Louisiana Life - May/June 2025

Editor's Note: 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…

Louisiana is One of the Most Unique Cultural, Art Regions in America

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…

Meandering Through Opelousas’ Spiritual Trail

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…

May/June Festivals and Events Around Louisiana

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,…

Books: Meditations on Life and Landscapes

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,…

Tomato Tart and Artichoke-Crab Dressing Recipes

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…

A Spring Getaway to Mobile

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…

Spring and Summer Travel

Adventure is calling and the Gulf South is ready to answer with festivals, getaways, and excursions to wile away those hot Summer days. Big Cypress Lodge One of the South’s great wonders, the Bass Pro Shops Pyramid, holds a wilderness…

When The Pope Played the Dome

There will never be another day like Sept. 12, 1987, at what was then called the Louisiana Superdome. The recent Vatican conclave brings the date to mind. That evening, the Tulane Green Wave were scheduled against Iowa State. On the…