Things To Do

Holiday Shopping Hotspots

It’s the most wonderful time of the year to shop and Louisiana delivers. We’ve compiled a few shopping districts throughout the state offering everything from antiques and collectibles to clothing and furniture.…

Museums Galore

When sprawling Houston comes to mind, you might think first of sporting events or rocket ships — even traffic. But in fact, the culturally-diverse city reigns as one of the world’s top destinations for arts lovers. With seven cultural districts…

La Nouvelle Louisiane

While it may also be known as Sportsman’s Paradise, Louisiana is home to more than just natural beauty. From top restaurants and breweries to music venues, museums and dance halls, the state is brimming with individuals keen to make Louisiana…

The Rush of Chasing Haints

  Fear runs deep in humans. Fear of the dark, alligators, public speaking — Alabama football. But some fear is exciting. Throughout Louisiana this time of year haunted attractions and structures built with creepy settings animated by costumed actors abound.…

Gumbo Gusto

  Recently ranked as the third most festival-obsessed state in the U.S., Louisiana boasts three competitive gumbo festivals in a single weekend: New Iberia’s 33rd annual World Championship Gumbo Cookoff features 100 teams of gumbo pros Oct. 14-15; (iberiachamber.org/gumbocookoff). Chackbay…

Eureka Moments

It’s believed that when Greek Archimedes understood how to determine the purity of gold he exclaimed, “Heureka,” meaning “I have found it!” Today, we use that expression as…

Summer at the Lake

Tree stumps in the lake at Toledo Bend are one of the reasons the area has become a hot spot for fishing.                             …

Seismic Rescue

At a Glance Location Iberia Parish Flora Rip Van Winkle Gardens consists of approximately 15 acres of semi-tropical gardens that include irises, magnolias, camellias, azaleas, hibiscus, and…

Summer Festing

Grab your fiddle and head to the 43rd annual Natchitoches-NSU Folk Festival (July 22) held in air-conditioned Prather Coliseum (NSU campus) featuring the celebrated Louisiana State Fiddle Championship. Enjoy three stages of live music plus Cajun, zydeco and Native American…

Cool Reads

Small Town Mystery Call the Canaries Home Tragedy strikes 4-year-old Savannah, and her older sisters Rayanne and Sue Ellen, when her twin mysteriously disappears from their family home. Their Louisiana small town is rocked by the event, and the family…

Pet Friendly Staycations

We love our furry friends, so why not take them on the road when we travel? Recent polls show that pet owners want to bring their dogs and cats with them when they travel, which is why many accommodations, attractions…

Drinks, History and Lots of Heart

Lift the Spirits Iconic New Orleans Cocktails Cocktail lovers, artists and libertines, historians and history makers have long been obsessed with The Green Fairy, the colorful name for the licorice-flavored liquor absinthe. Its powerful mind-altering punch has been felt from…

Wine and Dine

photo courtesy delta biscuit; herons on the bayou; landry vineyards We must admit we’re skeptical when people rave about Louisiana red and white varietal wines. Most vineyards in the Deep South produce sweet muscadine or fruit-based wines. But we…

Top Fun

Photos Courtesy: Pensacola Lighthouse and Maritime Museum Hold on, St. Augustine. You may be the oldest town in Florida, but Pensacola has a few bragging rights too. Spanish conquistador Don Tristán de Luna y Arellano landed in the Panhandle in…

Louisiana Love

A statement by the internationally acclaimed documentary photographer Carol Highsmith sets the tone for Louisiana Public Broadcasting’s recent four-hour TV documentary and Highsmith’s companion book exploring the people, towns, cities, customs and landscape across Louisiana today: "There are a…

Full of Hot Air

Head to the 2nd annual Bogalusa Balloon Festival (June 2-4) at George R. Carr Memorial Airfield to see hot air balloons flown by pilots from across the region with special events during the week leading up to the festival. Enjoy…

Bicentennial Festivities

Lafayette’s year-long bicentennial revelries continue with the Celtic Bayou Festival bicentennial celebration March 17-18 (celticbayoufestival.com) followed by the March 26-30 Festival International de Louisiane bicentennial celebrations (festivalinternational.org). Chartered by the Louisiana Legislature in 1823 two years after its founding, the…

Mountain Time

Asheville, a small city in the Blue Ridge Mountains in western North Carolina, is known for its quirky charm and beauty. With a thriving culinary and arts scene, a walkable downtown bursting with shops, art galleries and restaurants, and…

Irish for a Day

In 1986, Mabyn Shingleton, her husband, TV personality Pat Shingleton, and her baby son Michael in a stroller, lined up at the Baton Rouge City Park Golf Course and headed toward Perkins Road where the couple owned Zee Zee Gardens…

Abstract Narrative

Commemorative statues are everywhere in Louisiana. We have them for soldiers, explorers, musicians, sports figures, politicians and saintly people. Now, New Orleans has a new monument that celebrates the work of the nationally acclaimed New Orleans artist John Scott…

Big skies & wine

Drinking and driving? That’s dangerous! But nobody says you can’t shuffle a few steps from the wine bar to your comfy bed using your own two feet after a few tipples. Romantic, beautiful to behold, and a way to…

Main Streets

Monroe/West Monroe West Monroe native Becky Thompson always loved baking, so it was only natural that she earned her degree in hospitality management at Ole Miss, then the L’Art de la Pâtisserie at the French Pastry School in Chicago.…

Double the Music and Double the Fall Festival Fun

It’s an Acadiana tradition about to hit its golden anniversary. And even though it hit a speedbump during the pandemic, Festivals Acadiens et Créoles has returned. Twofold. The annual fall festival, which turns 50 in 2024, has been celebrating…

Literary Lovers Travel Guide

Marie-Madeleine Hachard arrived in New Orleans in the early 1700s with a group of Ursuline nuns. She wrote of her new home in the French colony and that collection of personal accounts would become one of the first books about…