Laura Benton

I’ll admit, I have a soft spot for strip mall restaurants that smell better than they look from…

By Laura Benton · Jun 22

Pitching a tent under a sky full of stars is one thing, but doing it where the water…

By Laura Benton · Jun 21

Louisiana does not need white tablecloths to feed you well. The grills on this list range from neon-lit…

By Laura Benton · Jun 21

Along a narrow highway paralleling a ribbon of water between two massive lakes, a hand-painted sign and a…

By Laura Benton · Jun 20

Beneath live oaks along a slow bayou draped in Spanish moss, it is not hard to see why…

By Laura Benton · Jun 20

Outdoor markets that close before dark miss the entire point. This one does not even open until the…

By Laura Benton · Jun 19

Louisiana stretches farther than most visitors realize, and the day trips outside New Orleans prove it. The Creole…

By Laura Benton · Jun 19

There is a particular kind of curiosity that pulls you into a tea room where the menu lists…

By Laura Benton · Jun 18

Mapping a road trip around ghost stories sounds like a gimmick until you realize how many documented hauntings…

By Laura Benton · Jun 18

The little train feels like New Orleans briefly lending you its childhood for one slow loop under the…

By Laura Benton · Jun 17

Some restaurants feel designed, this one feels inherited. You walk in and the room already has a rhythm:…

By Laura Benton · Jun 17

Morning light hits the Cane River, turns the water the color of copper, while just steps away vendors…

By Laura Benton · Jun 16

The pink building on Veterans Memorial Boulevard does not look like much from the outside, that is exactly…

By Laura Benton · Jun 16

Buried in a loblolly pine forest an hour northwest of Baton Rouge sits a building that looks unremarkable…

By Laura Benton · Jun 15

Nobody expects to find castles in a state known for bayous and Spanish moss, yet Louisiana holds a…

By Laura Benton · Jun 15

When I showed up with forty dollars and an empty backseat I didn’t expect to leave with a…

By Laura Benton · Jun 14

After sunset the French Quarter looks different in ways that have nothing to do with the lighting because…

By Laura Benton · Jun 14

Small towns that sit on a bayou tend to move at their own pace, and this one moves…

By Laura Benton · Jun 13

Racing go-karts on a track that covers thirty acres turns a casual afternoon into something that feels closer…

By Laura Benton · Jun 13

Beyond the iron gates of a former horse racing track lies a 150-acre cemetery where the graves of…

By Laura Benton · Jun 12

Most hikers do not give Louisiana enough credit for its trails, partly because the state’s reputation for flat…

By Laura Benton · Jun 12

Walk past the unassuming corner spot on Annunciation Street and you might mistake it for just another neighborhood…

By Laura Benton · Jun 11

Michigan’s best fish might come through a window, a small one, probably with a handwritten menu and a…

By Laura Benton · Jun 11

Dad deserves better than a gift card with a firm handshake. He deserves a thick cut of beef…

By Laura Benton · Jun 11

The house looks like it was painted for a postcard and that is the trick of it because…

By Laura Benton · Jun 10

Within thirty seconds of leaving the dock the water hyacinth thickens and the cypress trunks widen, while the…

By Laura Benton · Jun 10

I have walked past this mansion a dozen times and every time I slow down without meaning to…

By Laura Benton · Jun 9

I have eaten a lot of brunches in Louisiana, but this is the one I would choose for…

By Laura Benton · Jun 9

Walking into a botanical garden should feel like leaving the city behind and a certain ten-acre garden in…

By Laura Benton · Jun 8

Some restaurants survive by chasing each new decade, while others endure by refusing to move an inch, and…

By Laura Benton · Jun 8

Alexandria is not where I expect barbecue to start changing costumes, which makes this place more fun from…

By Laura Benton · Jun 7

Some restaurants wear their age like a badge of honor and when you pull up to a spot…

By Laura Benton · Jun 7

Some Father’s Day plans involve a crowded restaurant and a tie that gets worn once a year but…

By Laura Benton · Jun 6

Most visitors to the French Quarter walk right past the door without knowing what is behind it because…

By Laura Benton · Jun 6

Louisiana is not known for its mountain scenery because it does not really have mountains but it does…

By Laura Benton · Jun 5

Some restaurants create ambiance through design and others create it through time and habit and this one in…

By Laura Benton · Jun 5

The best quick bites are never really quick because you end up standing at the counter debating between…

By Laura Benton · Jun 4

A great Reuben sandwich is a study in balance the sour tang of sauerkraut against the richness of…

By Laura Benton · Jun 4

Most people do not associate Louisiana with aviation history. That is exactly what makes walking into this Patterson…

By Laura Benton · Jun 3