Louisiana Life - July/August 2019

From the Editor: Easy Rider at 50

Fifty years ago, the search for the meaning of life wound through Louisiana with stops in the Pointe Coupee parish town of Morganza and in St. Mary Parish on the way to New Orleans. The motorcycle riders never found the…

Along the Way: This Is Not a Bucket List

The term “bucket list” just doesn’t sit well with me. Not because of its allusions to death — there’s no stopping that canoe from its rapid whoosh down river. Rather, the idea of rushing to get entertaining and adventuresome things…

State of Louisiana: Pelican Briefs

COVINGTON Purrrrfect for Cat Lovers The 5th annual Covington Cat Party, Cat Art and Film Festival (artforcatssake.org) is Aug. 29 in Covington featuring funny cat videos, cat agility and training, fabulous feline-themed art and jewelry, unique cat accessories and furniture,…

Calendar: Art En Blanc

NEW ORLEANS White Linen Night Each year, Hancock Whitney and the Contemporary Arts Center host an outdoor celebration of local artists in the New Orleans Arts District. Don all white while perusing the art galleries and shops along the 300…

Literary Louisiana: Beach Books

Southern Lady Code: Essays by Helen Ellis While writer Helen Ellis hails from Alabama, her newest book, “Southern Lady Code,” and its humorous tales, advice and nonsense, will ring true with Louisiana ladies from the tip of the boot to…

Louisiana Made: Sweet Preservation

Their fingers were crimson — almost stained — and with bellies full like the certainty of a cicada song at sunset, baskets of strawberries remained, and a decision had to be made. “There were just too many, and we didn’t…

Traveler: Boom Days

From the late 1910s through mid-‘20s the Gulf states and other regions of the United States were systematically shorn of their virgin forests of pine, cypress and marketable hardwoods. It was one of the growing pains of an adolescent nation,…

Split Second

Three years ago, on July 4th, Mark Raymond Jr.’s life changed in an instant.  At 27 years old, he had been celebrating the holiday with friends on a boat all afternoon in Lake Pontchartrain and periodically cooling off in the…

Great Louisiana Chef: Cajun Learning Curve

A pot of gumbo was the first challenge Chef Alexis Cupich-Indest undertook in the kitchen after moving to Louisiana. A native of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Cupich-Indest attended the Texas Culinary Academy in Austin, fulfilling her childhood dreams of becoming a…

A Louisiana Life: Musical Inspiration

  Kyle Daigle remembers the first time he heard his music on the radio. “I was getting dressed to go to work and I just froze in my tracks,” the country music singer-songwriter says. “It’s a very cool experience to…

Healthy Louisiana: Heat Wave

If you like exercising outdoors, what can you do to work out safely during the brutally hot and humid Louisiana summers? Here are three tips for safe outdoor workouts when the temperatures are on the rise. See Your Doctor Dr.…

Art: Garden of Memories

On an unlikely spot in an older section of Hammond, Louisiana, sits one man’s tribute to the African-American experience. Dr. Charles Smith’s African-American Heritage Museum and Black Veterans Archive is unlike any other museum. It is a personal and spiritual…

Home: Modern Farmhouse

When Brittany and Aaron Ashby of Benton, Louisiana north of Bossier City decided to build a new house for the second time, they knew they wanted rustic elements that impart a sense of age. They also knew they wanted to…

Best Hospitals

There is one major source that provides credible ongoing analysis of hospitals: Medicare, which, as the federal health insurance program for people 65 and older, as well as certain younger people with disabilities, often provides funding for many of the…

Roadside Dining: Bowled Over

  With 10 bowling lanes, a stage for live music, a full-service restaurant, multiple bars, a rooftop deck and a beer garden, Red Stick Social, Baton Rouge’s newest hot spot, defies definition. Robert Lay was the developer who reimagined then…

Kitchen Gourmet: New Fashioned

Ice cream has no season, but if it did, it would be now. Ice cream consumption is highest in July and August, which should come as no surprise, but for many of us it is a year-round obsession. There are…

Farther Flung: Cruisin' 30A

It sounds so easy: Hop over to the Florida Panhandle and enjoy fabulous sun, emerald Gulf waters, grab a cool beach drink and enjoy exquisite seafood. But alas, the region known as 30A — referring to the highway that runs…

State of Medicine

Medical care is one of those things you likely only think about when you need it. And when you need it, you likely want to know what’s available quick and nearby. Fortunately, just about every corner of Louisiana has quality…

Explore the Culture

Louisiana is one unique destination. With so many different cultural experiences packed into one relatively small state, locals…