Louisiana Life Magazine May-June 2025 by Renaissance Publishing

HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT

DOCUMENTING LOUISIANA’S SURVIVING OLD-GROWTH BALD CYPRESS

May/June

In Opelousas, Zydeco Music Capital of the World and Louisiana’s third oldest city, the St. Landry Parish Tourist Commission offers its own itinerary for those who pursue more purposeful journeys. The Spiritual Trail comes with a digital passport for travelers to “stamp” while visiting historical buildings, churches, cemeteries, and other religious and secular landmarks.

EDITOR'S NOTE That Iconic, Pesky Cypress Tree

PELICAN BRIEFS News and updates around the state

LITERARY LOUISIANA Meditations on life and landscapes

20 IN TUNE Vibing with LeTrainiump

LOUISIANA MADE Lakan Golden creates European-inspired designer womenswear in New Orleans

Translucent Beauty From Swamp Girl Glass’ Solange Ledwith

LA RAMBLER Artist and Arnaudville-native, George Marks, maps out a weekend plan with good food, art and soul

FARTHER FLUNG Weekend by the Bay

PHOTO CONTEST Gliding Over Shell Beach

KITCHEN GOURMET The delicious combinations of Louisiana’s offerings

That Iconic, Pesky Cypress Tree

I HAVE A LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP with cypress trees. They are incredibly beautiful trees — there is no doubt about that. And they are also iconic and so representative of Louisiana. But I’ve got two of them on either side of my house and the number of roots and knees that have snuck across the property lines is mind-boggling. The gnarly brown bumps rise out of the ground, strong enough to push stepping stones up and completely out of whack. From the tree to my house, there are probably 12 feet, and the cypress knees have easily reached that far. I imagine they’re under my house as well. I’ve tried sawing them down, but stubborn things — they grow back. I can’t count the times I’ve tripped over them or broken lawn mower blades inadvertently running them over. They’re insidious and pervasive. And don’t get me started on the leaves and seed cones that drop and stain everything in the winter. So, in that way, no, I’m not a fan.

That being said, I also feel very nostalgic about these trees and count myself lucky to drive past them when I go down Interstate 55 and pass through Manchac every week. Especially at sunset. The light shining on the water, cypress trees lining the horizon, lacy Spanish moss drifting down, blowing in the wind — it’s as lovely as a painting. The tin-roofed houses and camps surrounded by cypress trees are something you’d only see in Louisiana. Another connection I have to them is from my aunt’s house in Grand Bayou. Whenever we’d go to see her, we’d paddle around in her flat boat, weaving in and out of cypress trees, listening to her tell stories or sing. She was the one who taught me how far down the tap root could go — my young mind was amazed at that. My aunt is no longer alive, and I haven’t gone back that way in years, but cypress trees do remind me of her.

In this issue, David Jennings explores the amazing old-growth bald cypress tree through words and photos. Also, in this issue, Cheré Coen takes us on a cultural tour of the state, pointing out the interesting places we can go to see a play, concert or art exhibit. We are rich in the arts here in Louisiana and most cities have a multitude of spaces celebrating that.

So take advantage of all the things the state has to offer, whether natural or human-made. Just watch where you’re walking when you’re out and about so you don’t trip on one of those treacherous cypress knees.

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EDITORIAL

Editor Reine Dugas

Copy Editor Liz Clearman

Web Editor Kelly Massicot

Food Editor Liz Williams

Art Director Sarah E.G. Majeste

Lead Photographer Danley Romero

Food Photographer Eugenia Uhl

SALES

Sales Manager Rebecca Taylor 337-298-4424 / 337-235-7919 Ext. 7230

Rebecca@LouisianaLife.com

Renaissance Publishing

PRODUCTION

Digital Director Rosa Balaguer Arostegui

Senior Production Designer Ashley Pemberton

Production Designer Czarlyn Ria Trinidad

MARKETING

Marketing Manager Greer Stewart

David Joshua Jennings

Writer and Photographer

David Joshua Jennings’ interest in photography began as a teenager, during his first travels around America, when he discovered the camera as a way to explore and comment upon culture and society. David has spent much of his adult life on the road, traveling through more than 70 countries, working on projects as both photographer and writer. During this time, his camera and pen have served as a means of exploration as well as its justification. He has documented his journeys and allowed his craft to grow organically through experimentation and error. David has never formally studied photography and works primarily in the documentary tradition. He is based out of New Orleans.

What are you Reading?

David Joshua Jennings “ Vagrant Viking: My Life and Adventures” by early 20th century Danish explorer Peter Freuchen. This book is a fascinating account of Freuchen’s early life in Greenland — where he immersed himself in Inuit culture, established trading posts and survived countless life-threatening challenges.

Jeffery Roedel

“Garden City: Work, Rest, and the Art of Being Human” by John Mark Comer. Whether you are a spiritual believer or a skeptic, Comer’s countercultural take on the concept of working is a thought-provoking read, encouraging intentionality and purpose for all the avenues we direct our energy.

Lisa LeBlanc-Berry

“A Bite-Sized History of France” by Stéphane Hénaut and Jeni Mitchell with M.F.K. Fisher’s “The Gastronomical Me” One dives into the politics behind cheese and champagne; the other stirs up memories of Paris, learning from loquacious neighborhood butchers and fromageries along Rue Mouffetard. Both remind me that food is never just food — it’s story, identity and revolution on a plate.

Jeffrey Roedel is a producer, director and journalist focused on Southern makers, artists and creative thought. A graduate of LSU and the University of Southern California’s Production Workshop, he’s the former editor of 225 in Baton Rouge. In 2020, he released a collection of mantras for creativity called “Life Is Gonna Try to Put a Lot of Polo Shirts on You.” His album of pandemic poetry and music called “Distance” was released in 2021.

Lisa LeBlanc-Berry is an awardwinning writer and editor with a 34-year career covering food, travel, interior design and culture. A native of Acadiana and a New Orleans resident, she’s been a restaurant critic for Gambit, editor of Louisiana Homes and Gardens, Where New Orleans and Gulf Coast, and contributor to Fodor’s and Louisiana Cookin’. When she’s not creating recipes, she’s at the piano mixing Ravel and Rachmaninoff with a little jazz. She earned a diplôme at Le Cordon Bleu and spent two years eating her way through Europe and West Africa — strictly for professional reasons, of course.

One in a Melon

Fruit and Fun in DeRidder

BY LISA LEBLANC-BERRY

The Beauregard Watermelon Festival has been moved up a month earlier (from late June to May 8-10) this year. Learn to dance the Watermelon Crawl, sign up for melon voice singing contests, seed spitting contests, bouncing watermelon races, goat roping, watermelon eating championship, watermelon magic classes and dress a pig contest. The Watermelon Shoebox Float Parade and Tractor Parade add to the fun (beauregardwatermelonfestival.com).

NEW ORLEANS

Cheers to 33 Years

Hundreds of wineries and restaurants are descending on the Big Easy to participate in the 33rd annual New Orleans Wine and Food Experience (June 11-15), augmented by masterclasses that entice fervent foodies and oenophiles. A champagne reception with sabering lessons kicks off the festival followed by Vinola, a multicourse feast paired with elite wines; the 7th annual Tournament of Rosés featuring an international array of still and sparkling rosés; Saturday’s Grand Tasting, showcasing dozens of celebrity chefs and winemakers serving food and wine from around the world; and the feisty Burlesque, Bubbly & Brunch with freeflowing sparkling wine and a sassy show (nowfe.com).

RAYNE

Hippity Hopping

The 53rd annual Rayne Frog Festival (May 8-10) kicks off with a parade presenting Louisiana festival queens, local teens and toddlers. Enjoy frog-eating contests, frog racing and frog jumping (tip: watch your shoes for little green escapees). Live music, Cajun food and carnival rides attract crowds to the “frog capital of the world” where storefronts and city buildings are festooned with frog art and statues (raynechamber.net).

FRANKLINTON

Look to the Sky

Race towards the clouds at the Washington Parish Balloon Festival (May 30-June 1) in hot air balloons, dance to live music, browse through local art and sample the food and drinks provided in an air-conditioned tent situated in picturesque Washington Parish Fairgrounds (wpballoonfest.com).

RUSTON

Peaching It Up

Recipient of the Louisiana Travel Association’s 2025 LOUEY Award for Festival of the Year, the 75th annual Louisiana Peach Festival (June 7) has attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors to Lincoln Parish. A shift in free admission in 2024 positioned the festival for greater growth. Enjoy 12 hours of live music, the Peach Arts Market, local eats and sweets and the Kids Alley experience with interactive activities and performances (lapeachfest.com).

Poetic Practice

Meditations on life and landscapes

BY CHRISTOPHER LOUIS ROMAGUERA

Turned Earth

“Turned Earth” is Brad Richard’s fifth poetry collection, this one by LSU Press. This collection goes through Richard’s journey as he navigates his mother’s death, life with his husband and being a teacher. Richard’s placement in New Orleans, and in this time beyond his mother’s death, is prevalent in poems such as “Tenant,” where he writes “I don’t believe in ghosts, haven’t seen one / since I was three.” These poems drip with the essence of a New Orleans poet who is grappling with the death of a loved one and how to live with and honor their memory. 90 Pages, $20.95

Libre

“Libre” is Skye Jackson’s debut poetry collection. Jackson, a native New Orleanian, published her full-length poetry book with Regalo Press, a subsidiary of Simon & Schuster. Her poems are a combination of prose, and of form, they’re tender, they make you smirk, they are sexy. They explore being a Black woman living in the world, such as in her award-winning poem “can we touch your hair,” which was selected to be included in the Library of Congress Poetry 180 project by former US Poet Laureate Billy Collins. Jackson is a Writer’s Circle Advisory Board Member for the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival and is a graduate of the University of New Orleans. 120 Pages, $17.99

Waking up the Dream State: Nine Environmental Cases That Shaped Louisiana

Oliver Houck is one of the main environmental attorneys in Louisiana. In “Waking up the Dream State: Nine Environmental Cases That Shaped Louisiana,” Houck circles some of the most important environmental cases affecting Louisiana, a state that is on the frontlines of climate change, and the disasters that are becoming all the more frequent with it. Cases from the Vieux Carre Highway case to Shintech get explored through the people that fought for and helped save the environment and the people who lived there. Unlike many historical books that focus on the law, this book focuses on and features mostly people, the communities and the attorneys who helped create the laws that have helped save the world. 278 Pages, $24.95

The Singing River

Benjamin Morris’ “The Singing River,” published by Belle Point Press, synthesizes the Southern landscape that fills up and surrounds the state of Louisiana. The poems in this book span over 20 years and represent a body of work that encapsulates a lot of the world that surrounds Morris as he has spent most of his life in the South. Morris’ poetry is layered with the scholastic and academic knowledge of the author, while writing with the poetics that will keep you reading “The Singing River” all day. “The Singing River” was a finalist for the Faulkner-Wisdom Creative Writing Competition. 80 Pages, $16.95

Vibing with LeTrainiump

It’s all about connecting

BY JEREMY MARSHALL

With a unique combo of pop and R & B and a little funk too, LeTrainiump’s shows are high-energy and will have you grooving to the beat.

A LOUISIANA HOMEGROWN musical voice born from the soul-searching of one man and brought to life through an unyielding collaborative spirit, LeTrainiump is the kind of band that you’re sure to hear from soon if you haven’t already. A staple of the Louisiana festival circuit, with a sound marinated and refined in New Orleans, the triptych that forms the band has crafted a sound that is soulful, ethereal and bursting with joy. The experience of listening feels somehow as comforting as a track you sang to as a kid but with a feel as modern and prescient as any song blowing up Spotify charts. Lead singer, songwriter and namesake LeTrainiump first found his sound in the church choirs of his youth but caught his first bug for songwriting while

vibing with the presets on his aunt’s electric keyboard.

“My earliest memory of feeling like an artist was when I was around five or six years old, playing with my aunt’s Casio,” says LeTrainiump. “I started writing songs to the preinstalled music. Silly songs, but they gave me my taste and feel for the music I make now.”

That feel for the music, tinged within a neon haze of positivity, self-reflection and gratitude, was the one thing that LeTrainiump brought with him when he made the move from Lafayette to New Orleans. Riding the winds of his first attempt at a self-titled musical project, LeTrainiump decided to double down and bet on himself, performing without band or backup across New Orleans.

“I landed in New Orleans with no band, just me, and I had two choices: quit or press on. So I chose the latter and began performing with no band, just tracks. Michael Rivera saw me at Gasa Gasa and reached out to offer himself as a drummer,” says LeTrainiump. “From there we played duo sets for three years, landing on stages like Tipitina’s, headlining festivals like Chuck Fest in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and even performing during the New Orleans Pelicans games for halftime and time-out slots. I was feeling like expanding when, as fate would have it, Edward Pina DM’d me after a show at Tipitina’s, saying, “Hey, if you ever need a guitar player, I’d love to fill in.” And that’s how the trio formed.

Two years later, that trio has been as busy as ever with the EP “Stop Overthinking” dropping in 2024 and live performances from New Orleans to Austin, Texas. Now, with a 2025 Jazz Fest debut under their belt, LeTrainiump is in creative overdrive, barreling toward a new EP that is as steeped in his own belief in the power of approachability and oneness with the audience as it is his experience as a husband and father of two.

“I write songs about real experiences that I have. Being married taught me the value of love and how it’s not just a mystic force but something that can be built and grown. When my daughter was born, it changed everything because I was now writing for them too,” says LeTrainiump. “Whereas my first EP ‘felt’ good, and I wrote on pure inspiration, this new stuff is different and some of the best writing I’ve ever done. I finally feel like as an adult/parent/artist/millennial that I have something to say, and I’m curious to see how many people will relate to my worldview in these songs.”

Whether laying down the endlessly catchy earworm/ mantra “Stop Overthinking” or painting a celluloid romance with “Like We’re In A Movie,” there’s something revolutionary in the familiarity of LeTrainiump’s sound — a positivity as comforting as it is eye-opening. While the world seemingly grows more perilous and pessimistic by the day, LeTrainiump’s music is a danceable reminder that joy is unendingly powerful and love is ever-present in the world if you stop to look for it.

Clothing

womenswear in New Orleans

BY JEFFREY ROEDEL

PHOTOS BY EDMUND D. FOUNTAIN

ALONG THE QUIET of the white brick wall that elbows off of New Orleans’ Magazine Street and leads to the LAKAN studio and showroom, hangs a small brass plaque declaring “open by appointment or by chance.”

It’s an ironic serving of allegory for designer Lakan Golden’s womenswear that strikes this same balance between order and whimsy. Focused on highly motivated women who appreciate sustainable luxury in their style, LAKAN gets creative by playing with the rules, not breaking them. And the designs of the New Orleans native at the heart of the made-to-wear label are nothing if not deeply relational.

“Sometimes I’m on the road,” says Golden, a frequent traveler for inspiration, almost apologetically, when discussing her humorous signage. “Or sometimes I have the curtains drawn and doors locked, because I really am in the weeds on a design, ya know?”

Launched in early 2023, the LAKAN collection brings a lot of character to iconic pieces like high-waisted herringbone skirts, mother-of-pearl-accented silk blouses and wool tweed top coats.

Golden offers consultations and fittings for clients to choose among her array of silhouettes, fabrics and detailing, while she assists with the build-out of their wardrobe. The chosen pieces are then manufactured by a small team in New York City and shipped back to New Orleans for a final fitting and any alterations needed.

“I wanted to create an experience for women, and that had to be driven by how I want to dress,” says Golden, often found wearing neutrals and earth tones that dance with surprising textural interplay. “Versatility is so important, too. So, I like designing things as a set that are also able to be deconstructed and worn as separates.”

LAKAN also skillfully blends masculine and feminine touches, proof of the brand’s evolution from Golden’s years creating bespoke suiting for Harper + Jones Custom Menswear. She remains a partner designer for

Q&A

What’s one misconception about women’s style that you hope you hope to help clients overcome? That in order to stay relevant in fashion, you must keep up with every trend. At LAKAN, my goal is to redefine what it means to invest in a wardrobe — showing women that quality, versatility and timelessness are the true foundations of style.

Give me one example of contrast in your designs and why you love it. I love mixing suede with flannels and cashmere coatings with linen-blend trousers. I love mixing unexpected textures. These contrasts add depth, character and a sense of lived-in luxury. In my interiors in the studio and at my home, something new is always next to something old. I love the stories that come with history, and to me, our environments aren’t warm and interesting enough without a history to see and a story to tell.

If you could design a piece for anyone famous, who would you choose and why? A few come to mind. Cameron Diaz, Jessica Alba, Whitney Wolfe Herd, Gwyneth Paltrow and Julia Roberts. I feel they all embody the LAKAN woman. They each have a strong individual sense of style, but they are entrepreneurs that have built industry-changing companies. I personally feel drawn to working with entrepreneurial women.

the Dallas-based brand and continues to work in men’s suiting, but her muse shifted after realizing that women like herself who want a quietly sophisticated look but don’t have a lot of time to hunt for disparate pieces that make up a vastly underserved market.

No matter the medium, the true impact of art is found less in the material presentation and more in the idea itself. Ideas can change people more than people change their clothes. And using depth of texture and timeless looks to transcend trends, Golden doesn’t just want to clothe women, she wants to embolden them. This is the designer’s true art.

“I want my women to think endlessly and fearlessly in how they layer their clothes,” says Golden. “That’s what makes an ensemble unique and personal to them, and that’s what is so meaningful about designing and styling for me. I think LAKAN is for those who want to be free-spirited in their style, but still want to celebrate the form and function of classic looks.”

New Orleans is a funky city, but Golden is helping tend a culture of women wanting to lean more into beautiful, if understated, classics. She credits her energy for finding such a community to her time after college

working at designer Rebecca Minkoff’s headquarters in New York City.

“That’s what you do, you go to the source,” Golden says. “New York gave me so much drive, just being surrounded by that creative energy, that environment. That’s where I got my hustle. It really changed me.”

Life has moved fast for Golden since her brand’s launch. The 36-year-old entrepreneur has had two sons with husband Evan Golden, CEO of KREWE, since LAKAN began in 2023, and her label is in the middle of a year-long pop-up in the Dallas showroom of Harper + Jones. Golden aims to continue co-branding LAKAN with the veteran menswear company as a one-stop shop for power couples.

Now that the core of her collection is established, she is focused less on completely new designs and more on re-envisioning pieces with new fabrics — all while remaining sustainable and intimately hands-on.

“I’m not designing for the masses,” Golden says. “Connecting with clients is the reward for me, it’s what I love to do. There’s so much personal touch to this.

Everyone who walks in here has to be ready for an experience.”

Translucent Beauty

From Swamp Girl Glass’ Solange Ledwith

BY JOHN R. KEMP

SLIDELL ARTIST SOLANGE LEDWITH gave her gallery an unusual name. It’s called Swamp Girl Glass. She didn’t grow up in a Louisiana swamp, though her house in Slidell does back up to nearby Bayou Bonfouca. After a long nomadic life across the country, the name Swamp Girl is her way of saying she has found a home in Slidell, her mother’s hometown, a place where she can create her art and bring beauty to the community.

Located on Front Street in a small strip mall across from the northeast-bound railroad tracks, Solange’s studio and gallery occupy two separate rooms. One is her sun-filled showroom fronted by large plate-glass windows. On any bright day, sunlight radiates amongst shelves filled with graceful translucent forms of colorful blown glass. Walking about her gallery, one might recall young Tom Wingfield’s last line in Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie”: “The window is filled with pieces of colored glass, tiny transparent bottles in delicate colors, like bits of a shattered rainbow.”

Next door is Solange’s glassblowing studio with all the industrial tools one would find in a glassblowing

shop. Three large furnaces stand to one side. The first is filled with molten glass at about 2,000 degrees. Looking through its open door is like looking into a fiery pit of volcanic lava. Solange dips a long, hollow metal pole deep into molten glass, makes a few swirls and extracts a radiant glob the color of a blazing noonday sun.

Next, she rolls the hot glass at the end of the pole on a nearby metal table. The liquid glob with the consistency of honey then takes form as she blows into the opposite end of the pole. The shaping process continues as she sticks the pole into the second furnace called the “Glory Hole” where at 2,400 degrees the hot glass is reheated. The process is repeated over and over until the glass object is finished. When done, the vase, bowl, decanter or decorative piece is then placed in the third drying oven.

Solange, who also teaches glassblowing, begins with hand-drawn designs. “Nothing is done by accident,” she says. “That’s not to say there’re not happy accidents. I’ve made many mistakes and those mistakes have inspired other works.” Her ultimate goal is to reach the perfection seen in the exquisite Venetian and Murano blown

glass. One day she hopes to study under a Murano master. When not blowing glass, Solange experiments with a unique form of figurative painting on wood panels, using hot glass to sketch in dark outlines later to be completed with paint and gold leaf.

On the opposite side of her studio, the floor and shelves are filled with dusty, empty wine and liquor bottles that will find new life as blown glass spoon holders, charcuterie boards and various small decorative objects. Although she can’t use this glass for more sophisticated work, salvaging these bottles is her environmental statement.

“Being the drinking culture we are,” she says, “all of that glass goes into the landfill and there’s nothing I can do about that. I love the idea of relieving some of that from the landfill.”

Solange’s journey to Slidell has taken many turns. Born in New Orleans in 1980, Solange grew up moving from place to place with her “nomadic” mother. East Coast, West Coast, they didn’t stay anywhere very long. While in California, however, she did earn degrees in

art, concentrating in glassblowing, at Cal State Chico and later Cal State Fullerton. She loved glassblowing.

“I like using my hands,” she says. “I love the exploration and creative side of it. It’s kind of ‘That’s cool, let’s see what happens when I do this. Well cool, let’s see what happens when I do that.’”

In 2014 Solange, then in her 30s, decided she needed a rest from art. So, she joined the Air Force. After six months of sleeping in a tent in a Kuwait desert, she quickly realized her life was in art.

“I wanted to do something that had a purpose, so I joined,” she says. “All it did was bring me back full circle. It wasn’t a bad experience, but I’m saying this sucks. I could be back home doing what I love.”

While in the Air Force, Solange saved enough money to start her business in Slidell. In 2020, she opened her Front Street location. With her mother living nearby, Solange is here to stay.

“I tell my friends I was too New York for California,” she says, “and I was too California for New York. We never quite fit in. And then there was this other thing I could never put my finger on. When I finally moved here, it was like I have a Southern mom. That was the added flavor. There is no place like Louisiana, New Orleans, Slidell. I love it. There is a different feel here, a different kind of character, people are very family oriented. I never experienced that anywhere else.”

In 2023 Solange, along with other artisans, appeared on the Today Show with Hoda Kotb, Jenna Bush Hager and former New Orleans news anchor Karen Swensen with her online company, Life’s About Change.

That “change” has worked well. Solange and her art are home.

For more information, visit swampgirlglassllc.com.

Exhibits

CAJUN

Caught Up. Voices and stories of Coastal Louisiana’s fragile ecosystem and diverse community, through Aug. 9. Historic City Hall & Cultural Center, Lake Charles. visitlakecharles.org

CENTRAL

The River is the Road: Paintings by George Rodrigue. Rodrigue’s use of the river as a metaphor for his Cajun heritage, March 7 through June 21. Alexandria Museum of Art. themuseum.org

NOLA

Delicate Sights: Photography and Glass. Photography on glass surfaces, through July 14. New Orleans Museum of Art. noma.org

NORTH

Clyde Connell and Pat Sewell. Work by two renowned North Louisiana artists, permanent show. Louisiana State Exhibit Museum, Shreveport. laexhibitmuseum. org

PLANTATION

Golden Legacy: Original Art from 80 Years of Golden Books. History and creative artistry of Little Golden Books, through May 25. LSU Museum of Art, Baton Rouge. lsumoa.org

Mix and Match

The delicious combinations of Louisiana’s offerings

BY LIZ WILLIAMS PHOTOS AND STYLING BY EUGENIA UHL

LOUISIANA, EVER RESILIENT, has been been hit by a number of disastrous events in the recent past. There have been wildfires, floods and snow, on top of our usual hurricanes. But both the people and the landscape have been working overtime to repair the damage. And the disasters make us ever more conscious of how fortunate we are to live in this state — full of a diverse landscape and rich with comestible resources. The bayous and coastal areas are blessed with wonderful seafood. We have an embarrassment of choice — flounder, redfish, crabs, shrimp, oysters and more. We certainly love to eat them together, and we easily use them when we can. The artichoke casserole’s nod at both the crabmeat and ease of preparation are a welcome combination.

Tomato Tart

1 package frozen puff pastry

4 to 6 very ripe tomatoes

2 tablespoons salt ¼ cup mayonnaise

10 garlic cloves, mashed ½ pound thinly sliced gruyere cheese

4 slices bacon, crisped and crumbled

1. PREHEAT oven to 350 F. Remove pastry package to defrost. While pastry is defrosting, slice tomatoes. Place onto a baking pan, sprinkle with salt and allow the tomatoes to throw off some of their juices. In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise and mashed garlic. Stir and allow the flavors to meld for at least ten minutes.

2. WHEN dough is defrosted, straighten with a rolling pin, removing the folds from being packaged. Place onto separate baking pans. Lay the cheese slices in a single layer over the surface of the pastries.

4. DRY tomatoes on a paper towel. Place them onto the cheese slices about ½ inch inside of the edges. Using a brush, paint the tomatoes lightly with the mayonnaise mixture.

5. COOK in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and repaint the tomatoes with the remaining mayonnaise. Continue to cook another 20 minutes. After a total of 40 minutes sprinkle the crumbled bacon over the tarts. Cut each tart with a pizza cutter into 4 pieces. Serve immediately. Makes 2 tarts

Rice and sugar cane, not native, but completely embraced by the state’s cuisine, both find their way to the table regularly. Rice, used at every meal, from calas to a side in gumbo or a bed for shrimp Creole, or for dessert as rice pudding. Sugar, of course is in everything from our morning coffee and salad dressings to desserts. And if not sugar, cane syrup is found in cakes, on pancakes and in all manner of treats.

The land is full of wild boar and deer. The skies are full of duck and quail. They make for a delicious reminder that these undomesticated animals still exist on our land. We could not be more fortunate. Of course, there is a flip side of animals — wild boar can be very destructive of our agriculture. They can destroy a field of soybeans overnight. So it is an act of conservation to eat wild boar that has been caught through the Department of Agriculture’s programs.

Our fields produce figs, citrus and tomatoes, among other wonderful fruits and vegetables — some native and some brought here from other places. We conserve them by eating them and keeping a demand for them going. Imagine a Louisiana table without fig preserves or a wonderful tomato sandwich or a Meyer lemon lemonade. It isn’t possible. So eat well of the fruits of Louisiana to make sure they are conserved for the next generation.

Artichoke-Crab Dressing

3 cans artichoke hearts, well drained

¼ cup olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

1 onion, finely chopped

10 cloves garlic, minced

½ cup dry white wine

2 ¾ cups unseasoned breadcrumbs

¾ cups chopped parsley

¼ cup plus 2-3 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons dried Italian seasoning

1 pound crabmeat, picked over to remove pieces of shell or cartilage

½ teaspoon black pepper

1. PREHEAT oven to 350 F. Chop the artichoke hearts into coarse pieces. Place them into a large bowl. Set aside.

2. HEAT the olive oil and butter together in a skillet. Add the chopped onion and allow to sauté for 10 minutes, stirring as needed. Add the garlic and stir. Scrape the onion and garlic and oil/butter into the bowl. Add the wine, breadcrumbs, parsley and ¼ cup cheese. Mix well. Add the seasoning, crabmeat and black pepper. Mix again.

3. DIVIDE the well-mixed mixture into 8 ramekins. Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan evenly over the tops of the ramekins. Place the ramekins onto a baking sheet and place them into the prepared oven. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove and serve immediately. Makes 8 servings

Wild Boar Sausage Jambalaya

I tablespoon olive oil

2 pounds wild boar sausage

2 onions, chopped

5 cloves garlic, minced

2 stalks celery

1 small red bell pepper, chopped

1 tablespoon of your favorite unsalted Cajun or Creole seasoning

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon cayenne smoked paprika

3 ½ cups chicken stock

2 cups rice

1 bunch scallions, green and white parts, sliced

1. ADD the oil to a cast iron or cast aluminum Dutch oven. If the sausage is in a casing, slice into thin slices. If the sausage is not in a casing place it loose into the pot. Heat the oil and saute to render the fat and cook the sausage, about 7 minutes. Remove the sausage with a slotted spoon and reserve.

2. ADD the onions to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and celery. Continue cooking for 5 more minutes. Add the bell pepper and cook for 5 more minutes, stirring as needed to keep the vegetables from sticking.

3. ADD the spices and seasonings and stir into the mixture. Add the chicken stock. Return the sausage back to the pot, including any juices that have settled in the bottom of the bowl. Add the rice and stir well. When the broth is boiling, reduce the heat and cover the pot. Cook about 20 minutes or until the rice is cooked. Allow to sit covered for 5 more minutes off the heat and serve garnished with scallions.

Serves 4 -6

HIDING

PLAIN IN

DOCUMENTING LOUISIANA’S SURVIVING OLD-GROWTH BALD CYPRESS TREES

WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY

DAVID JOSHUA JENNINGS

“THE CYPRESS SWAMPS HAVE AN UNCANNY MAJESTY AND AN UNUTTERABLE MELANCHOLY. A SENSE OF DESOLATION WEIGHS UPON THE MIND: IT IS THE DESOLATION OF VAST TIME.”- HENRY CASTELLANOS, “NEW ORLEANS AS IT WAS,” 1895

You wouldn’t know it unless a dendrochronologist told you, or maybe you never thought to look, or perhaps you’ve looked but never realized: The ancients still live among us. Hidden away in secluded swamps with little but mosquitoes and reptiles for company, or in silent groves happened upon infrequently by intrepid kayakers, or in the middle of New Orleans, surrounded by old homes whose foundations were cut from their ancestors, Louisiana is home to thousands of surviving old-growth bald cypress trees.

Native to the Southeastern United States, the bald cypress — the state tree of Louisiana — is a unique species. Unusual among conifers, they shed their feathery needles each autumn and have the ability to sprout new trees from their stumps. Another emblematic feature is their massive trunks, which fan out at the base, providing them the

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT Kayaker exploring the cypress forests of Lake Dauterive. Aerial view of the cypress forests of Henderson Swamp. Sister Bald Cypresses in Lake Fausse Pointe.

stability needed to withstand hurricanes and frequent flooding. Perhaps most curious are their “knees” — gnarly wooden stalagmites that emerge from the ground around them. They are most appreciated, however, for their beauty: Draped in Spanish moss set to sway by a humid breeze, they create an atmosphere that blurs the line between dream and reality.

Unfortunately, their rich heartwood also just happens to be nature’s perfect timber. Remarkably resistant to rot and insects, bald cypress wood has been coveted since pre-colonial times for everything from dugout canoes to grand plantation homes. The wood’s natural preservative oils allow structures built from it to stand for centuries. The superiority of this wood explains why Louisiana, which historically contained the most extensive and impressive bald cypress forests in the world, is so bereft of old growth bald cypresses today: They’ve been cut down and transformed into human structures.

“Before the lumberman invaded the swamps of Louisiana, the cypress stood in serried ranks so dense that the sun could scarcely penetrate, trees 2,000 years old still bearing witness to the passage of time,” wrote James Monette in 1846.

“Before the era of excessive timbercutting commenced, the cypress forests of southern Louisiana were of such extent as to be almost boundless, the trees of such size as to be almost beyond belief. The water-covered area on which they grew was measured not by acres but by square miles,” wrote George B. Sudworth in 1908. What early explorers once described as “boundless” and “beyond belief” has today been reduced to scattered remnants of a lost world. Our ancestors are to blame. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, industrial logging descended upon Louisiana’s primeval bald cypress forests with ruthless efficiency. The massacre was so complete

that by 1925 virtually all of Louisiana’s virgin bald cypress — once measured not in acres but in square miles — had vanished. Today, scattered pockets of old-growth bald cypresses remain as sacred relics in places such as the Cat Island National Wildlife Refuge, Lake Dauterive and Lake Verret. Most of Louisiana’s current bald cypresses are second-growth, mere adolescents compared to their ancient forebears, and the ancients themselves seem few and far between. However, thanks to one man and a small team of volunteers who have been systematically locating and documenting

what remains of Louisiana’s old-growth bald cypresses, visiting these venerable giants is no longer an unthinkable task.

Harvey Stern, citizen scientist, naturalist and lover of Louisiana’s wetlands, has since 2003 been systematically locating, aging and cataloging old-growth bald cypresses throughout the state. His discoveries are chronicled extensively on his blog “the Louisiana Purchase Cypress Legacy” (lapurchasecypresslegacy.blogspot.com) whose stated purpose is to “inventory, landmark and promote the stewardship of cypress trees in Louisiana” that are over

LEFT Forcing a path through invasive giant salvinia in King George Bayou.

RIGHT Harvey Stern and Grace Hill, searching for old growth in King George Bayou. BOTTOM Harvey Stern sizing up on old bald cypresses in King George Bayou — a possible candidate for his Legacy Cypress registry.

221 years old as of 2024, “i.e. alive at the time of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.” He has documented bald cypress trees 25plus feet in circumference and 1000-plus years in age in all regions of the state.

The idea for this grand catalogue grew out of Harvey’s extensive canoeing trips in various parts of South Louisiana, where he began visiting some of the old trees he had heard about, then began mapping some on his own.

“It just kind of built from there,” Harvey says. “Then, in 2003, I said, Let’s try to make a campaign out of this and let folks know where all the big boys are, let them know they’re still out there!”

He began documenting the locations of these trees, measuring them and making borings to get a good approximation of their age. It eventually occurred to him that if he linked the age of these trees to the age of Louisiana itself, founded in 1803, it would provide something more tangible for Louisianans — something they could be proud of.

What drew Harvey to the bald cypress in particular? First, the aquatic nature of his adventuring (you tend to find old bald cypresses in swamps). Second, in contrast to the state’s famous live oaks, Harvey felt the venerable bald cypress simply wasn’t receiving the attention it deserved.

“There’s this sense of majesty and individuality in their appearance,” Harvey says. “They each have their own individual character. It’s not just the girth, but the cragginess, the fact that a tree that’s 14-plus feet in circumference has been through a lot, that it’s survived, in some cases, many centuries. They’re living things every bit as grizzled and tortured as they look, but they’re still putting out fresh shoots every season, and no two look alike.”

To date Harvey has documented more than 90 bald cypress trees on his registry, complete with approximate age, circumference

Harvey Stern, founder of the Louisiana Purchase Cypress Legacy registry, stands amidst the tall cypresses he began to catalogue, measure and map what he began over two decades ago.

and GPS coordinates. All of these trees are more than 230 years old (alive in 1803) and marked with unique plaques stating their approximate age. Some he found on his own, some were shown by friends, but a majority came from collaborations with landowners or nature enthusiasts who found his registry online and contacted him with photographs of old trees they knew of. After assessing the photographs, Harvey would venture out to age and map them.

Harvey says meeting the folks who’ve reached out to him has brought him as much joy as meeting the trees themselves.

TOP LEFT A newly-found old bald cypress tree in King George Bayou— a possible candidate for the registry. BOTTOM LEFT The meandering King George Bayou TOP RIGHT Harvey Stern measuring the circumference of a cypress. BOTTOM RIGHT Closeup of Harvey Stern’s steady hand taking meticulous measure.

“I love hearing their stories,” Harvey says. “They have such a reverence and affinity for these trees. For some, they are like members of the family. I think of one Cajun couple in Pointe Coupée Parish who told me their cypress had been in the family for generations. The man who reached out to me talked about him and his father jumping off the branches of this tree into an oxbow of the Mississippi, and his grandfather jumping off the same branches into the same oxbow, and his great-grandfather before that. The cultural and historic value of these trees is immeasurable for these people.”

Leads on such trees have trickled in regularly over the years. The trees Harvey has on his registry are located on both public and private property, but just because the tree is on private property doesn’t mean you can’t visit it — the landowners are often excited to show you the giants living nearby. One example is the “Daigle Cypress,” approximately 700+ years old and number 90 on the registry. I located the tree using the registry and contacted Kevin Daigle, who lives on the adjacent property and who originally led Harvey to the tree. Daigle was more than happy to show me the tree. In fact, he expressed disappointment more people haven’t contacted him to come see it.

Like so many others, Daigle’s connection to Harvey started when he began to wonder just how old this tree was.

“I grew up in the woods and swamps of Louisiana and know what an abnormally big cypress looks like,” Daigle says, craning his head back to follow the trunk up to the canopy high above. “And this one is just so thick all the way up to the top. Harvey found out it’s over 700 years old, which would have made it a seedling more than a hundred years before Columbus came to America, to give some perspective. I have no idea how they missed this one when they logged the area.”

There are historic anecdotes of logging crews refusing to chop down certain trees

“BEFORE THE LUMBERMAN INVADED THE SWAMPS OF LOUISIANA, THE CYPRESS STOOD IN SERRIED RANKS SO DENSE THAT THE SUN COULD SCARCELY PENETRATE, TREES TWO THOUSAND YEARS OLD STILL BEARING WITNESS TO THE PASSAGE OF TIME,” — JAMES MONETTE IN 1846

due to their age and venerable presence. Another reason could be that like many old cypresses, the tree is hollow at the base and was perhaps spared for that reason. Daigle invited me to have a closer look at the hollowness within, directing me to peek inside the football-sized hole in the trunk about five feet up. A frigid, humid air exhumed from inside as I wedged my face in with a flashlight, where I discovered a little flooded, dripping grotto full of little cypress knees. Daigle said they tell children elves live in there.

Harvey has been documenting old cypress trees like this not only in South Louisiana, but in all parts of the state, including regions not usually thought of as cypress country.

“Some of the most beautiful and oldest cypresses are up in the Arkansas state line area, up in northern Louisiana,” Harvey says. “Most are on designated scenic streams in areas that are still pretty undeveloped.”

Some trees are more accessible than others, including a few one can nearly drive up to and reach after a brief stroll. Others require a canoe and a reliable GPS. Still others require

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT Kevin Daigle, who led Harvey Stern to a 700+ year-old Bald Cypress, number 90 on the registry. Closeup of the plaque Harvey awards to Legacy Cypresses. An aerial view of the “Daigle Cypress”, towering above nearby trees.

a motorboat, supplies and the fortitude to explore the furthest reaches of the swamp.

At various times during the milder seasons, I’ve gone out on adventures in an attempt to pay homage to some of the older trees in Harvey’s registry. As always when dealing with nature, conditions were rarely ideal. Flooded roads, unpredicted currents, trails so overgrown they’re impassable or winds so strong they blow your kayak to the wrong shore and hold you there for hours. But those I have been able to reach have rewarded me for my efforts.

I had the pleasure of accompanying Harvey on a canoe trip in February to see an 1100-year-old giant (plaque #46) on King George Bayou, only an hour-and-a-half drive from New Orleans. Unfortunately the road to the bayou’s boat launch was flooded after heavy rains and we had to portage the canoe and our gear for over a half mile, only to find the path through the bayou to the tree choked by invasive giant salvinia, and thus unreachable. Not wanting to waste the effort it took to get there, we paddled off in a new direction and had soon found another giant cypress. We hopped out of the canoe and sludged through the muck to measure it and found it was more than 15 feet in circumference and almost certainly alive in 1803, thus a good candidate for Harvey’s registry.

“That just goes to show how many of these trees are still out there when you really start to look,” Harvey noted.

So many in fact that it is unlikely Harvey will return to that particular tree to make a boring. Harvey is 72 years old and simply doesn’t have the time to verify and attach a plaque to every old tree that was alive at the time of statehood. Instead, he’s after the big fish. One of his primary goals is to find the oldest, largest cypress in each of Louisiana’s 64 parishes, a goal he reckons is about twothirds complete. He is especially interested in hunting down trees in parishes where he

BELOW An old-growth bald cypress tree in City Park, near Grow Dat Youth Farm, possible candidate for the Cypress Legacy Registry. FROM LEFT TO RIGHT 800-1300 year-old bald cypress trees accessible by boardwalk in Tangipahoa Parish, #15 on the registry. Entrance to the Cypress Walk. The old-growth bald cypress tree as seen from the boardwalk on the Cypress Walk. Cypress Walk boardwalk.

has yet to document what he thinks could be the oldest living cypress of the parish.

“The idea,” Harvey says, “is to show folks it’s not just places like the Pearl River that all the old cypresses are, but that we have beautiful old cypresses, sometimes whole groves of them, throughout the entire state. It’s certainly nowhere near what it was back in 1803, but there is still a significant number, I’d say easily into the thousands of trees.”

Readers might ask what they can do to advocate for these old cypress trees?

First, educate yourself and others about the importance of cypress forests. Learn to identify old-growth cypress trees by their distinctive characteristics, like large buttressed trunks and hollow centers, and if you know of an ancient-looking cypress near you that is not on the registry, contact Harvey!

You could also avoid purchasing cypress lumber or wood products unless they’re certified as sustainably harvested or reclaimed, and avoid buying cypress mulch

entirely, as it often comes from old-growth forests. If you own wetland property with cypress trees, consider placing it under a conservation easement with a local land trust to ensure permanent protection.

If you’d like to get out and visit some of these trees, the best place to begin is the registry. Look at the map and see what’s near your part of the state. Some of the trees are very accessible on foot, such as the National Champion bald cypress at Cat Island (best from July to November, when it’s not flooded), the largest bald cypress in the country; the 700+year-old “Monarch” cypress at Jean Lafitte National Historical Park’s Bayou Coquille Trail; or the 800-1300-year-old tree (plaque #15) visible from the Cypress Walk overlook in the Cypress Reserve subdivision in Tangipahoa Parish. If you’re experienced with human-powered vessels like canoes or kayaks, consider mining Harvey’s registry for trees you’d like to make a pilgrimage to, record their GPS coordinates and plan a grand adventure! P

Cultural

ART ABOUNDS IN LOUISIANA — ONE OF THE MOST

Cultural Tour

UNIQUE CULTURAL REGIONS IN AMERICA.

BY CHERÉ COEN

acadiana

In addition to the Cajun and Creole traditions, Acadiana offers numerous visual arts galleries, performing arts venues, theater and, of course, music and dance halls.

“There’s always something to do here,” said Jackie Lyle, who’s helmed the Performing Arts Serving Acadiana (PASA) in Lafayette for almost 30 years. “The footprint of Lafayette’s art venue is getting larger and the footprint is more diverse. And within the area of Lafayette Parish, St. Martin Parish and St. Landry Parish there are embers sparking fires, sparking opportunities.

There are new projects popping up that are interesting and inventive. These things are compelling. They call you to come, like a siren call.”

In Lafayette, in addition to PASA’s many offerings, the Acadiana Center for the Arts (ACA) turns 50 this year, a nonprofit venue that contains a theater, several

art galleries and educational classrooms. Cité des Arts and Basin Arts serve as arts centers and incubators, the Paul and Lulu Hilliard Art Museum on the University of Louisiana at Lafayette campus features 11,000 square feet of gallery space and the Acadiana Symphony performs throughout the year.

Over in Lake Charles, theater lovers enjoy a variety of shows at the Children’s Theatre Company and the Lake Charles Little Theatre and permanent and rotating art exhibits at several art galleries and museums, including the Black Heritage Gallery and the 1911 Historic City Hall. Need a sample? Visit Lake Charles and the Arts & Humanities Council of Southwest Louisiana have created the SWLA HeARTbeat Tour to highlight some of Acadiana’s best visual artists.

The bayou carried numerous European and Asian immigrants into southeast

Louisiana, teaming with the Native American tribe of the United Houma Nation and other tribes. That kaleidoscope of cultures flavors the twin towns of Houma and Thibodaux and surrounding areas. One way to enjoy this unique blending of traditions is the Bayou Arts Festival in downtown Houma, presented by the Bayou Regional Arts

Council which supports the arts in Assumption, Lafourche, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist and Terrebonne parishes. This year, the multicultural festival will be Oct. 11. Other theatrical venues to consider are the Grand Opera House of the South in Crowley and Le Petit Theatre de Terrebonne in Houma.

ACADIANA

Literary lovers may follow in the footsteps of bestselling and award-winning author James Lee Burke’s mystery characters in and around New Iberia. Sites to follow detective Dave Robicheaux include the Iberia Parish Courthouse, Clementine on Main restaurant and the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, all part of the “James Lee Burke’s Iberia” trail.

CENTRAL LA

Mid-20th century

Melrose Plantation owner Carmelite (Cammie) Garrett Henry welcomed many writers to her home, including Lyle Saxon and William Faulkner. Their presence may be seen on a tour of the plantation house.

NEW ORLEANS

Every spring, the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival is held in March to honor the famous playwright who called New Orleans home for a time. The organization also hosts the annual Saints & Sinners LGBTQ+ Literary Festival. The New Orleans Book Festival also happens in the spring.

CENTRAL LOUISIANA (CENLA)

It’s easy to forget that Louisiana waterways drove commerce, then development, throughout the state. An example is the Red River at Alexandria, which slowly rolls past the Cenla city.

Viewing this magnificent river is lagniappe when visiting the visual arts scene in downtown Alexandria. Striking views can be seen from the Alexandria Museum of Art, for instance, but don’t miss the revolving national exhibits and its diverse collection of Louisiana artwork, much of which includes interpretation of our state’s rivers and bayous.

The River Oaks Square Arts Center lies by the Red River as well, but visitors may focus more on the historic home that comprises the contemporary visual arts and fine craft galleries. The former Bolton Home in the Queen

Anne Revival style dates to 1899 and features work by more than 200 artists.

Every year River Oaks hosts the annual Dirty South Cup Call and Competition, a juried exhibition of ceramic drinking vessels.

In the early 1800s, the Red River shifted and created Cane River Lake, which runs through Natchitoches’ historic downtown and down through the plantation district to its south. The Natchitoches Art Guild & Gallery promotes visual art by local members and Northwestern State University offers a vibrant drama department and art galleries.

Down the Cane River lies Melrose Plantation, home to famous folk artist Clementine Hunter. The annual Melrose Arts & Crafts Festival remains Louisiana’s longest-running arts and crafts festival.

NEW ORLEANS

The city teems with performing arts venues such as the historic Saenger Theatre which brings in Broadway shows and other top-notch performances; the Orpheum Theater, home to the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the oldest full-time musician-governed orchestra in the United States; the recently renovated Mahalia Jackson Theater and Le Petit Théâtre du Vieux Carré in the French Quarter that dates to 1916. And there’s so much more.

I always laugh when people tell me they visited my hometown in the depths of summer and couldn’t believe the heat. Yes, weather in our town in the bend of the Mississippi River sometimes makes enjoying the city difficult but one way to beat the steam is to visit the city’s world-class air-conditioned museums such as the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, the National World War II Museum, the Louisiana Children’s Museum or the numerous galleries along Royal and Magazine streets and the Warehouse Arts District, among other locations. And what’s a visit to the city without a stop at

Dr. Bob’s Folk Art in Bywater? These days, we could all use his trademark “Be Nice or Leave” on ordinary objects. In the absolute apex of summer, the Warehouse District comes alive every August to celebrate its art with the annual Hancock Whitney White Linen Night block party on Julia Street. The French Quarter retaliates to promote its art galleries with its Dirty Linen Night, also in August. Other festivals not to be missed are the light and vibrant LUNA Fête in the fall, the nation’s longest-running projection mapping festival, and the 36th New Orleans Film Festival to be held Oct. 23-28.

And that’s just the tip of the city’s many artistic festivals and events.

Regardless of weather, it’s important to get outside and enjoy the city’s many sculptures and murals, including the impressive Besthoff Sculpture Garden at City Park. But street art may be found almost everywhere, from music legends Louis Armstrong on the side of the Ashé Cultural Arts Center to two Banksy originals, one at the International House hotel and one at the corner of Kerlerec and North Rampart streets. For more information and a helpful map of the city’s murals, visit nolamuralproject.org.

LITERARI

NORTH LA

On Mondays in Shreveport, writers, spoken word artists, comedians and singers converge to the literary showcase Words over Lattes at 618 Commerce St. For information, visit facebook.com/ WordsOverLattes.

CAPITOL CITY

The Louisiana Book Festival moves into its third decade this fall, bringing a wide variety of writers, booksellers and children’s literaryinspired events to downtown Baton Rouge. “Golden Legacy: Original Art from 80 Years of Golden Books” will be on exhibit until May 25 at the LSU Museum of Art.

Capitol

Capitol City

NORTH LOUISIANA

The Shreveport Municipal Auditorium, dating to 1929 and displaying a unique Art Deco design, brings a variety of modern entertainment to the stage that once showcased Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Tex Ritter, Doug Kershaw, George Jones and

Elvis Presley. The Robinson Film Center not only screens first-run and independent films, but hosts special events such as the Louisiana Film Prize. And then there’s The Strand in the heart of downtown Shreveport, the official state theater of Louisiana.

“These three — the Strand, the Municipal Auditorium and the Robinson — stood the test of time,” said Katy Larsen, owner of Agora Borealis, a local artisan marketplace in Shreveport.

“They always bring in winners.”

Universities are part of the lure in northern Louisiana, such as the Southern University Museum of Art, which displays African and American art and rotating artwork, and the gallery spaces at Louisiana Tech’s School of Design. Thinking outside the art box is a collection of street art that has appeared throughout the north half of Louisiana. Mural artists such as KaDavien Baylor have added color everywhere. He honors NBA legend

Baton Rouge is fortunate to have two major universities within its city limits and both Southern and LSU provide numerous opportunities for art enthusiasts.

Southern’s Museum of Art includes galleries that showcase African American art, Louisiana pieces and artwork from Southern’s visual arts faculty. The Shaw Center for the Arts downtown is a nonprofit multi-art facility, home to the LSU Museum of Art and the LSU School of Art Gallery. The LSU Student Union Theater offers a 1,269seat theater that features a variety of performances. In addition to the value of our state universities, The Manship Theatre at the Shaw Center screens films and hosts theatrical and musical performances and the Baton Rouge Symphony and Baton Rouge Ballet perform at the 2,000-seat River Center Theatre for Performing Arts. But there’s so much more. The city offers comedy clubs, live music venues, several outstanding art galleries and community theater.

Bill Russell in Monroe, the spirit of learning with “Lakes of Knowledge” in Mooringsport and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Shreveport.

“The mural art is a huge movement here,” Larsen said. “There’s a resurgence of street art.”

One of Larsen’s favorite Baylor murals is the transformation of a highway underpass in Shreveport, where each column highlights Shreveport’s culture while welcoming visitors to the city.

Big Cypress Lodge

Lafayette

ADVENTURE IS CALLING AND THE GULF SOUTH IS READY TO ANSWER WITH FESTIVALS, GETAWAYS AND EXCURSIONS TO WILE AWAY THOSE HOT SUMMER DAYS.

One of the South’s great wonders, the Bass Pro Shops Pyramid, holds a wilderness hotel, Big Cypress Lodge. Combining rustic simplicity with modern elegance, Big Cypress Lodge features rooms and amenities designed to bring the great outdoors inside, with screened-in porches overlooking Bass Pro Shops, electric fireplaces, handcrafted furniture, and luxury bathrooms with jetted tubs. Enjoy all the charm and culture that Memphis has to offer; from the Dixon Gallery and Gardens, with over 200,000 tulips in bloom, Memphis Redbirds playing at AutoZone Park in downtown Memphis, the highly anticipated US Open Bowfishing Championship May 17-18, and so much more! Learn more about all the exciting offerings at Big Cypress Lodge and to plan your next adventure into the heart of Memphis, TN, one of America’s most historic cities, please visit big-cypress.com.

Lafayette is at the heart of Louisiana’s Cajun & Creole Country, an area known as the Happiest City in America, and it’s no mystery why. Its distinctive blend of food, music, and culture has people from all over heading down to Acadiana for festivals, outdoor adventures, and all-around good times for all.

Summertime is near and there’s something exciting around every corner. Come down May 2 - 4 for the world-famous Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival, one of the year’s largest gatherings of renowned Cajun musicians and the best food you’re apt to find. May 23 - 25, Couillon Fest brings the laughs for a three day stand up comedy festival while Zydeco Extravaganza takes over the Blackham Coliseum on May 25, with live music, an amateur accordion contest, and top-tier traditional creole cuisine. Finally, on June 8, join your

Acadiana neighbors for a celebration of culture and heritage with Creole Culture Day. Learn more at lafayettetravel.com.

Port Arthur

The Official Cajun Capital of Texas is calling. Port Arthur, Texas prides itself on its own personal brand of Cajun culture; offering food, fun, and sun that you can’t find anywhere else. The perfect location for your family vacation, Port Arthur Texas boasts everything from sports to music, camping to windsurfing.

Visit Sea Rim State Park, 5.2 miles of beach shoreline alongside 4,000 acres of marshland perfect for fishing, birding, kayaking, camping, and swimming, or follow the Cajun Heritage Trail where Swamp Pop, Zydeco and Cajun ballads swim through the air and the finest boudin and crawfish in the Lone Star State are ready to be devoured.

Lifelong memories at Port Arthur are rife for the making, a gumbo overflowing with culture and attractions for the whole family. The final ingredient is you! Learn more about all the experiences and attractions at Port Arthur, Texas at visitportarthurtx.com.

Avoyelles Parish

Avoyelles Parish, located in Louisiana’s geographic center, is amid an exciting festival season, and you’re invited to experience it all!

May kicks off with three incredible festivals: the Cajun Crossroads Sports Festival on May 2-3, the Cochon de Lait Festival on May 9-10, and the Tunica Biloxi Pow-Wow on May 17-18, 2025. Additionally, from May 2-4, the Tunica Biloxi Invitational Golf Tournament will take place at Paragon’s Tamahka Trail Golf Club. For more details, call 318.240.6305.

In June, don’t miss the 38th Louisiana Corn Festival, hosted by the Bunkie Chamber of Commerce from June 12-14.

The summer fun continues with the Avoyelles Arts and Music Festival at Paragon Casino Resort on July 4th, Louisiana’s longest-running Fourth of July celebration.

Facing Page: Bass Pro Shop Left: Paddling In Port Arthur Below: Avoyelle’s Cochon De Lait Festival

Come join us in Avoyelles Parish for these vibrant events and celebrate the culture, music, and traditions of the Centre de la Louisiane! Visit www.travelavoyelles.com or follow us on Facebook at TravelAvoyelles.

Mississippi

Summer is rapidly approaching and our thoughts turn to sun and sand. Luckily, Mississippi is an incredible place to spend these sun-drenched days with luxurious beaches, world-class casinos, iconic historical locales, and fun-filled adventures for the entire family.

Mississippi’s capital city Jackson blooms both literally and figuratively during the months of May and June, ensuring visitors an exceptional opportunity to discover a welcoming and unique blend of southern cultural, recreational, and educational experiences to engage. Explore the hiking and fishing of LeFleur’s Bluff State Park, the botanical abundance of Mynelle Gardens, dance the night away at the Cathead Jam on June 6-7 at Cathead Distillery, or have yourself a briny good time at Mississippi Pickle Fest at the Mississippi Agriculture Museum June 7 - 8.

Jackson will stir the soul with its must-see attractions. So spend this Summer in Mississippi and discover a new way to play! Learn more at visitmississippi.org. T

A Glimpse into Acadiana History

Meandering through Opelousas’ Spiritual Trail

STORY AND PHOTOS BY KEVIN RABALAIS

EACH OF OUR JOURNEYS contains three parts. First comes the anticipation. For days, months or years, we look forward to our departure. Then, finally, that day arrives. We travel, some of us, to leave behind our everyday lives, hoping to unearth better versions of ourselves. Others seek new spices or sunsets, any variation of the ordinary that urges us to see our own neighborhood with new eyes. Once home again, we embark upon another adventure. Shuffling through the memories of our journey, we hold them close, some for the rest of our lives.

At times, we may saunter, wandering without expectation. At others, we travel with purpose.

Last year, the Pilgrims Reception Office in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, reported that 499,242 travelers received a certificate for completing the journey along

the Camino de Santiago, or Way of St. James, one of the world’s most popular pilgrimages for Christians.

St. Landry Parish Tourist Commission Communications Manager Mary Hawkins recommends that visitors start the trip at the eco-friendly Tourist Commission visitor center in Opelousas.

“You can find pretty much all the ecosystems represented in Louisiana here in St. Landry,” she says. “Our grounds represent those ecosystems. We use sustainable materials, solar panels, a wind turbine.” After a brief pause, she continues: “And we have a statue of Amédé Ardoin.”

In performances and recordings released between 1930 and 1934, the Creole accordionist Ardoin planted the seeds for zydeco while revolutionizing Cajun and Creole music — all before age 44, when, in 1942, he was

(Left) Amédé Ardoin Statue (Above) Leonville Grotto (Right) Grand Coteau Grounds

LOCATION

St. Landry Parish DID YOU KNOW?

The Spiritual Trail includes 19 sites throughout St. Landry Parish, among them the Academy of the Sacred Heart/ Le Petit Musée, the Ave Maria Shrine, Cedar Hill Cemetery, the Creole Heritage Folklife Center, Hebrew Rest Cemetery, Le Vieux Village Heritage Park, the Historic Michel Prudhomme Home, the Louisiana Orphan Train Museum and Our Lady of the Oaks Retreat House.

committed to Louisiana’s state psychiatric hospital in Pineville after a beating left him mentally incapacitated. Six weeks later, he died as Case No. 13387.

After paying homage to Ardoin’s legacy and earning the first stamp, travelers might drive 12 miles southeast to Leonville, where the stone grotto at St. Leo the Great Catholic Church features a statue of Bernadette, who beheld the first of her 18 apparitions of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes in 1858. Another 10 miles to the southwest, travelers reach Grand Coteau and the grounds of St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, where the 3,104pound bell chimes while silent retreaters pray along live oak-shaded paths.

Back in Opelousas, two Catholic churches within blocks of one another await the traveler: Holy Ghost, which harbors the largest African American congregation in the United States, and St. Landry, where a statue of Fr. Verbis Lafleur rises above parishioners. A volunteer in the U.S. Army during World War II, Lafleur spent two years in Japanese prisoner of war camps. There, he ministered to soldiers of all faiths and advocated for prisoners’ rights despite beatings from his captors. His case for sainthood opened in 2020.

Roy, travelled on the first train. He was two weeks old. In 1942, he became mayor of Opelousas.

Left) Orphan Train Museum (Top Right) St. Borromeo (Bottom Right) Le Vieux Village (Facing Page) St. Landry Catholic Church

A mile away, Le Vieux Village offers a collection of Creole-style structures from the late 1700s to the mid-1900s. It also includes the Union Pacific Railway depot that now houses the Louisiana Orphan Train Museum. “In the 1850s, the New York City chief of police estimated 10,000 children on the streets with nowhere to go,” says museum volunteer Charlie Roy. “Those circumstances led several organizations, including the New York Foundling Hospital, to send children across the country by train for adoption. Between 1907 and 1927, 2,000 children arrived in Louisiana from the Foundling Hospital.” Roy’s grandfather, Martin Arvine

“Families in Opelousas could request children with a certain hair color or eye color, so when they left the Foundling Hospital, they were already assigned a home,” Roy says. Inside this well-curated museum run by volunteers, a stirring stop along the trail, he walks beside displays of clothing that children wore on the journey. “They arrived with one numbered tag sewn into their clothes and another hung around their neck. Families knew which number to look for.” Children old enough to talk arrived speaking English in a French-speaking culture.

The path toward a life-changing experience on the other side of the world — island hopping in the Mediterranean or on African safari, say — becomes even more possible when we push ourselves to have altering experiences in our own neighborhood. Pilgrimages such as the Spiritual Trail offer that combination of leisured wandering and journeying with the kind of intent that opens new corridors inside the once-familiar — in other words, travel at its most meaningful.

(Top

Crawfish and Other Tales

Artist and Arnaudville native, George Marks, maps out a weekend plan with

good food, art and soul

STORY AND PHOTOS BY MELANIE WARNER SPENC ER

THE FIRST TIME my husband Mark and I visited Arnaudville we were en route to a weekend in Toledo Bend and could only stop long enough for a brief scenic driveabout and lunch. We made the brilliant decision to go to Myran’s Maison De Manger for crawfish. The staff was so friendly, and the crawfish so flavorful and large, yet easy to crack, we resolved to return — even if it was just to crush more crawfish. It didn’t take long before that promised return. That time, we were in Lafayette for Gulf Brew 2018, and we added a visit to Bayou Teche Brewing to our itinerary. It was a Saturday night, which means live music at the brewery. That evening, the band was Soul Creole (a supergroup of sorts featuring Louis Michot of the Lost Bayou Ramblers and other projects on fiddle, Corey Ledet from Corey Ledet & His Zydeco Band and artist on accordion, musician, author, French radio announcer and teacher Ashlee Wilson on triangle), which of course included Cajun dancing. It was a packed house and everyone from young hipsters to old timers was twirling around the dance floor, often with one another. The evening ended with a tipsy Uber ride (us, not the driver) back to Lafayette — which we chalked up to a miracle, having gotten picked up so late at night and so far away from town. Our driver was a tale-spinning Cajun with a heart of gold and soft spot for exotic dancers. If we weren’t already enchanted by Arnaudville, that magical Louisiana Saturday night sealed the deal. While our usual travel modus operandi,

rambling around, is an excellent way to get to know a place — it’s the title and premise of this column after all — whenever possible, it behooves travelers of all levels of experience to rely on the wisdom and inside information of locals. With that in mind, I contacted artist, Nunu Arts and Culture Collective co-founder and executive director and Arnaudville native, George Marks to recommend his go-to spots for our recent return visit to his stomping grounds.

Naturally, the first item on the agenda was food. “Do dinner at Little Big Cup, not brunch,” said Marks, advising me to make sure and request a table on the back porch to take advantage of the bayou views. For accommodations, Marks suggested Maison Stéphanie (an historic, circa 1796 bed & breakfast situated on 20

acres on the Bayou Teche owned by Richard Franklin Howes and Kenneth P. Douet), or Broussard Cottage, (a modern-style, 200-square-foot tiny home located behind Nunu and in which rental proceeds support the organization). Either way, you can’t go wrong, but people who prefer a more hands-off stay, the latter would be your best bet. If you’re in town on a Saturday morning, Marks says to grab breakfast at Myran’s (specifically the Egg-o-Myran, which has scrambled eggs, chopped ham and cheese) followed by a walk and forest bath at the Acadiana Native Plant Project nature station. (Pro-tip for plant parents: If you are there on a Tuesday, you can propagate.) A fried chicken with fries or tater tots lunch at Knott’s Cajun Kitchen is a must according to Marks, and who are we to argue?

in the tap room or

garden, tiki drinks,

pizza, live music and arcade games. Owned by Karlos Knott, bottom left, it’s a one-stop shop for fun in Arnaudville. (Right) Nature is easy to access in Arnaudville with Bayou Teche and Bayou Fuselier (perfect for kayaking), plus nature trails at Acadiana Native Plant Project.

(Left) Bayou Teche Brewing has cold beers

beer

hot

After lunch, a visit to Nunu is in order. On Saturdays you can check out the Indigenous Cultural Heritage table to practice your Kreyol, Indigenous and French language skills with other speakers (all levels are welcome). You’ll work up a powerful thirst after all that talking, so clearly it’s a great time to hit Bayou Teche Brewing. Music starts at 4 p.m., and since our last visit, Cajun Saucer is slinging wood-fired pies and tiki drinks. For pizza, the Alien Autopsy is Marks’ pick. It’s a meat-forward affair topped with andouille, tasso, chaurice and smoked sausages, tomato sauce, mozzarella and candied jalapeños, finished off with a drizzle of roasted garlic olive oil. Vegetarians, don’t worry, there are cheese-forward options for you. Pair your pizza with either the Miel Sauvage, a honey beer, or my favorite, LA 31 Acadie, an exceptional amber farmhouse ale. (I no longer practice the drinking arts, but I still literally have the T-shirt for this beer.)

You’re probably gonna want to sleep in on Sunday and, if you are staying at Maison Stéphanie, have shrimp and grits or whatever else is on the menu that morning before proceeding back to Nunu for The People Library day (from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.), which Marks describes as an intergenerational knowledge exchange where people can share expertise, learn from each other and meet others in the community. Topics include folklife, creative placemaking/placekeeping, sustainability and entrepreneurship (appointments are required). You can also pick up a plate lunch at nearby Russell’s Food Center and connect with people at the community cafe. “It’s like going to your grandparents’ to pass the afternoon,” says Marks. “You get to meet interesting people with interesting stories to tell. It’s really special.”

If thrifting is your idea of a good time, Marks says to make time for a side quest to Sunset either on your way to Arnaudville or on the way home. Also, on your way out of town, if you traveled from the direction of New Orleans, Marks recommends stopping at Crawfish Town USA off of Interstate 49. But for us, it’s a return to Myran’s — especially if it’s crawfish season — because sometimes, in life and in travel, it’s all about going full circle.

(Left) Dining on the back deck at The Little Big Cup overlooking Bayou Teche is a must. As is a visit to Nunu Arts and Culture Collective to view current exhibits, shop for art or participate in various regular events and activities, such as the Indigenous Cultural Heritage table, for conversation in local and indigenous languages. (Right) Nunu co-founder and executive director, and Arnaudville native George Marks.

LOCATION

St. Francisville

0.7 square milestotal area of land in Arnaudville

125

Bayou Teche is 125 miles long and runs through four parishes: St. Landry, St. Martin, Iberia and St. Mary.

1700s

Arnaudville’s roots trace back to its origin as an Attakapas Indian village site. It was settled by the French in the late 18th century and named La Murière. The town is also known as La Jonction (The Junction), due to being at the intersection of Bayou Fusilier and Bayou Teche. Finally, in the 1900s, it was renamed Arnaudville, after the Arnaud family, which donated a significant amount of land to the town and established a church.

Weekend by the Bay

A spring getaway to Mobile that includes a little naval history, art galleries and classic cocktails

BY CHERÉ COEN

IT’S BEEN YEARS IN THE MAKING, but Amtrak seems poised to debut train service between New Orleans and Mobile. This fall, visitors may travel twice a day between the two colonial French cities to enjoy each town’s culture, dining, attractions and multicultural heritage. Until then, it’s still a prime driving destination and makes for a great spring weekend getaway.

DAY ONE

MORNING – Before reaching Mobile by car, leave Interstate 10 at Exit 13 (Theodore Dawes Road) and head south on U.S. Highway 90 to one of the South’s most pristine and colorful gardens. Bellingrath Gardens & Home features 65 acres that Walter Bellingrath, a successful bottler of Coca-Cola in Mobile, purchased along a Fowl River bluff. Visitors may enjoy the expansive gardens, the 1930s home decorated by his wife, Bessie Bellingrath and the inaugural Gulf Coast Chinese Lantern Festival — a luminous event with 41 towering, handcrafted light sculptures — from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. nightly through June 15.

AFTERNOON - Get oysters “fried, stewed or nude” and enjoy the walls of humorous sayings and regional photos at Wintzell’s Oyster House, a Mobile landmark since 1947. The oyster dish is part the “Year of Alabama Food” by Alabama Tourism to showcase local food dishes and chefs.

Walk off lunch with a stroll downtown and stop at the many shops, art galleries and museums, such as the Alabama Contemporary Art Center and the History Museum of Mobile.

Check into The Admiral Hotel on Government Street, which opened in 1940 and named for Confederate Admiral Raphael Semmes who commandeered the CSS Alabama. The hotel has since received a massive renovation and now blends designs of historic Mobile with modern luxury and now honors the city’s founder, French explorer Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville.

From Left to Right: Admiral Hotel Living Room; LeMoyne’s Chophouse’s Tomahawk Steak; Frozen Blueberry Cobbler at Serda’s Coffee Company; Japanese maples in Mobile Botanical Gardens

DINNER – If you’re visiting on a weekend, don’t miss downtown’s ArtWalk from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on the Friday of every second weekend of the month. Browse local galleries, public spaces and pop-up markets while enjoying a beverage or dish from a food truck. If you’d rather stop for a meal, Squid Ink serves up pub food and awesome cocktails both inside and out. If the weather’s nice, choose the swings that accent outdoor tables. For dessert, Mo’Bay Beignet Company serves up those French favorites we all know and love.

DAY TWO

MORNING - For a light breakfast, enjoy a caffeine pick-me-up at Serda’s Coffee Company in the heart of downtown. For something more substantial, brunch at Bistro St. Emanuel is a trip to France while remaining in the Fort Condé Square historic district. Or don’t leave the hotel and choose artisanal French pastries at Le Café at The Admiral Hotel.

Spend the morning perusing hundreds of masterpieces at the Mobile Museum of Art, which overlooks Langan Park and its massive lagoon. The 95,000-squarefoot museum showcases American, European and Asian art exhibits and regularly hosts special events.

AFTERNOON – If the weather’s cooperating, pop over to the Mobile Botanical Gardens located a short drive from the Museum of Art. Enjoy more than 106 acres of gardens that include a variety of ecosystems, including an azalea garden, pollinator garden, Japanese Maple collection and the Longleaf Pine Forest.

DINNER - If you’re feeling like staying close to home, The Admiral offers the elegant LeMoyne’s Chophouse, a fine dining restaurant focused on steaks, and The Living Room lounge for classic cocktails or a pre-dinner libation. Or head to The Noble South, a delightful restaurant in the heart of downtown helmed by owner Chris Rainosek who designs Southern and seasonal favorites, most of which are created by regional ingredients. You might recognize the restaurant from an episode of “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.”

Mobile is home to many folks who refuse to leave, so if you’re feeling adventurous, Mobile offers several haunted tours to whet your appetite for the paranormal. Sites include the Malaga Inn, the Church Street Graveyard where Charles R.S. Boyington was executed beneath an oak tree (do spirits linger there?) and the Richards-DAR House Museum.

For more information on things to do in Mobile, visit mobile.org.

Don’t Forget

Take a drive north of town to visit the award-winning Africatown Heritage House which tells the story of Mobile’s African American heritage, including the arrival of the Clotilda, the last slave ship from Africa to the U.S. via the Tensaw River. The 2,500-squarefoot museum includes pieces of the Clotilda on loan from the Alabama Historical Commission, along with other historical artifacts.

BY RAVEN WEBB, METAIRIE

Gliding Over Shell Beach