Louisiana

Walking through the front doors feels like stepping into a library that lost its catalog and decided to…

By Laura Benton · Jul 5

Ghost tours start at sundown, but the dining room fills long before that. The 1796 inn has earned…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 5

The menu is short. The sandwich that built the reputation is shorter still: thick-cut bologna griddled until the…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 4

Cars line up along the highway before the doors open, which is saying something for a restaurant that…

By Laura Benton · Jul 4

Nobody believes the photos at first. A white sand beach, cabanas lining the shoreline, plus water so clear…

By Laura Benton · Jul 4

Louisiana does not advertise its fossils on bumper stickers or highway signs, but the Cane River Site sits…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 4

Three exclamation points spell the name on the sign outside, plus the energy inside matches every one of…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 3

Driving through the countryside, the restaurant barely registers as a destination. A modest building on a residential street,…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 3

Biscuits do not typically justify a two-hour drive, but the ones coming out of this kitchen have convinced…

By Laura Benton · Jul 3

Road trips fall apart when the receipts start piling up, but Louisiana makes it difficult to overspend. The…

By Laura Benton · Jul 3

Eating out without gluten used to mean scanning a menu for the single item that might work, then…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 2

Plenty of pasta dishes arrive on a plate and leave on a plate. The gnocchi at this kitchen…

By Laura Benton · Jul 2

The sign outside says food store. The menu inside says wings. Everything else on the short list is…

By Laura Benton · Jul 2

Walking through the door feels like entering a fabric library where every shelf holds a different chapter. Bolts…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 2

Something about the combination stops you mid-sentence. The oak branches overhead thick with Spanish moss that sways even…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 1

Nobody arrives at this reservoir park on the Fourth of July without a plan. Some come early to…

By Laura Benton · Jul 1

Louisiana does not do fireworks halfway. The same state that turns Mardi Gras into a weeks-long spectacle brings…

By Laura Benton · Jul 1

You have not really seen fireworks until you have watched them from the deck of a paddlewheel steamboat…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 1

July in Louisiana does not slow down the market scene. The heat pushes vendors under bigger tents, the…

By Dane Ashford · Jun 30

The drive to this legendary restaurant feels like a proper Acadiana setup before dinner even begins. Rice fields,…

By Laura Benton · Jun 30

Fire on the tongue, crunch in the first bite, plus a sauce line that separates the merely curious…

By Dane Ashford · Jun 30

Rising 199 feet above the flat terrain where Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas converge at the river, this cross…

By Laura Benton · Jun 30

Summer in Louisiana does not slow down: it doubles down. By the time July arrives, small towns across…

By Dane Ashford · Jun 29

The display case tells the story before anyone behind the counter says a word. Cannoli lined up in…

By Laura Benton · Jun 29

A neighborhood where shotgun doubles outnumber high-rises seems like an unlikely place to find pizza that locals rank…

By Laura Benton · Jun 29

I went in for one thing and lost forty minutes to the bakery case. That is the danger…

By Dane Ashford · Jun 29

Somewhere between the pine forests and open sky of central Louisiana sits a town where the pace drops…

By Dane Ashford · Jun 28

Sliding off the riverbank into water just cool enough to make July air feel manageable is how tubing…

By Laura Benton · Jun 28

Standing on a ridge that curves gently toward the sky, it takes a moment to register what you…

By Laura Benton · Jun 28

The alley of live oaks hits you before the house does. Two parallel rows of trees planted in…

By Dane Ashford · Jun 28

Block after block of open-air stalls stretching along the riverfront is the kind of setup that makes planning…

By Dane Ashford · Jun 27

A butcher shop that opened when Grover Cleveland was president does not survive by accident. It survives because…

By Laura Benton · Jun 27

Thousands of books under one roof is not a metaphor or a rounding error. It is a literal…

By Laura Benton · Jun 27

Acadiana does not try to impress you with tablecloths or tasting menus. The food here earns its reputation…

By Dane Ashford · Jun 27

Louisiana factories do not just make things: they invite you inside to watch. Behind doors you would normally…

By Dane Ashford · Jun 26

Driving past the city line does something to your expectations. The signage gets smaller, the parking lots get…

By Laura Benton · Jun 26

Cats and Carnival share more than you might think. Both involve costumes, unpredictability, plus a level of commitment…

By Laura Benton · Jun 26

Somewhere between the Spanish moss and the gas station boudin, a day trip in Louisiana stops being ordinary.…

By Dane Ashford · Jun 26

Castles do not belong in the American South, except this one does. Turrets rise above the riverbank, crenellated…

By Laura Benton · Jun 25