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 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 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, 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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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’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 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…

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…

Just a few years ago it would have seemed preposterous: the idea that a modest New Orleans neighborhood could help teach the world how to build sustainable, affordable housing. Today the thought is not at all far-fetched. Credit for the…

Music and food have long danced the Cajun waltz in Louisiana, but the courtship between food and music reaches back before Louisiana was even Louisiana. In Twelfth Night, Shakespeare wrote of the intrinsic connection some 400 years ago, as Duke…