belongs to everybody—that’s actually our motto,” says Bouquet, a theater teacher at Glasgow Middle School. “The themes are timeless.”

The company’s actors will perform live scenes from A Comedy of Errors and The Tempest at this month’s festival, where attendees can also learn to sword fight like Tybalt and Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, view costumes from past shows, and make and write with the same kind of ink the Bard used in “scribe school.”

world’s most tragic love stories to life in Roméo et Juliette at LSU.

One of the advantages of performing Shakespeare is that it’s relatively inexpensive to produce. Dramatic works written before 1929 are considered part of the public domain, relieving theater companies from paying thousands to secure rights. That prompted the newly formed Mid City Civic Theatre to opt for the Shakespeare comedy Much Ado About Nothing as its first-ever show this summer. Walsh, a co-director, says the beloved comedy lends itself to creative interpretations. She and her team will situate their version in Louisiana during Carnival season. The play will feature separate youth and adult casts performing on different nights. Original music is also being composed for the show. There’s still more Shakespeare to come later this year. At its festi-

Bouquet says. For most of us, the first taste was reading his works in a middle- or high-school English class.

“Shakespeare was originally meant to be seen and heard, not read,” Bouquet says. “His works weren’t even compiled in written form until seven years after his death. If you can see and experience it, and understand the emotion and plot, the language will come.”

The Louisiana Shakespeare Company’s shows range from unconventional stagings, as in the April production of A Comedy of Errors (above), to more classically staged renditions.

Real deal

See the historic agreement that finalized the Louisiana Purchase on display at the Old State Capitol

BY OLIVIA TOMLINSON

LOUISIANA’S OLD

STATE Capitol holds an important piece of both the state’s and the nation’s history in a new exhibit titled “Bought for A Song: A Young Nation Expands.”

The exhibit, which is on display now through July 11, features the French exchange copy of the convention between the Republic of France and the United States of America. The historic agreement signed by Napoleon Bonaparte finalized the Louisiana Purchase.

“This exhibit is not only going to display that original document, its cover page and a copy of the signature page, it will also hold small educational displays about the role of the Mississippi in this whole transaction, what this transaction was, who was involved and what people at the time were saying about it,” museum curator Anna Mahoney said in an interview before the exhibit opened in April.

The Louisiana Purchase was signed in 1803, and the document secured the port of New Orleans, removed France from North America and began debates on the issues of slavery. The document is on loan from the National Archives in Washington, D.C., and the exhibit is presented in English and French to honor Louisiana’s deep cultural ties to France.

“This is really a display enhancing this one single object, so that’s kind of rare,” Mahoney says. “Usually, you have a bunch of objects in an exhibit, and it explores a big idea through multiple themes. We have this one object and this one piece of information about the transfer of land to the new United States that came to be known as the Louisiana Purchase. So the focus is really on a micro level.”

The exhibition also coincides with the anniversary of the signing on April 30, 1803, which doubled

the size of the young United States and transformed Louisiana’s role in American history. The Louisiana Purchase is made up of three parts: the Treaty of Cession and the two conventions defining the financial aspects of the sale.

The conventions formalized financial arrangements associated with the Louisiana Purchase and reshaped the trade, migration, culture and political power across the continent. Signed by First Consul of the Republic of France Napoleon Bonaparte, this agreement allowed the United States to acquire 828,000 square miles of territory for approximately $15 million. Coming out to a bargain of about 4 cents an acre, the land has often been described as having been “bought for a song,” hence the name of the exhibit.

“We’re proud to partner with the National Archives to showcase the original Louisiana Purchase document. With the stroke of a pen, this

agreement more than doubled the size of our nation and stands as one of the most significant real estate transactions in American history,” Secretary of State Nancy Landry said in a press release. “We invite everyone to join us as we welcome this remarkable piece of history back to the land it helped create.”

The museum also has an upcoming exhibition discussing the four expeditions that Thomas Jefferson sent out after the Louisiana Purchase, beginning in June. Guests who visit the Louisiana Old State Capitol in June will have the opportunity to view both exhibits.

SEE THE EXHIBIT

Admission is free and open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, through July 11. louisianaoldstatecapitol.org

ASK THE EXPERT AUTOMOBILE

NICK PENTAS Mercedes-Benz General Manager

HOW HAS MERCEDES-BENZ SHAPED THE MODERN AUTOMOTIVE SAFETY LANDSCAPE?

Mercedes-Benz has shifted vehicle safety to a proactive prevention—an approach now embedded across the industry. Innovations like crumple zones, airbags, anti-lock braking systems (ABS), and predictive collision-preparation systems elevated expectations around occupant protection and vehicle control. These advancements reshaped government regulations, crash-testing protocols, and consumer safety benchmarks worldwide.

WHAT PATENTED MERCEDES SAFETY INNOVATIONS STAND OUT, AND HOW DO THEY WORK?

Several Mercedes technologies have become cornerstones of modern safety engineering: Crumple Zones disperse collision energy across the body structure so occupants avoid absorbing the full force of impact. SRS Airbags deploy instantly to cushion occupants and reduce injury. Anti-Lock Brakes (ABS) hydraulically pulse more than 30 times per second to prevent wheel lockup, allowing shorter, more controlled braking.

WHAT IS PRE-SAFE®, AND HOW DOES IT PROTECT PASSENGERS BEFORE A COLLISION?

PRE-SAFE® is a predictive safety system designed to prepare the cabin for impact the moment sensors detect a likely collision. The system can pre-tension seatbelts, reposition seatbacks upright, and close windows and the sunroof. After airbag deployment, it may reopen windows to vent airbag smoke. Mercedes has expanded this system with innovations like PRE-SAFE® Sound, which emits a specific frequency that triggers a natural reflex to protect the inner ear.

Comeback Kidd

BY OLIVIA DEFFES

AFTER A 14-MONTH restorative stay in Houma’s Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors shipyard, the USS Kidd is finally ready to ship up to Baton Rouge.

In 2024, the iconic vessel sailed downstream for an overhaul to bring it back to its former glory, preserving decades of history.

At over 80 years old, the USS Kidd was starting to show its age. Two wars, numerous battles, a kamikaze attack, an appearance in a Tom Hanks movie, and 40 years bobbing in a “cradle,” which was used to allow the ship to rise and fall with the Mississippi River, took a toll on the Fletcher-class destroyer, the only museum ship still in its original World War II configuration and one of the most visited non-sports attractions in the state.

“This ship suffered from a unique problem,” says Les Nicholson, chair of the Louisiana Naval War Memorial Commission. “Its cradle was a tremendous protector for it, but it was also somewhat of an enemy of it, because as the ship moved around with waves, it rubbed. Ships aren’t designed to rub against concrete. Also, they’re really not designed to

sit in a cradle. They’re supposed to be evenly supported by the water.”

So she got a much-needed facelift. But instead of plastic surgeons, the work was done by a team of technicians and craftsmen who breathed new life into the storied “Pirate of the Pacific.”

Over a year of repairs included mending holes in the hull created by rocking in its cradle and restoring the ship’s segregated quarters to help tell the stories of African American servicemen and the restrictions under which they served. The ship is also sporting a new paint job similar to the one she wore throughout 1944, nicknamed “Dazzle camouflage.”

“[The paint job] was an experiment that the Americans did during World War II. Before radar was available to track targets and fire things at them, everything was done visually,” USS Kidd Veterans Museum executive director Parks Stephenson says. The Dazzle camouflage, Stephenson explains, covered a ship with geometric shapes to break up its outline or to confuse an enemy that might be viewing it through an optical sight.

The recent restoration project marked the first time the ship had undergone major upgrades since

’60s, though the U.S. Department of the Interior recommends routine overhauls every two decades. Stephenson says the work should last another 40 to 60 years.

“I’ve been down there to see the ship, and she’s gorgeous,” he says. “Our expectations were not just matched, but exceeded. The shipyard developed the same passion for the ship that we have here for it. They saw it as a part of one of Louisiana’s biggest attractions.”

At home, the team at the USS Kidd Veterans Museum put in work, too, improving the docking system by adding padding to the cradle, reinforcing its framework and creating thicker plating on its touchpoints. These measures aim to prevent damage as the ship rises and falls with the river’s levels.

While the ship’s return is sure to delight landlubbers and seafarers alike, it will also serve as a revenue boost for Baton Rouge, bringing in tourists who also want to feast their eyes on the upgrades to the National Historic Landmark. The attraction usually contributes $3 million annually to the local economy but has seen a 93% dip in attendance due to the absence of its crown jewel. Its return is expected to increase its yearly

economic impact to $5 million.

Returning the destroyer to its home dock outside the downtown museum wasn’t as easy as raising the anchor and setting sail. Instead, weather conditions were closely monitored to determine its arrival date, ensuring that water levels were ideal for the five-day journey back into its cradle.

Once back, Stephenson says there will be new features including exhibits, audio tours and educational programming. The ship will also have more parts of its interior open to the public.

There will be a welcome party on May 23 to celebrate the USS Kidd’s return, just as there was when it first arrived in the Red Stick in 1982. Jay Dardenne, the celebration’s chairman, says the event, presented by sponsor Turner Industries, will include static displays, speeches, military vehicles, food stations and more. There will also be music by the Alexandria High School band and a U.S. Marine Corps band, along with other performers. The celebration’s committee has also worked with Live After Five managing director J. Hover to coordinate a post-event performance from The V-Tones using the outdoor concert series’ setup.

“We’re going to have 30-some odd members of the Kidd family present in Baton Rouge for this event, which is really exciting,” Dardenne says of the descendants of the ship’s namesake, Rear Admiral Isaac Campbell Kidd Sr. “They’re coming from all over the country to be a part of this. And it is going to be a celebration on the river that will recognize the fact that [the ship] is coming home.”

Attend the USS Kidd Welcome Home Celebration Saturday, May 23, Rhorer Plaza Music from the Alexandria High School band will begin at 1:30 p.m., and the ceremony starts at 2 p.m. usskidd.com

Baton Rouge’s resident naval ship is set to sail back to its cradle on the Mississippi River soon

The USS Kidd has a new look to go along with its new exhibits.

Banksy stays here

THE ICONIC

AND anonymous street artist

Banksy may have been unmasked by a Reuters investigation this spring as Bristolborn Robin Gunningham, thanks to NYPD records of the tagger defacing a Marc Jacobs billboard in 2000 then signing the arrest report with his legal name. But like everything with the enigmatic provocateur, plenty of mysteries remain.

Two stunning clues to Banksy’s brain, if not his identity, are on permanent view in a free gallery space at the International House Hotel New Orleans, a grand Parisianstyle boutique hotel between Canal and Poydras, three blocks from Caesar’s and Canal Place.

very device that should protect her, but she holds her hand out to the sky, after all.

Acerbic but never cynical, these works ask big questions even when no fast answers are expected. Like all mysteries, when a new Banksy appears overnight, it arrives like a miracle. And that’s how great changes feel, too.

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Katrina-inspired “Boy on a Life Preserver Swing” and “Looters” were salvaged by hotel owner Sean Cummings and art conservationist Elise Grenier in a years-long process. “Sean loves art made by

rebels, so with this conservation we left as much of the original to speak for itself as we could,” says Grenier. “I feel so lucky to be a part of work that makes us reflect, that brough much-needed attention to the plight of New Orleanians, and that is so important to Louisiana.”

your

What connects Banksy to Louisiana’s story is not just the many 2008 works he left like sten cil totems across the Ninth Ward. His art, like the indomitable spirit of New Orleans, displays hope in the face of hardship. Banksy’s “Umbrella Girl” is drenched by the

“Banksy’s message has always been, ‘These people, this city matters,’” Cummings says, as his hotel continues to connect New Orleans to cultural narratives. International House recently unveiled four Polaroids taken in the city by another legendary street artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and on May 3, it will add a portrait of Basquiat by local artist Jerin “Jerk” Beasley. With other amenities like colorful bar Loa and sushi spot Kenji Omakase, the International House offers a one-of-a-kind getaway. Some might say picture perfect.

Peel and eat as many crawfish as you can at the Crawfish King Cookoff downtown.

More than 10,000 pounds of mudbugs will be boiled as teams compete in support of Junior Achievement and Big Buddy. crawfishkingcookoff.com

As the days warm up, Baton Rouge artists bring as much heat as our climate at the Mid City arts and culture fest Hot Art Cool Nights, with local businesses hosting vendors selling a variety of goods. midcitymerchantsbr.org

As part of the American Daylily Society’s Region 13 meeting weekend, the group welcomes visitors to a Garden Tour of three private daylily gardens in Baton Rouge, St. Amant and Gonzales, as well as the Independence Botanical Gardens. adsregion13.weebly.com

NEW ORLEANS

Compiled by Catherine Clement

Lace up your best kicks for the Soiree at L’Auberge Casino Hotel. This fundraising gala benefits young people participating in the 100 Black Men of Metro Baton Rouge’s flagship mentorship program. 100blackmenmetrobr.org

Night Market BTR is back to showcase the creativity of local artists, vendors, musicians and chefs. At this food-forward festival, crowds gather in front of the Capitol to celebrate Asian culture and watch live performances. nightmarketbtr.com

Go off to the races at the Jamboree are invited to wear Kentucky Derbyinspired attire as they enjoy live music, craft cocktails and food trucks on the lawn.

Jazz musician Vincent Herring brings his band, Something Else!, and his saxophone to Manship Theatre as part of the River City Jazz Masters series. manshiptheatre.org

The Friends of Hilltop Arboretum are giving an inside look at private, lush gardens in some of Baton Rouge’s neighborhoods. The 2026 Spring Garden Tour will feature home landscapes in Southdowns, Old Goodwood, Glenmore Place and Walden. lsu.edu/hilltop

May 15-17: Bayou Boogaloo, thebayouboogaloo.com

May 22-24: New Orleans Greek Festival, gfno.com

May 28-June1: Sail250, sail250neworleans.com

Two iconic artists are taking their joint tour to Tiger Stadium. See Jelly Roll and Post Malone share the stage and perform their biggest hits as part of the Death Valley Live series. lsusports.net

23+24

Sample downhome dishes at the Baton Rouge Soul Food Festival at the Main Library at Goodwood. The event features a cooking contest plus a lineup of live music. hitcitydigital.wixsite.com/brsoulfoodfest

ACADIANA

for our twice-weekly roundups of events. 225batonrouge.com/225daily

May 1-3: Breaux Bridge Crawfish Fest, bbcrawfest.com

May 7-9: Rayne Frog Festival, raynechamber.net

May 21-23: Couillon Fest, lafayettecomedy.com

Jaselyn and Toby Berthelot

AT 5’2” AND 120 POUNDS, Jaselyn Berthelot doesn’t look the part of a championship angler, but the 23-year-old Addis native is making big waves in the world of competition fishing. She and her father, Toby Berthelot, have racked up serious accolades—and payouts—for deepsea catches, powered by Jaselyn’s passion for the sport.

Last year, she helped her team land a $2.58 million prize at the Bisbee’s Fishing Tournament in Cabo San Lucas, which included hauling in a 457-pound blue marlin, among other catches. It was one of several accomplishments in a season that also included winning the 2025 Gulf Cup and the Cajun Canyons Billfish Classic with blue marlins weighing more than 600 pounds.

Jaselyn’s partner and skipper is her father, a longtime outdoor enthusiast who began tournament fishing in 2013. Jaselyn grew up around fishing, but caught the fever in 2021 as a freshman at LSU when her schedule became more flexible, she says. Until then, she’d been a busy high schooler focused on competitive dancing. Part of her motivation in dropping a line was to challenge her brother.

“I wanted to give him a run for his money,” she says. “Then I was hooked. No pun intended.”

Jaselyn and Toby compete in national fishing tournaments with their crew from April through early September, primarily in the Gulf. Preparation includes charting and scouting where they think the fish will hit. They’re also part of the state’s official sport fishing team, the Louisiana Canyons. Excursions take place over a weekend, during which the crew sleeps in shifts to man lines around the clock. While sophisticated technology helps someone of Jaselyn’s frame to haul in big ones, there’s no denying the effort it takes—or her thirst for the challenge.

“I just fell in love with it,” she says. “My dad and I have a really big passion for it.”

—MAGGIE HEYN RICHARDSON

“I’ve had some pretty tough fights. A bluefin tuna that was about 900 pounds took 7 hours and 40 minutes.”

—Jaselyn Berthelot

This Month @ BREC [MAY]

SUMMER KICK-OFF

Perkins Road Community Park

May 2 | noon-3 p.m.

SWEET TOOTH DESIGNS

Church Street Park

May 7 | 5:30-7 p.m.

FAMILY GAME NIGHT

Forest Community Park

May 7 | 6-7 p.m.

ZOO + ME MORNINGS:

DOWN ON THE FARM

BREC’s Baton Rouge Zoo

May 9 | 9:30-11:30 a.m.

FAE FEST

Forest Community Park

May 9 | noon-3 p.m.

GLOW IN THE PARK: BASKETBALL

Gus Young Avenue Park

May 14 | 5-7 p.m.

SUNSHINE SOCIAL: PROM

Milton J. Womack Park Ballroom

May 15 | 6-9 p.m.

YOUTH PICKLEBALL CLINIC

Greenwood Community Park Racquet Facility

May 16 | 9-11 a.m.

SWAMP BIRTHDAY

Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center

May 16 | 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

OPEN HOUSE JUNIOR SINGLES

TOURNAMENT

Capital One Tennis Center at City-Brooks Community Park

May 22 | 4:30-8:30 p.m.

BREC.ORg/thismonth

BREC’S LIBERTY LAGOON WATERPARK OPENS

May 23

BREC COMMUNITY POOLS OPEN

May 26

PUT BACK PAIN BEHIND YOU

LOUISIANA’S LEADER IN MINIMALLY INVASIVE SPINE SURGERY

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The Spine Center of Louisiana unites a team of highly trained spine specialists dedicated to advancing the standard of care across our region. Through innovative techniques, collaborative expertise, and a patient-first philosophy, we deliver comprehensive spine care with precision, compassion, and trust.

HUNTER WADDELL, MD

KEVIN P. MCCARTHY, MD

NATHANIEL RAWICKI, MD

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225 Magazine [May 2026]

HAPPY

LOCAL CARE, BIG-TIME MEDICINE

Who will be the CHAMPION?

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Great escape

Paradise city

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Readers’ notes

Clock it

Sports Physicals Event

Elite Training Complex - Burbank

What ,s up May

Stem class

Rise and shine

Add line flowers

Build up with filler

Issue Date: APR 2024 Ad proof #4

Bring in a focal

Know when to stop

SAVE THE DATE

Wine and dine

What else is new?

Take a look

Around 225

You say you want an EVOLUTION

Something’s happening here, what it is ain’t exactly clear

Reminisce about the days of old with that old time rock ‘n’ roll

Stairway to heaven

Issue Date: May 2026 Ad proof #3

Where Baton Rouge Dogs Vacation in Style

Girls gridiron on the

Pack it up

Summer of

CHIMP HAVEN

AMERICAN ROSE CENTER Shreveport

EAGLE’S NEST PADDLE TRAIL AT BLACK BAYOU LAKE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE Monroe

CANE RIVER CREOLE NATIONAL HISTORIC PARK

KISATCHIE NATIONAL FOREST

RIP VAN WINKLE GARDENS

JUNGLE GARDENS

BAYOU VERMILION PADDLE TRAIL

PREHISTORIC PARK

THE BEAST St. Francisville

MARY ANN BROWN NATURE PRESERVE

CAT ISLAND NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

MOUNTAIN BIKE PARK AT BOGUE CHITTO STATE PARK

RIVER ROAD AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM

CANE BAYOU CANOE TRAIL AT FONTAINEBLEAU STATE PARK

TAMMANY TRACE

BESTHOFF SCULPTURE GARDEN AT NEW ORLEANS MUSEUM OF ART

PEVETO WOODS SANCTUARY

Spend a weekend in

TexasCountryHill

SATURDAY

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Hot Springs,Spend a weekend in

Arkansas

SUNDAY

Spend a weekend on the

Natchez Trace

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

ONTHE TRAIL OF

Bear’s Restaurant Covington

The Saints

Emeril’s

Middendorf’s

Seafood Restaurant

Grapevine Café

Donaldsonville

The English Tea Room and Eatery