Laura Benton

Nobody drives an hour for catfish. But that is exactly what I did, and the catfish was not…

By Laura Benton · Aug 11

Alligator sausage in a cheesecake. I read the menu three times to make sure I was not imagining…

By Laura Benton · Aug 10

The building looks like it belongs on a postcard. Elegant Spanish colonial arches. Iron balconies. A prime spot…

By Laura Benton · Aug 10

I told myself I would browse for an hour. I closed the place down instead. The aisles twist…

By Laura Benton · Aug 9

I had eaten king cake before. Always sweet, always frosted, always the same cinnamon filling. Then I walked…

By Laura Benton · Aug 9

I struck a wall and it sang back at me. That is not a metaphor. My afternoon at…

By Laura Benton · Aug 8

I held a baby alligator in my palms and felt its tiny heartbeat against my thumb. That sentence…

By Laura Benton · Aug 8

Tea is not what I reach for first in Louisiana. Coffee usually wins. But these twelve spots changed…

By Laura Benton · Aug 7

There is a specific kind of relief that hits when you park the car and realize you will…

By Laura Benton · Aug 7

I did not know what a French table lunch was until I sat down at one. The long…

By Laura Benton · Aug 6

Three dollars. That is what it costs to walk inside. I have paid twenty times that for experiences…

By Laura Benton · Aug 6

I drove past the marshland for what felt like an hour before the road finally dumped me onto…

By Laura Benton · Aug 5

I have spent embarrassing amounts of money on observation decks across the country. This view cost me pocket…

By Laura Benton · Aug 5

I ordered through a window the size of a mailbox, waited ten minutes, plus received a paper bag…

By Laura Benton · Aug 4

Louisiana’s biggest Asian supermarket hits you with the smell before you reach the door. Inside, the produce section…

By Laura Benton · Aug 4

I turned off the highway onto a narrow road that felt like it was leading nowhere. Then the…

By Laura Benton · Aug 2

The line started forming before the shop even opened that morning. I knew I was in the right…

By Laura Benton · Aug 2

I have eaten at fancy restaurants with menus longer than novels. I have waited two hours for a…

By Laura Benton · Jul 31

I asked three different people where to find the best fried chicken in the Seventh Ward. Two of…

By Laura Benton · Jul 31

I have walked out of more craft stores than I can count, frustrated by the same basic selection…

By Laura Benton · Jul 30

I almost turned around when I saw the line. It wrapped past the entrance and continued down the…

By Laura Benton · Jul 30

I have a rule about breakfast spots. If the parking lot is full of trucks plus the sign…

By Laura Benton · Jul 29

Sound’s unbelievable, but it’s true. A lake in the southern part of the state swallowed an entire oil…

By Laura Benton · Jul 29

I did not expect to find this kind of beauty on the Louisiana coast. My car rolled off…

By Laura Benton · Jul 28

There is a spot I keep going back to every single time I visit this city. It looks…

By Laura Benton · Jul 28

Most aquariums ask you to look, not touch, keeping thick glass between you and the creatures gliding through…

By Laura Benton · Jul 27

Nobody plans a road trip around a gas station boudin counter, but then you pass the sign, pull…

By Laura Benton · Jul 27

You drive for an hour past marsh grass, shrimp boats. Then the road ends at a stretch of…

By Laura Benton · Jul 27

Eating well should not require a special occasion or a reservation booked weeks in advance. Some of the…

By Laura Benton · Jul 26

Markets reveal a state differently than restaurants do. There is no kitchen wall hiding the work, only folding…

By Laura Benton · Jul 25

The first sound reaches you before the rides come into view: music drifting through the trees, children shouting…

By Laura Benton · Jul 25

The sign on the roof has been there long enough that the paint has faded the way people…

By Laura Benton · Jul 24

The building does not look like much from the road. Hand-painted sign, gravel lot, screen door that sticks.…

By Laura Benton · Jul 24

Walking into a nursery expecting a row of petunias and walking out with a ceramic planter, three candles,…

By Laura Benton · Jul 23

August in New Orleans does something counterintuitive to its restaurant scene. Instead of slowing down, the kitchens lean…

By Laura Benton · Jul 23

Some Southern meals just feel a little different when they come from a steam table lined with pans…

By Laura Benton · Jul 22

Walking into the right deli can transport you thousands of miles without ever leaving the state. The smell…

By Laura Benton · Jul 22

This Louisiana sculpture garden is truly unlike any place on earth. Nothing prepares you for what appears at…

By Laura Benton · Jul 21

Some meals stay with you long after the last bite. That perfectly smoked brisket, the roux that took…

By Laura Benton · Jul 21