This Louisiana Mennonite Bulk Foods Store Is Packed With Country-Store Finds
Walking through the front door hit me with the smell of warm molasses before I saw a single jar. Burlap sacks lined the bottom shelves.…
By Dane Ashford · Sep 1, 2026
Written by
Dane Ashford
271 Articles
Louisiana
A Taste Of Detroit Is Hiding In This Louisiana Spot With Crispy, Cheesy Pan Pizza
Detroit-style pizza should not work this far south. The rectangular pan, the cheese that caramelizes against the edges,…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 31
Louisiana
Deep In The Louisiana Woods, This Seasonal Restaurant Is Famous For Some Of The Cleanest Crawfish Around
The GPS gave up about two miles before the restaurant did. I turned onto a gravel road that…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 31
Louisiana
This Louisiana Bakery Has Made French Bread The Same Way Since The 1880s And Sells Out By Noon
My grandmother used to make ginger cakes, and I thought I knew what they tasted like until I…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 30
Louisiana
One Man Built This Strange Louisiana Shrine After Claiming He Witnessed A Miracle
Deep in Golden Meadow, where bayou roads stretch past marshes and weathered homes, I found one of those…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 30
Louisiana
This Louisiana Duck Festival Ends With A Cook-Off Dedicated To Duck And Goose Dishes
Ten thousand people in a town of fourteen hundred. That is the math of this festival, and the…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 30
Louisiana
This Beloved Louisiana French Bakery Has Been Making Old-World Pastries Since 1967
I arrived fifteen minutes after opening plus the line had already formed, which tells you something about a…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 29
Louisiana
10 Fascinating Louisiana State Parks Most People Have Never Heard Of
Most visitors to Louisiana stick to the French Quarter plus maybe a swamp tour, then leave thinking they…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 29
Louisiana
Louisiana’s Oldest Surviving Church Building Was Built For Yellow Fever Funerals
It does not look like the oldest church in the state. Low brick walls. A simple steeple. A…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 28
Louisiana
This Tiny Guatemalan Bakery In Louisiana Serves Fresh Pan Dulce And Traditional Tamales
The display case is small, maybe four feet wide. Inside it holds more color than any bakery case…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 28
Louisiana
This Louisiana Town Still Celebrates One Of The Most Iconic Roles Of A Beloved Country Music Legend Who Recently Passed Away
My mother can still quote every line from Steel Magnolias, but Dolly Parton has always been the one…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 27
Louisiana
This Historic Louisiana Restaurant Still Serves A Secret Garlic-Loaded Chicken Dish That Isn’t Even On The Menu
The waiter set the plate down without ceremony, just two pieces of golden chicken swimming in a pool…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 27
Louisiana
This Louisiana Shrine Holds Sacred Relics Inside One Of New Orleans’ Oldest Catholic Traditions
The neighborhood outside is loud. Music spills from every doorway, and tourists crowd the sidewalks in waves. Then…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 26
Louisiana
Seven Hundred People Live In This Louisiana Town And The Diner Is Worth Every Mile Of The Drive
The road to get here winds through pine forest so thick the canopy closes overhead, and by the…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 26
Louisiana
This Louisiana Town Throws An Entire Festival For Its Famous Hand Pies
No town should be this proud of a pastry. And yet. This one holds an entire festival for…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 25
Louisiana
Louisiana’s Longest Bridge Over Water Feels Like A Road To The Horizon
Twenty-four miles of bridge with nothing but water on either side. I have driven it at dawn when…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 25
Louisiana
An All-You-Can-Eat Cajun Buffet Hiding Inside A Louisiana Living History Village
The gumbo was the first thing I noticed. Then the building it was served in. Then the fact…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 24
Louisiana
This New Orleans Shrine Recreated An Entire Pilgrimage Inside City Limits
Nobody expects to walk through a recreation of the Lourdes grotto in the middle of a Louisiana neighborhood,…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 24
Louisiana
One Of Louisiana’s Oldest Country Fairs Still Serves Homemade Pie And Shows Livestock Like It’s 1950
4-H kids leading prize cattle into a barn. A pie competition where the judges take the scoring seriously.…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 23
Louisiana
This Louisiana Town Packed Twenty Antique Shops Into Six Blocks And Called Itself The Antique Capital
Twenty-plus antique shops in a six-block stretch is either a dream or a problem, depending on your wallet.…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 23
Louisiana
These 12 Louisiana Restaurants Have The Hardest Reservations In The State
Booking one of these restaurants six weeks in advance still did not guarantee a table. The hostess laughed…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 22
Louisiana
This Louisiana Small Town Holds More History Than Most Cities Twice Its Size
Small towns in Louisiana do not try to impress you. They sit there, old and unbothered, waiting for…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 22
Louisiana
This Louisiana Bakery Makes Gluten-Free Treats That Taste Like They Should Not Be
Gluten-free baked goods carry a reputation they do not deserve. Dry crumbs, weird aftertastes, textures that crumble before…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 21
Louisiana
A Benedictine Monk Painted Every Wall Inside This Louisiana Abbey By Hand
Silence inside a church is expected. Color this intense is not. I walked through the front door of…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 21
Louisiana
10 Louisiana Restaurants Where The Food Is Outstanding And The Bill Barely Registers
Eating at a Louisiana roadside joint and getting a bill under ten dollars made me assume they forgot…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 20
Louisiana
This Louisiana Chapel Measures Nine Feet By Nine Feet And Still Holds Mass Once A Year
Nine feet by nine feet, and every single inch of it means something. The chapel sits along River…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 20
Uncategorized
Louisiana Is Full Of Churches That Hold Stories History Books Forgot
The oldest building in the Mississippi Valley is not a courthouse. It is a convent. I learned that…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 19
Louisiana
Nobody Leaves This Louisiana Garden Center Without Something They Did Not Plan To Buy
Walk in for a flat of pansies. Walk out with a ceramic heron, a Cajun cookbook, and a…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 19
Louisiana
This Louisiana Festival Has Been Celebrating Shrimp And Oil Side By Side For Over Ninety Years
Shrimp and petroleum do not seem like they belong at the same party. In this bayou town, they…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 18
Louisiana
This Louisiana Kitchen Turns Smothered Pork Chops Into The Kind Of Meal You Drive Hours For
The line starts before eleven. By noon, it wraps around the building. Nobody seems to mind. The smell…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 18
Louisiana
This Rural Louisiana Community Has Mennonite Roots Stretching Back Nearly A Century
Driving through the pine forests of central Louisiana, the road signs start to shift. A church with a…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 17
Louisiana
Louisiana Shoppers Are Discovering A Grocery Store That Makes Big Savings Possible
Walking through the aisles, the first thing you notice is how normal everything looks. Name brands line the…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 17
Louisiana
12 Louisiana’s Fall Shrimp Season Opens August 17 With These 12 Markets Ready For Fresh Gulf Shrimp
Nothing tastes like a shrimp pulled from the gulf that morning. I learned this the hard way after…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 16
Uncategorized
This Small-Town Louisiana Bakery Still Bakes Perfect Pies For Late Summer Picnics
Three times I drove past the sign before finally pulling in. That is how easy it is to…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 16
Louisiana
This Tiny Louisiana Grocery Serves Turtle Sauce Piquante From A Menu Painted Right On The Wall
The menu is painted on the side of the building. Not on a chalkboard, on the wall itself,…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 15
Louisiana
This Tiny Louisiana Town Packs More Restaurants Per Block Than Most Cities
The first time I ate crawfish étouffée, I was sitting in a town so small that the phone…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 14
Louisiana
10 Gorgeous Louisiana Towns Bursting With Rich French Heritage And Old-World Charm
Nobody told me that entire towns in Louisiana still operate in French. Not a few street signs or…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 14
Louisiana
10 Of Louisiana’s Oldest Bakeries That Still Get Their Pastries Right
Bread has been the daily rhythm of this state since the first French bakers set up shop in…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 13
Louisiana
Louisiana’s Oldest State Park Hasn’t Changed A Bit In Decades
Some parks announce themselves with dramatic overlooks and crowded trailheads. This one works more quietly. Perched above a…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 13
Louisiana
This Louisiana Store Is Packed With Stunning Architectural Antiques
Every antique store promises treasures. This one actually delivers them by the truckload. Walking through the doors felt…
By Dane Ashford · Aug 12