Heads Up
Even people who don’t like seafood love shrimp.In one preparation or another, shrimp appears on menus all over the country. It’s a restaurant staple as ubiquitous as steak and much more versatile. Shrimp can be cooked just about any way…
Best Hunting
The Dog Who Held up a Liquor Store (and other “ruff ”characters I have known)
Lulu Snoop I recently took our puppy to the veterinarian. Also in the waiting room were two other people with their pets –– a stately golden retriever obediently sitting there and a cute little pooch patiently resting in his kennel.And…
Louisianian at Large
Stalking the giant salviniaThe giant salvinia of South America is proving to be quite a contradiction –– as its name reveals more about its proliferate abilities than actual appearance.A tiny floating fern, sold widely throughout the United States as a…
Barometer
Take a pew, Paula. Parishioners at Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Hammond had a celebrity in their midst when Food Network chef Paula Deen arrived with her husband, Michael, for 9:30 Mass. Michael’s brother, Rev. Hank Groover, is a priest…
Gustav
Katrina will forever be linked to New Orleans. Rita walloped the state’s west-central side. But Gustav was a Louisiana event. If ever a state could claim a hurricane, Gustav was it. Totally spoiling a Labor Day weekend, the storm forced…
Surfing for Festivals
JanuaryDistrict Junior Livestock ShowsLafayette, www.iberiatravel.com/dail.phpRice Capital ChampionshipGumbo CookoffCrowley, www.crowleychamber.comFebruary3rd Annual Cajun Squeezebox ShootoutJennings, www.squeezeboxshootout.com Late February/Early MarchBlack Heritage FestivalLake Charles, www.bhflc.orgLouisiana Redbud FestivalVivian, www.laredbud.com MarchUncle Earl’s Hog Dog TrialsWinnfield, www.BayedSolid.com/uncle_earls.htm Creole FestivalJeanerette, www.acadianoaks.com/events.htm World Championship CrawfishÉtouffée Cookoff ContestEunice, www.Eunice-la.comRabbit FestivalIowa,…
New Orleans
Two-and-a-half years after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans continues to rebound, its high spirits undamaged by hell or high water. The French Quarter, the 18th-century historic heart of the city founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville in 1718, beats with…
Plantation Country
Plantation Country is a true melting pot of the South. The mighty Mississippi flows through the middle of Plantation Country, dividing the culture through the centuries. The romance of the area is evident in the harmony between past and present. …
Cajun Country
Cajun Country has a spicy history. It was once the stomping grounds of infamous pirates, a haven for Acadian exiles and a place where American Indians could roam freely across the land, and it is home to the rich soil…
Central Louisiana
Central Louisiana, also known as Cenla and, more recently, Crossroads, is a meeting of the northern and southern parts of Louisiana, a melting pot of the cultures that inhabit the area. Alexandria is the heart of Cenla, with highways and…
Northern Louisiana
Visiting North Louisiana is a little like going to the Smithsonian Institution – there’s something for everyone, and you’re going to need more than a week to see everything it has to offer.When the prehistoric Gulf of Mexico finally receded…
Forks in the Road
When my family moved to Shreveport from Texas in the mid-1950s, the biggest shock was the rain. We went straight from a dusty, parched land that was suffering from years of drought into a steady downpour that lasted for a…
On the Road
Road trip! C’mon, it’s that time of year! Take the kids for a day trip to Water Town USA in Shreveport or the big Blue Bayou Water Park in Baton Rouge or even just swimming at a sandy-sided creek. Or…
In Pursuit of Antiques
From a breast pocket of the store owner’s shirt, a small cloth bag is drawn. It is worn and yellowed. Gently, the shop owner picks open the string-drawn top, shifts his body forward in the chair and pours the bag’s…
Introducing – Something New
You are holding a first: Louisiana Life’s premiere travel issue, a special edition dedicated entirely to traveling throughout the state. At a time when “staycation” has become a new buzzword that suggests the merits of staying close to home in…
Louisiana Life at the 2008 Louisiana Peach Festival
Louisiana Life Magazine spent a fun weekend in Ruston meeting and greeting at the 2008 Louisiana Peach Festival. The theme of this year's festival was Stars and Peaches Forever and while peaches may not usually be associated with patriotism the…
A Louisiana Life: Wade Dubea
Louisiana’s new top tree expert, State Forester Wade Dubea, grew up walking the forests of his grandparent’s land outside Marksville, where he developed a lifelong fascination with the ecosystem of the woods.An avid hunter and fisher, Wade took a long,…
The Great Louisiana Quiz
The name “zydeco” evolved from a French phrase referring to which green?A. Green peasB. CabbageC. Brussels sproutsD. Snap beansWhich Louisiana university has green as its primary school color?A. McNeeseB. Louisiana TechC. TulaneD. Louisiana CollegeFor the St. Patrick’s Day celebration in…
Summer Times
Northern LouisianaJune 1-2. Beach Bash. 2909 Kilpatrick Blvd., Monroe (318) 651-4409.June 2. 20th Annual Classic Chevy Jamboree. Holiday Inn, Monroe (318) 397-1181.June 2. 22nd Annual Marengo Swamp Ride. Beouf River Wildlife Area, Hebert (318) 728-2300.June 7-9. Scrapbook Celebration. West Monroe…
Louisiana Culinary Trail Guides
In Louisiana, when two or three people gather for lunch, the conversation almost always turns to food: “What did you eat for breakfast? Where are you eating supper?” Cooking and eating are a big part of Louisiana culture, and our…
Around Louisiana-Greater New Orleans
LOUISIANA GROWNThe state’s tomatoLast summer, in the produce department of Dorignac’s Food Center, I was assailed by a wonderful fresh scent that was flower-like. Following my nose, I came to the source of the fragrance: a bin heaped with gleaming…
Around Louisiana-Baton Rouge/Plantation Country
Go to St. Joe’sNewly refurbished and snatched from decay, St. Joseph Plantation is another jewel that can be added to the precious necklace of plantations encircling both banks of the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Driving either…
Around Louisiana-Cajun Country
FORK IN THE ROAD Bull RunOnce you’ve reached the simple white Spanish façade of Pamplona Tapas Bar and walked through the pepper-red door, you might find yourself looking instinctively for Ava Gardner, Tyrone Power or Papa Hemingway himself. This eatery…
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