Louisiana Life Magazine September/October 2023

La Nouvelle Louisiane

THE BEST OF WHAT’S NEW AROUND THE STATE

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER

ON THE COVER: The Gloriette in Covington is this year’s best new restaurant.

22 MADE IN LOUISIANA

Meredith Waguespack builds a pride of place empire in Louisiana’s Capital City

24 ART

Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame portraitist Chris Brown captures the state’s athletes in top form

26 HOME

A modern, barn-inspired getaway on the Bogue Chitto River in Franklinton

30 KITCHEN GOURMET

Bring the flavors of fall to your freezer with ice creams inspired by the season

56 NATURAL STATE

Protecting the wetlands serves many purposes at the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge

60 TRAVELER

Cabins with a view enable visitors to disconnect and get closer to nature

62 FARTHER FLUNG

This quirky spa town in Arkansas draws outdoors enthusiasts, animal lovers and even ghost hunters

64 PHOTO CONTEST

Checking crab traps on the beach in Grande Isle is serious business

Photo by Sam Hanna

Tales from the Darkside

Throughout middle school, high school and college, two of my favorite pastimes were intentionally scaring myself witless via horror flicks and terrifying novels. On any given night of the week, I’d hole up with cousins, friends or boyfriends in someone’s living or rec room, close the curtains, turn out the lights and fire up the latest slasher, zombie or horror movie or, better yet, catch one at the theater. Meanwhile, my parents had no qualms about letting me borrow their copies of Stephen King’s newly released tomes.

Clowns and lone balloons were forever changed for me.

Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Dracula, Cujo and Hannibal Lecter are but a few of the myriad spine-chilling characters that haunted our nights and fueled our macabre imaginations at the time.

In general, the ‘80s and ‘90s were a great era to be a gothy kid, with stories of cults and serial killer abductions dominating the news and dark teen comedies such as “Heathers” and “The Craft,” plus a veritable vampire renaissance in “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” and the late Louisianian Anne Rice’s “Interview with the Vampire” rolling on the big screen. For the latter two, midnight premiere screenings with a group of like-minded friends were a must.

That was in the “off season” alone.

Once spooky season hit, all bets were off. If we weren’t getting petrified via real and fictional murders and other dark forces, we were standing in line to drop our hard-earned odd job money on haunted houses and trails or creeping one another out honing our own ghost stories.

As an adult, my appetite for slasher movies in particular has dwindled, but I still love a good thriller, ghost story or haunted house and — blame it on Rice or perhaps Louisiana itself — but witches and vampires will always have my heart.

NEVER MISS AN ISSUE. SCAN AND SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

Not in the literal sense — of course — but a horror lover can dream about her bloody close calls and seductions to the dark side, no?

EDITORIAL

EDITOR Melanie Warner Spencer

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Ashley McLellan

COPY EDITOR Liz Clearman

WEB EDITOR Kelly Massicot

FOOD EDITOR Stanley Dry

HOME EDITOR Lee Cutrone

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Errol Laborde

ART DIRECTOR Sarah E.G. Majeste

LEAD PHOTOGRAPHER Danley Romero

FOOD PHOTOGRAPHER Eugenia Uhl

HOME PHOTOGRAPHERS Sara Essex Bradley, Haylei Smith and Marc Gibson

SALES

SALES MANAGER Rebecca Taylor

(337) 298-4424 / (337) 235-7919 Ext. 7230 Rebecca@LouisianaLife.com

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Rougarous and Other Creatures

Hunters were pursuing monsters, and on this day the pursuers would win. But there were still many other creatures nearby.

This being the season of Halloween brings to mind beasts that lurk in our world. Some states have legends of Bigfoot, or Sasquatch, a being that hides, usually in mountains. Since one has never been caught for public inspection, we rely on hearsay to offer descriptions of a creature that seems to be a cross between a gorilla and a grizzly; neither would make welcome company out in the wild.

In Louisiana our creature in hiding is something called the “Rougarou,” or, Loup Garou . We have never met one personally but we know it is supposed to be a werewolf-type character common in French culture. Those same ships that brought French explorers to Louisiana may have unknowingly had a Rougarou hiding perhaps in the cargo area. Upon arrival those creatures leaped into the Louisiana swamp to propagate, if not cubs, certainly folklore.

Louisiana, happily, has never had many wolves except for the loup, which is French for a wolf, who is a garou, a French term for a man who transforms into a monster. The name evolved into Rougarou.

Curiously Sasquatches do not seem to roam in areas where there are Rougarous. My theory is that not even a gorilla/grizzly hybrid wants to mess around with a French version of a werewolf, nor does it crave traversing swamps where there are alligators. It clearly prefers the sanctuary of the peaks where it can take its chances instead with mountain lions.

Speaking of gators, they are the real monsters in the bayous. An episode of the popular History Channel series “Swamp People” featured a hunter named Willie Edwards who was out to get himself a really big gator. State laws limit gator hunting to a narrow season and gator hunters to a limited number of conquests. With time, and quotas, running out, Willie was navigating his motorized skiff down Bayou Sorrel where gators are said to congregate.

Hunters know the creatures on a name basis so Willie was using the season’s last day to go after a bruiser known as “Ironsides.” There is a reason why these types of TV programs are called “reality,” because the reality is that sometimes the outcome is not pretty. Willie spotted Ironsides and then did what gator hunters do, pulled out his pistol and shot him, in the head. A winch was used to pull Ironsides out of the water. He was 12 feet long and weighed 800 pounds. Willie estimated he was about 60 years old. There would be plenty of meat in the camp’s frying pan that evening. Over on nearby Bayou Corne, a colleague bagged a 600-pound gator. Nevertheless, the gator population was barely diminished. Because of preservation efforts and seasonal hunting limitations, there are said to be around two million alligators on the loose in Louisiana. That’s a lot of monsters in any pond. Let’s not forget the Rougarou though. Each year at Halloween time there is the Rougarou Fest in the Terrebonne parish town of Houma. An actual Rougarou has yet to make an appearance, but there are festival-type events and the annual pardoning of “Beignet,” the official nutria allegedly trained to be noninvasive.

Perhaps the horror of the Rougarou has been diminished: The festival’s logo is a silhouette of a tap dancing wolf. But somewhere in the nearby swamp a pair of mysterious, wicked eyes may be gazing cynically at the festivity. As the October moon rises, any mournful howls heard in the distance should be taken seriously.

Louisiana Insider

Catch up on the latest podcast episodes

EPISODE 146

The Feat of Being Fit

There are two things that we all need to do – eat, and be fit. Sometimes doing one contradicts the other. Fortunately, there are some dietitians who keep and eye on that sort of thing and who have the connections to help us walk the thin line. Guest: Molly Kimball administers the popular Eat Fit programs for Ochsner hospitals; has several books on fitness recipes (including one about booze); she makes television appearances and has her own podcast.

EPISODE 145

A Design Masterpiece – Exploring the Louisiana Children’s Museum

The Louisiana Children’s Museum, located in New Orleans’ City Park, is a masterpiece of whimsical design and learning creativity. Guest: Tifferny White, the museum’s CEO talks about the museum not only as a great place for young and older to visit, but also as an important tool in early childhood education.

EPISODE 144

Tony Canzoneri – New Orleans to New York

ERROL LABORDE EXECUTIVE EDITOR

New Orleans was once a fertile area for developing championship boxers. One example was Tony Canzoneri. Guest: Ramon Antonio Vargas, who has seen the tough side of life as a former crime reporter for the Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate talks about his new book “Family, Gangsters & Champions: Boxer Tony Canzoneri’s Life & World.”

WRITER

Misty Milioto

Misty Milioto is a freelance writer and editor with 22 years of experience working with publications across the country, including Sunset, U.S. News & World Report and Modern Luxury’s suite of 80-plus regional publications such as Aspen Magazine, San Francisco Magazine and Scottsdale Magazine. In her free time, she loves to travel and spend time with her Schipperke, Jax.

Cheré Dastugue Coen

WRITER

Cheré Dastugue Coen is a food and travel writer, photographer and author and owner of the whimsical blog, “Weird, Wacky & Wild South.” Her fiction includes two series of Louisiana romances and the “Viola Valentine” paranormal mystery series under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Coen remains passionate about her home state of Louisiana, believing that gumbo, crawfish étouffée and chicory coffee makes all things right with the world.

WRITER

Jeffrey Roedel is a producer, director and journalist focused on Southern makers, artists and creative thought. A graduate of LSU and the University of Southern California’s Production Workshop, he’s the former editor of 225 in Baton Rouge. In 2020, he released a collection of mantras for creativity called “Life Is Gonna Try to Put a Lot of Polo Shirts on You.” His album of pandemic poetry and music called “Distance” was released in 2021.

HOME PHOTOGRAPHER

Sara Essex Bradley is a freelance photographer based in New Orleans. She shoots interiors, travel and food for a variety of editorial and commercial clients, in Louisiana and beyond. She has been a contributor to Renaissance Publishing’s various magazines for 20 plus years. When not shooting or traveling, Bradley enjoys exploring her city by foot, and evenings spent on the front porch with her husband.

WRITER AND PHOTOGRAPHER

Kevin Rabalais, an Avoyelles Parish native, writes and photographs the Natural State series for Louisiana Life. After living for more than a decade in Europe and the South Pacific, he is excited to be back home and to document diverse Louisiana stories. His work has appeared in 64 Parishes, The Australian, the New Zealand Listener, and the Argentine magazine Revista Ñ. He teaches in the Department of English at Loyola University New Orleans.

Jeffrey Roedel

Kevin Rabalais

Sara Essex Bradley

Gumbo Gusto

BY LISA LEBLANC-BERRY

NEW ORLEANS ‘TIS THE SEASON

Get gumbo at these establishments when you ar in New Orleans this fall: Chef and author John Folse’s boneless quail, smoked andouille and poached oyster “Death by Gumbo” masterpiece at Restaurant R’evolution (Folse holds the Guinness World Records title for the Largest Serving of Gumbo, weighing 6,800 pounds) and fried bone-in quail gumbo brimming with housemade rabbit sausage and smoked hen. Notable newcomers: James Beard 2023 finalist Chef Serigne Mbaye’s Senegalese riff on seafood gumbo at Dakar NOLA and Chef Dook Chase’s earthy sausagelaced Creole seafood gumbo at Chapter IV.

LAKE ARTHUR Pit Bull Tales

Pit bulls are no longer banned in Lake Arthur, now that a 20-year ordinance outlawing the breed has been lifted, largely because of difficulties enforcing the ban. While an ever-evolving roster of Louisiana towns assert “dangerous and vicious” pit bull ordinances, those with official bans have included Baldwin, Kinder, Mamou, Morgan City, St. Francisville and Winnfield to date.

RAPIDES Dynamic Farming Duo

Revered for bringing their Rapides Parish bounty from farm to table, Robert and Rachel Duncan have been named Louisiana’s top young farming couple of 2023 by the Louisiana Farm Bureau. Their duties include overseeing 500 acres of soybeans on their fourth-generation Boyce farm, raising beef to sell directly to consumers through farmer’s markets and tending their vast flower farm while also raising three daughters ages 4, 2 and 1.

SLIDELL Cooks Gone Wild

Recently ranked as the third most festival-obsessed state in the U.S., Louisiana boasts three competitive gumbo festivals in a single weekend: New Iberia’s 33rd annual World Championship Gumbo Cookoff features 100 teams of gumbo pros Oct. 14-15; (iberiachamber.org/ gumbocookoff). Chackbay and Bridge City are both celebrating 50th anniversaries Oct. 13-15. The Louisiana Gumbo Festival of Chackbay (lagumbofest.com) attracts 15,000 visitors with 500 gallons of gumbo and live music. Bridge City’s Gumbo Festival (bridgecitygumbofestival.org) boasts 60,000 attendees, pageants and a lively gumbo contest.

More than 20 teams of cooks are preparing wild game creations derived from swamp gators, wild hogs, deer, bayou quail and mallards during Slidell Chief of Police Randy Fandal’s Wild Game, Seafood and BBQ Cook-Off (Sept. 30) in Old Towne Slidell. After feasting, locals can enjoy line-dancing, an arts and crafts fair, face painting and cornhole in the Kids Zone (eventbrite. com/e/chief-fandals-wild-gameseafood-bbq-cook-off-2023tickets-462209650507).

Celebrating one of Louisiana’s favorite dishes, plus man’s best friend, farming and more food, of course

Ghosts and Girls

Books for spooky season and for the sometimes scary job of growing up

BY ASHLEY MCLELLAN

GROWING UP THE HURRICANE GIRLS

City of the Undead

From “Interview with a Vampire” to tales of voodoo, above-ground cemeteries, haunted alleys and taverns, New Orleans remains a city linked with ghost stories and mysteries. In “City of the Undead,” author Robin Ann Roberts explores the history of the city, its tragic connection with death, plague and enslavement, and the impact of those touchpoints on the legacy of supernatural spirituality that holds to today. It’s a careful look at a disturbing past, and how tales of the paranormal have transformed how generations have embraced and coped with racism, sexism and oppression. Plus, she tells a great ghost story or two along the way. Paperback, 200 pages, $24.95.

“The Hurricane Girls” follows the lives of three best friends navigating growing up and growing together despite challenges beyond their control. Seventh graders Greer, Joya Mia and Kiki, all born in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, navigate tragedy when Greer’s sister is paralyzed by an accident. The trio must learn how to deal with their own issues of family, pain and loss, body insecurity and forgiveness, while sticking together as friends. Award-winning YA author Kimberly Willis Holt (National Book Award –Winner, ALA Best Books for Young Adults, Booklist Editors' Choice, School Library Journal Best Books of the Year) received praise for “The Hurricane Girls,” from Booklist, The Horn Book, starred review, and from fellow award-winning author Deborah Wiles, who said the book is "A tender and triumphant story about friendship and family, in a proud and resilient city.” Hardcover, 288 pages, $16.99.

DEAR DIARY

A Girl’s Life in New Orleans

From attending concerts to hanging out with friends, discussing the latest fashion and “who did what with whom,” teens have always had many issues to write about in their diaries. “A Girl’s Life in New Orleans” follows one such teen, Ella Grunewald, as she navigates growing up in the late 1800s. Many issues, such as friendships and school, may be familiar to today, and some offer a glimpse into the past as Ella writes about the 1884 World’s Fair, Carnival balls and tragedies from illness and death. Editor Hans Rasmussen, head of Special Collections Technical Services at LSU Libraries in Baton Rouge, puts Ella’s story expertly into context and provides readers with an in-depth look at life from one young girl’s point of view. Hardcover, 192 pages, $35.

ALL TREATS, NO TRICKS A Haunted Ghost Tour

“A Haunted Ghost Tour in Louisiana” follows Little Ghost and the entire Ghost family as they trick and treat themselves through (not-so) spooky stops throughout Louisiana. From “haunted” boat rides to museum visits, swamp tours and more, there’s plenty of fun for all. Plus, young readers can interact with a “find the ghost” game hidden throughout. Written by Louise Martin and illustrated with bright, fun fall colors by Gabriele Tafuni, the Ghost family’s tour will scare up some good fun for any beginner reader. Hardcover, 40 pages, $11.99.

HAUNTED LEGACY

Callin’ Baton Rouge

BY JEFFREY ROEDEL PHOTOS BY ROMERO & ROMERO

The only thing in the back was a car seat and boxes of dreams. This is how Meredith Waguespack took to the road at age 31 to drive from Lafayette to New Orleans, trying to kickstart her clothing line by stopping at any boutique and gift shop she could find and asking if they wanted to stock her then-modest collection of children’s football-themed T-shirts — of course in the home team palettes of purple-and-gold and black-and-gold.

“There were no meetings or calls ahead, so I’d walk in, show off the shirts, we’d sign the invoice, and I’d get paid on the spot,” the now 44-year-old multi-business entrepreneur recalls. “That was pure determination.”

Launching a new brand out of your car is one thing, but starting a new chapter in life with a big move is exactly what Waguespack was doing 12 years before her foray into local shirt designs when she drove south down I-49 from the quiet farmlands of tiny Athens in north Louisiana, and east across the I-10topped Atchafalaya Basin into the Capital City.

“I remember going over the bridge near downtown Baton Rouge just thinking, ‘This is a whole new life for me, a fresh start,’” Waguespack says. “I still get chills when I go over that bridge because of the intense feeling of the first time crossing the river and knowing this was going to be my new home.”

The energetic feeling heralded and hollered in LSU’s unofficial game-day jam, Garth Brooks’ “Callin’ Baton Rouge,” colored her first several years in the city as she earned her marketing degree and consulted with Kadair’s, a camera store and film developer, and other small businesses. The hit song and her instant crush on the Red Stick made such an impression, she knew she wanted to call her brand Sweet Baton Rouge.

Meredith Waguespack builds a pride of place empire in Louisiana’s Capital City

Though she still considers hers a small business, dozens of shops across the state have become fast buyers of her expanded line that includes Louisianainspired hats, socks, tea towels and jewelry. One of the first shop owners was Britney Burton of Simply Chic in Bossier City. Burton immediately loved Sweet Baton Rouge’s celebration of all things unique to Louisiana.

“Meredith has been successful because [she has] kept her business personal even with the extreme growth in her clientele,” Burton says. With this, Waguespack agrees. She’s always producing designs and products for her age and demographic, and that’s not going to change.

“Our Sweet & Southern line caters to a whole audience outside of Baton Rouge and Louisiana,” she says. “It’s ‘90s country music. It’s Dolly Parton and ‘Steel Magnolias.’ I started this in my 30s, and the demographic has just grown and aged with me.”

After organizing large-scale pop-up markets at Perkins Rowe in Baton Rouge, Waguespack opened a brick-and-mortar Sweet Baton Rouge in 2020, as well as the gift boutique Local Supply next door, though she sold her stake in Local Supply at the end of 2022.

Sweet Baton Rouge’s Lagniappe Box is a unique subscription service offering a curated collection of local goods and gifts delivered quarterly with themes of Mardi Gras, Crawfish, Game Day and Holidays.

Waguespack’s husband Bart is a contractor, and together they own the Library Wine & Provisions, a new bar and upscale eatery in Gonzales, carrying on Waguespack’s focus on building community and fostering collaboration with every new venture.

With Sweet Baton Rouge steadily growing, the entrepreneur has returned to her marketing roots by Nouveau Consulting to personally help small businesses effectively reach their audiences, and she’s in the early planning phase for a biannual print publication filled with artist stories, local makers and quality Louisiana goods.

“We want to be able to come back to that place where it all started for us by creating a community,” Waguespack says. “Storytelling is a great way to do that through the eyes of Sweet Baton Rouge.”

Waguespack is a study in resiliency and self-determination. She went back to college at age 23. She didn’t start her business until she was in her 30s. For Waguespack, it’s never been too late to try.

“I’m always tickled with the way I grew up in such a small town, that I’m not from this area, but I chose to make Baton Rouge my home,” Waguespack says. “And hopefully I’m creating some kind of legacy for myself to give back in some way to the city that took me in when I was 19. I want to make a real impact here in the long run.” n

When you’re not working, where could we find you having fun and hanging out? I love the LSU Lakes, either walking around them or running them. Working out and being physically fit is really important to me, so I also enjoy taking work out classes around Baton Rouge and hosting different collab workouts through our page @donstopjustgeaux on Instagram. For dinner, we enjoy Superior Grill anytime, whether in Shreveport, Baton Rouge or New Orleans, but the location on Highland Road in Baton Rouge is my absolute favorite. On the road, I always love visiting Natchitoches, such a hidden little gem. What’s something you’ve learned about yourself since you’ve become an entrepreneur? I’ve learned to stay focused on my goals and not what others around me are doing. I’ve learned to not compare myself and my journey of where I am with others people. And I’ve learned to be happy right where I am.

If you could collaborate with any celebrity on a shirt or other clothing item, who would you want to work with and why? I would love to work with Joe Burrow from a gameday perspective for designs, but for fun, I would love to work with Dolly Parton. I just love her wit and wisdom that she has shared with us all these years.

Star Player

Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame portraitist Chris Brown captures the state’s athletes in top form

BY JOHN R. KEMP

As long as Louisiana keeps producing world-class athletes, Chris Brown has a job, and what a job it is. He is the portrait artist to stars — Louisiana sports stars, that is.

Since 2009, Brown has been the official portrait artist for the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in downtown Natchitoches. During those past 14 years, he has painted 158 portraits of hall of fame inductees, including stellar athletes such as Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning, as well as Shaquille O’Neal, three-time Super Bowl champion Kevin Faulk, eight-time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman, four-time world champion steer wrestler Steve Duhon, and — among others — the incredible champion basketball player and coach Kim Mulkey, who recently coached her LSU women’s basketball team to the NCAA National Championship. The impressive list goes on.

“Getting to paint some of the most famous athletes in the world is inspiring,” says Brown. “Being able to start with nothing and create something absolutely new to the world is intoxicating.”

Actually, Brown, who was born in Nebraska and now resides with his wife and son just north of Fort Worth, had a pretty good run as an athlete. He played college baseball at Cowley College in Kansas before moving on to play at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, where he studied art and art education. He also chalked up a fairly successful six-year career playing for minor league teams owned by the Chicago Cubs and the TexasLouisiana/Central Baseball League.

Brown, however, walked away from baseball in 2003 when he traded in his glove, bat and ball for paints, brushes and a new career as a professional artist. Slowly building up a portfolio of commissioned paintings, Brown got his big break in 2009 when Northwestern State University’s basketball team slam dunked a soundof-the-buzzer first-round tournament playoff win over Iowa State University. The university commissioned Brown to do a painting to celebrate the victory. As luck would have it, Doug Ireland, chairman of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, was present when Brown presented the painting to the university. After the ceremony, Ireland

asked Brown if he would like to apply for the position of official portrait artist for the hall of fame. Brown jumped at the opportunity, sent Ireland a sample portrait, and got the job.

Ireland speaks highly of Brown’s work and his relationship with hall of fame inductees. He gets these new members personally involved in his work. Not only was Brown a respected college and professional athlete, Ireland says, but he also was an accomplished artist whose style has contributed significantly to the hall of fame’s identity.

(Above) Artist Chris Brown (Facing page, Top) Ronnie Coleman (Bottom) Jahri Evans (Right) Phil Robertson

“Chris was very good when he came on board as our official artist,” says Ireland. “The growth in his artwork, and the expansion of his repertoire, has been so impressive to watch. There’s no decision I’ve made since becoming chairman in 1990 that I am any more gratified by than selecting Chris to be our artist. He has become an invaluable member of our team. His emergence as one of America’s premier sports artists is well deserved.”

When painting portraits, Brown works mostly from photographs of the inductees, especially long past hall-offamers. Though some portrait painters prefer their subjects to be physically present during the process, Brown says the new photographic technology works well for him when new hall-of-famers choose photographs that are composites of all the teams they played on during their careers, or when they

select an image that expresses a special moment when you can see “the emotion in their faces.” He wants them to relive that moment again in their portraits, and only a photograph taken at that time captured that expression. In addition, photographs enable him to show inductees exactly what the portrait will look like before he starts.

“Portraits are the toughest form of art simply because you have to be exact, especially with someone that is world famous,” says Brown. “Literally everyone knows what they look like. For me, the person in the portrait

EXHIBITS

CAJUN

Martin Payton

Found-object art constructions by New Orleans musician and artist, through Jan. 13. Acadiana Center for the Arts, Lafayette. acadianacenterforthearts.org

CENTRAL

Connected

Visions: Louisiana’s Artistic Lineage

Overview of Louisiana’s artistic heritage, permanent exhibit. Alexandria Museum of Art. themuseum.org

PLANTATION

Art in Louisiana: Views into the Collection

Overview of art in Louisiana, ongoing. LSU Museum of Art. lsumoa.org

NOLA

Photogenic:

Photographs from the Collection of Cherye R. and James F. Pierce

Featuring extensive private art photography, through Sept. 10. New Orleans Museum of Art. noma.org

needs to be thrilled with it. It's not enough for them to be happy with it. That keeps the pressure on to make sure I do the very best I can. I used to get nervous when the hall of fame inductees saw their portraits for the first time. Now I get excited to show it to them. I suppose confidence comes with experience.”

Painting portraits to please, however, has its challenges. Each person has unique facial features and that’s why he never gets bored painting them.

“Studying faces can be fascinating,” says Brown, whose studio wall is covered with 8-foot-tall paintings of Louis Armstrong, Poseidon and Jesus. “If you are ever talking to me face to face, I’m probably studying your features and working through them in my mind.”

Next year a new crop of athletes will enter the hall of fame and Chris Brown will be at his easel. Visit chrisbrownsportsart.net. n

NORTH Christiane Drieling

Artwork by Germanborn Ruston artist Christiane Drieling, through Oct. 21. Masur Museum of Art, Monroe. masurmuseum.org

River Current

A

modern, barn-inspired getaway on the Bogue Chitto River in Franklinton

BY LEE CUTRONE PHOTOS BY SARA ESSEX BRADLEY

In the age of nonstop cell phones and computer screens, Lacey and Richard “Dino” Watler wanted to build a getaway where they and their two children (Dean, 10, and Autumn, 9) could decompress and enjoy the outdoors. They considered a variety of ideas, including a rustic camp, a place at the beach and a river house. In 2020, Lacey found a 6½-acre pie-shaped piece of land that backs up to a wide expanse of the Bogue Chitto River in Franklinton, and with the help of architect Lindsay Woolf of Woolf Architecture & Interiors, CP Enterprises and interior designer Betsey Hazard of House of Hazard Interiors, their dream of a

North Shore escape became a picture-perfect reality.

The property was ideal for the family, who enjoy outdoor activities such as ATVs and boating (Dino owns a marine service company, Lacey owns a fitness studio). The Watlers had a few clear concepts for the design of the house. The starting point was an image of a “black barn house” with board and batten siding and an A-frame roofline that Lacey found on Pinterest. The house would have to be elevated for flood protection and the couple wanted a woodsy aesthetic that would blend in with the surrounding trees. Lacey also wanted a T-shaped layout so that the bedrooms and main living space overlook the river.

The timbered property naturally shaped the design of the house.

“The last thing I wanted was a 30A teal house in the middle of the woods,” says Dino, who credits Lacey with “a lot of the vision” and notes that the house’s proximity to the river meant including things like floors that would stand up to kids in wet bathing suits.

(Left) The metal roof allows for drainage without leaf-clogged gutters. (Right) A contemporary firepit and Adirondack chairs. (Facing page) Clean lines are the hallmark of the large island and stove alcove.

The great room has a modified cathedral ceiling with shiplap and exposed beams. Sliding glass doors and windows provide maximum visibility.

ARCHITECTURE

Lindsay Woolf, Woolf Architecture & Interiors

INTERIOR DESIGN

Betsey Hazard, House of Hazard Interiors

SQUARE FOOTAGE

1,950

OUTSTANDING FEATURES

Raised cross shape with A-frame entrances and river views, board and batten siding, exposed white oak beams, knotty pine floors, large Caesarstone island, hidden vent hood, tile that mimics natural materials.

Woolf built on the clients’ wishes by combing through hundreds of images online, then pulling them together to shape her drawings and to assemble mood boards that presented a cohesive picture of an architectural plan in which “every room speaks the same language.”

“It’s not every day that a client asks me to design a modern black home on six acres overlooking the Bogue Chitto River,” says Woolf.

The final design is a raised, cross-shaped river house, with a metal roof, A-frame entrances, sliding glass doors, and a deep charcoal exterior accented with natural wood. The interior, which includes four bedrooms and three

baths, is lighter and brighter with white walls. But the contemporary barn inspiration is expressed with a lofty vaulted ceiling, exposed white oak beams, knotty wood floors, and shiplap planks. Darkened sliding windows blend with the color and verticality of the exterior. The solid pane sliding windows and the cable-rail at the porch both allow for unimpeded views.

Woolf kept the design both modern and timeless with clean, sleek features such as a waterfall edge Caesarstone island and a range alcove that hides the vent hood. Hazard helped select finishes and furnishings and was likewise conscious of both the setting and the clients’ preference

for a classic-yet-modern spin. She sourced tiles that look like river rock for the bathroom floors and striated marble that mimics wood grain for the walls of the master shower. She also brought together a mix of furnishings, including the custom dining table, with simple lines and a neutral palette drawn from the materials used in the architecture.

The family entertains often at the house, which they’ve dubbed “The Bougie Barn.” Since the house is 16 feet above ground, there is ample space underneath for games, a fire pit, barbecuing and other leisure activities.

“We wanted something easy,” says Lacey. “The river is so relaxing.” n

(Top) The dining table of red oak stained black was designed by Betsey Hazard and fabricated by RB Mikael. (Bottom) The master bath features tile reminiscent of the river rock outside.

Frozen Flavor Explosions

Since ice cream knows no season, this is a good time to enjoy some of autumn’s fruits and nuts in frozen form. Pecans, persimmons and apples, three fall favorites, can be turned into delicious ice creams.

There are an infinite number of ice cream flavors, but only two basic types of ice cream — Philadelphia-style and custard. Philadelphia-style ice cream is made with cream and milk. Custard ice cream is made with egg yolks, as well as cream and milk. All three recipes this month are Philadelphia-style and are a snap to make.

BAKED APPLE ICE CREAM

2 red apples, such as Fuji (about 1 pound)

¼ cup unsweetened apple juice

½ cup light brown sugar

1 cup whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons Calvados

PREHEAT oven to 350 F. Core apples and cut each into eight slices. In a baking dish, combine apples, apple juice and sugar. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake in preheated oven until apples are softened, about 30 minutes. Cool.

ADD apples with their liquid, milk and cream to blender and purée until smooth. Press through a fine mesh strainer. Add Calvados and refrigerate until cold. Process in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Scoop into a container and freeze until firm. Makes about 1 quart.

BY STANLEY DRY PHOTOS AND STYLING BY EUGENIA UHL

The pecan ice cream recipe yields an assertively flavored ice cream. It is delicious on its own, but it’s even better as a sundae, with the addition of chocolate

Bring the flavors of fall to your freezer with ice creams inspired by the season

sauce and some softly whipped cream. The recipe for the chocolate sauce comes from Michel Guérard, the French chef who was one of the principal founders of the nouvelle cuisine movement. I’m so fond of the sauce that I always have a container in the fridge. There’s no cream in the recipe, so it keeps well and is delicious served either hot or cold. The whipped cream is sweetened with powdered sugar, which contains some cornstarch that helps to stabilize the cream.

The persimmon ice cream is too delicate to be used in a sundae, but it pairs nicely with almond cookies or a plain pound cake. Persimmons have a short season, so if you’re as fond of them as I am, buy or harvest a bunch and freeze the pulp in one- or two-cup containers. You can also freeze whole persimmons and eat them frozen for a special treat reminiscent of a sorbet.

The baked apple ice cream is, perhaps, a bit unusual, but I’m including it because I love baked apples, which always remind me of autumn. Calvados, the French apple brandy called for in the recipe, isn’t absolutely necessary, so if you don’t have any, omit it or substitute another brandy. This ice cream also goes nicely with almond cookies or a pound cake. n

NOTE: These cookies are wonderfully chewy. For a crisp version, flatten each ball of dough with the tines of a fork and bake until lightly browned, about 8-9 minutes. Bake some of each type and see which you prefer.

PERSIMMON ICE CREAM

2 cups persimmon pulp

½ cup granulated sugar

1 cup whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

COMBINE persimmon pulp and sugar in a blender and process until smooth. Add milk and cream and process until well blended. Transfer to a covered container and refrigerate until cold. Process in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Scoop into a container and freeze until firm. Makes about 1 quart.

PECAN ICE CREAM

1 cup light brown sugar

2 tablespoons water

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups whole milk

2 tablespoons bourbon

1 cup pecan halves

1 tablespoon melted butter

¼ teaspoon salt

PLACE light brown sugar and water in a heavy saucepan and cook over medium-high heat, while stirring. Mixture will foam and bubble. Cook, stirring, until foam subsides and the spoon,when pulled across the bottom of the pan, leaves a track, about 7-8 minutes. Off the heat, slowly pour in the cream. Step back because the mixture will foam up and splatter. Add milk and bourbon and stir. Transfer to a covered container and refrigerate until cold.

ALMOND COOKIES

¼ pound unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

grated zest of 1 lemon

¼ teaspoon pure almond extract

¼ teaspoon salt

1½ teaspoons baking powder

1 cup blanched, finely-ground almond flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

PREHEAT oven to 375 F. Lightly grease two baking sheets.

IN A MIXING BOWL, beat butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add egg, lemon zest and almond extract and mix well. Add salt, baking powder and almond flour and mix to combine. Fold in allpurpose flour.

TAKE a piece of dough about the size of a walnut, form into a ball and place on baking sheet. Repeat, leaving adequate space between each. (A half-sheet pan will accommodate 12 balls of dough.)

BAKE until lightly browned around the edges, about 8-10 minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool. Repeat until all the dough is baked. Makes about 40 cookies.

MEANWHILE, preheat oven to 350 F. Combine pecans, melted butter and salt and toss to coat pecans. Transfer pecans to a rimmed baking sheet and toast in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Stir pecans and place back in the oven for another 10 minutes. When pecans have cooled, chop them, place in a covered container and refrigerate.

WHEN ice cream mixture is cold, process in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Add pecans at the end when the mixture has thickened. Transfer to a covered container and freeze until solid. Makes about 1 quart.

To make an ice cream sundae, scoop pecan ice cream into a bowl, cover with Michel Guérard's chocolate sauce and top with whipped cream (recipes online at LouisianaLife.com).

La NouvelleLouisiAne

THE BEST OF WHAT’S NEW AROUND THE STATE

While it may also be known as Sportsman’s Paradise, Louisiana is home to more than just natural beauty. From top restaurants and breweries to music venues, museums and dance halls, the state is brimming with individuals keen to make Louisiana an even better place to live and visit. Here, we’ve rounded up the best of what’s new in a multitude of categories. BY

MISTY MILIOTO

Food & Drink

Best New Restaurant

RUNNERS UP

THE BEKERY

Lake Charles Resembling a Parisian paradise, this 2,500-square-foot café and confectionery was recently redesigned in a modern reinterpretation of classic French design. Lake Charles-based interior design firm Thomas Guy Interiors incorporated green- and cream-colored penny tiles; Baroque-style globe pendants, crystal chandeliers and bell-shaped fixtures; custom bistro tables; and brass shelving and accents. The French menu features items like croissants, omelettes, quiches, breakfast and lunch sandwiches, plus desserts and loaves of freshly baked bread. 2040 E. Walnut St., Lake Charles, 337-761-4777, facebook.com/thebekeryllc

SWAMP MONSTER RESTAURANT

The Gloriette

led by Chef Steven Marsella, The Gloriette opened within the Southern Hotel in downtown Covington in the spring of 2022. Serving breakfast, brunch (on Saturday and Sunday), lunch and dinner, the restaurant features regional and French-inspired cuisine — all in a gorgeously designed space. The menu includes items like blue crab gumbo; New Bedford sea scallops; crab tagliatelle; and pan-roasted pork chop. The Cypress Bar, located adjacent to the dining room, serves drinks and small plates throughout the day. 428 E. Boston St., Covington, 985-202-8090, thegloriette.com

Franklinton This casual seafood restaurant in Franklinton features quirky décor and a menu with appetizers like Cajun tamales and alligator bites, plus seafood gumbo, po’ boys, burgers, seafood plates and signature dishes. There’s also a kid’s menu and desserts (try the bread pudding). 913 Washington St., Franklinton, 985-322-2121, facebook. com/swampmonsteroffranklintonla

JAY PAPPA’S

Monroe Located on the Ouachita River in Monroe, Jay Pappa’s specializes in steaks, seafood and specialty pizzas. For starters, try the duck wraps, Jay Pappa’s wings or the fried green tomatoes with lump crabmeat, and for mains, try the oyster po’ boy, an eight-ounce filet or the seafood platter. 2538 River Landing, Monroe, 318-582-5333, jaypappas.com

COVINGTON

BEST NEW CHEF

RUNNERS UP ANA CASTRO

LENGUA MADRE

New Orleans Lengua Madre is a New Orleans restaurant known for Chef Ana Castro’s five-course tasting menu rooted in traditional Mexican cuisine. It has become so well known that Bon Appétit recently named it as a Best New Restaurant in America. Additionally, Food & Wine also named Castro as one of its Best New Chefs of 2022. Expect to be surprised, as the menu constantly evolves. 1245 Constance St., New Orleans, 655-1338, lenguamadrenola.com

ROSS DOVER

PALMETTOS ON THE BAYOU

SERIGNE MBAYE

Chef Serigne Mbaye, who was born in New York and raised in Dakar, Senegal, studied culinary arts at New England Culinary Institute. Over the years, he honed his cooking style and techniques working at various Japanese, Cuban, French and Creole restaurants. However, his love of Senegalese cuisine is the spotlight of the pescatarian tasting menu at Dakar NOLA, with a focus on local produce and seafood. 3814 Magazine St., New Orleans, 504-493-9396, dakarnola.com

Slidell Open since 2002, Palmettos on the Bayou is an Acadian-style restaurant located on the tranquil Bayou Bonfouca near Old Towne Slidell. Open for brunch and dinner, the restaurant highlights Creole dishes using fresh Louisiana ingredients. Chef Ross Dover joined Palmettos in 2022, and he previously served as executive chef for three years and executive sous chef for two years at Restaurant August in New Orleans. 1901 Bayou Lane, Slidell, 985-643-0050, palmettosrestaurant.com

NEW ORLEANS DAKAR NOLA

BEST NEW BAR

Odelia

Put on your fancy pants and head to Odelia in Mandeville. This sophisticated café and wine bistro comes to life with elevated décor and a cultured aesthetic. The drinks menu features specialty cocktails, martinis, spritzes and zero-proof mocktails. Odelia also serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. 3529 U.S. Hwy. 190, Mandeville, 985-778-0034, odeliacafe.com

BEST NEW/OLD DANCE HALL

HIDEAWAY ON LEE

Lafayette Located in a recently remodeled historic building (formerly occupied by the Schilling Shack), Hideaway on Lee is a bar, restaurant and live music venue. The menu features seasonally driven classic and original cocktails, plus a variety of burgers. 407 Lee Ave., Lafayette, 337-484-1141, hideawayonlee.com

BEST NEW BREWERY AGILE BREWING

Baton Rouge This new brewery in Baton Rouge features not only a plethora of craft brews but also a tasty food menu. Beers include Overclocked India red ale, Witty Core sour wheat ale and Back Space Blond ale, among others. Meanwhile, the food menu features Bavarian pretzel sticks, fried pickles and pulled-pork nachos, plus burgers, sliders, tacos and wraps. 14141 Airline Hwy., Ste. 4J, Baton Rouge, 225-427-0630, agile.beer

RUNNER UP

ADOPTED DOG BREWING

Lafayette Adopted Dog Brewing offers craft beer brewed in-house, plus a food menu that complements the suds. In addition to popular beer styles, the pet-friendly brewery also offers small-batched brews. Options include 337 Blueberry Blonde, Hazy Times hazy IPA and Fleur de Lis golden lager. Meanwhile, the food menu includes salads, flatbreads, sandwiches, and Southern-fried fish and chips. 329 Dulles Drive, Lafayette, 337-504-5400, adopteddogbrewing.com

MANDEVILLE

Travel

BEST NEW ATTRACTION

Margaritaville RV Resort Breaux Bridge

The Cajun Palms RV Resort has undergone a rebranding and is now named Margaritaville RV Resort Breaux Bridge. The beach-style campground now features 91 luxury cabins and 452 upgraded RV sites complete with full utility connections, Wi-Fi, picnic tables and fire pits. Top-notch amenities include three updated resort-style pools with water slides and a hot tub, brand-new cabanas, on-site restaurants and bars (including a swim-up bar), mini golf, a pickleball court and a Barkaritaville Dog Park. 1055 N. Barn Road, Breaux Bridge, 337-667-7772, margaritavilleresorts.com/ camp-margaritaville-rv-resort-breaux-bridge

RUNNER UP CHELSEA’S LIVE

Baton Rouge A new music venue in Baton Rouge, Chelsea’s Live, hosts live music and events, danceparty nights, karaoke competitions and more. In September, catch Magic City Hippies with Kainalu (Sept. 15) and Enter Shikari (Sept. 24). In October, catch Beast in Black Back in North America Tour with Dance with The Dead (Oct. 9) and Durand Jones North American Tour (Oct. 25). 1010 Nicholson Drive, Baton Rouge, chelseaslive.com

BEST NEW (LIMITED ENGAGEMENT) PARISH-WIDE BASH LAFAYETTE

PARISH BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION

Lafayette Parish, which was chartered by the Louisiana Legislature in 1823, is celebrating its bicentennial this year with a series of monthly events. In September, the Downtown Alive! Bicentennial Celebration features free family-friendly outdoor concerts on Friday nights from 5:30-9 p.m. Also, Nov. 27-28 , be sure to check out the Localpalooza Bicentennial Celebration in downtown Lafayette, which will be tied into three different music events that happen around the parish: the Mercredi Show (Carencro); Rhythms on the River (River Ranch area); and Downtown Alive! — but with bigger, better shows at each. Meanwhile, the special edition of Festivals Acadiens et Creoles Bicentennial Celebration at Girard Park Oct. 13-15 will feature added entertainment. Multiple locations, Lafayette, lafayettetravel.com/bicentennial

BREAUX BRIDGE

THE HELIS FOUNDATION JOHN SCOTT CENTER

BEST OUTDOOR SPACE

RAILROAD PARK

Hammond The Hammond Downtown Development District has opened Railroad Park in Hammond. The newly renovated public space — designed by Roy Dufreche and Associates — boasts improved sidewalks, revived oak trees, the restored Stewart Memorial, a performance stage, a largescale outdoor mural titled “Hammond Daydream” by Britt Flood, Instagram-worthy metal “Hammond” letters, a clock donated by Hammond Rotary, seating, lighting and public restrooms. 106 N.W. Railroad Ave., Hammond

RUNNER UP

HOUMA COURTHOUSE BANDSTAND

Houma Terrebonne Parish

Consolidated Government partnered with the Hache Grant Association and Houma Downtown Development Corporation to build the Houma Courthouse Bandstand. The replica of an historic, early1900s downtown bandstand features an etched copper roof and an iron rail with musical-note motif. Built in 2022, the bandstand commemorated the bicentennial celebration of Terrebonne Parish. 7856 W. Main St., Houma

The Helis Foundation John Scott Center is a new interactive gathering space in Turners’ Hall. The center presents heritage and symbolism interpreted through the lens of artist, educator and humanist John T. Scott’s life, art and legacy. Visitors will find works of art in the 6,000-square-foot gallery that spark conversation about present-day issues from education and the environment to the movement for social justice. 938 Lafayette St., New Orleans, 504-523-4352, leh.org

RUNNER UP

FINDING OUR ROOTS AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM

Houma After Hurricane Ida damaged the building housing Finding Our Roots African American Museum in August 2021, the museum put its exhibits (focusing on rich African American history and culture) in storage. However, the museum has gone mobile with a 34-foot RV that is now doing pop-ups around Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes.

BEST NEW MUSEUM NEW ORLEANS

CITY PARK TENNIS CENTER

City Park Tennis Center repurposed its center court for pickleball with four dedicated courts (and another practice-court renovation bringing the total to five). Courts are available by the hour on a first-come, first-serve basis for $10. 5900 Marconi Drive, New Orleans, 504-483-9422, neworleanscitypark.org

RUNNER UP COMEAUX RECREATION CENTER

Lafayette The Comeaux Recreation Center in Lafayette’s Beaullieu Park offers new pickleball courts with matches held on Wednesdays (May through August) from 6-9 p.m. 411 W. Bluebird Drive, Lafayette, 337-291-8875, lafayettela.gov

BEST NEW EVENT 225 FEST

Baton Rouge Created by entrepreneur Myra Richardson, the first 225 Fest took place in downtown Baton Rouge on Feb. 25, 2023. It combined the history and culture of Baton Rouge with the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. Attendees enjoyed food trucks, live performances, an art walk, panel discussions and children’s activities. Mark your calendar for Feb. 25, 2024 from 12-5 p.m., when the event will once again celebrate #225day. 225fest.com

RUNNERS UP RUM REVIVAL

Lake Charles The inaugural Rum Revival rum tasting event launched in 2022, and it returned in 2023 to celebrate the Gulf Coast’s colorful history and ties to the Caribbean. In addition to rum tastings, the event also included tequila tastings, Caribbean cuisine and live music and entertainment.

LIVE AFTER 5

Ponchatoula Live After 5 is a free, family-friendly concert series in downtown Ponchatoula. Guests are invited to bring lawn chairs and food and beverages from their favorite downtown restaurants. 110 W. Hickory St., Ponchatoula, downtownponchatoula.com

BEE ALIVE BEEKEEPING CONFERENCE AND EXPO

Slidell The Bee Alive Honeybee Beekeeping Conference & Expo is a two-day event celebrating all things honeybees, Sept. 23-24, 2023 at The Harbor Center. Visitors can expect beekeeping talks and vendors, Q&A round-table discussions and a honey show held by the American Honey Show Judges. 100 Harbor Center Blvd., Slidell, beealiveconference.com

People

RUNNERS UP DR. MARCUS JONES

NORTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT

Natchitoches Dr. Marcus Jones was named president of Northwestern State University in November 2021, after having served as interim president since the retirement of Dr. Chris Maggio in July 2021. Dr. Jones, Northwestern State’s first Black president, was formally invested to the office Sept. 9, 2022. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Northwestern State, his master’s degree at Grambling State University and his law degree at Southern University Law Center. nsula.edu

HUNTER LEE MANNIES CHEF

Shreveport-Bossier

Willie Fritz

Tulane University Head Football Coach

The 2022 season marked Tulane University Head Football Coach Willie Fritz’s 30th year as a collegiate head coach and 26th year leading an NCAA program at the Division I or Division II level. He led Tulane to the American Athletic Conference championship last season, and the Green Wave also went on to win the title game last year before beating USC in the Cotton Bowl. All in all, 2022 was the best football season for Tulane in more than 50 years.

Hunter Lee Mannies is a retired chef who recently introduced a new seasoning brand called Benwood’s Surely Southern. Originally created by his father in the 1980s, Mannies added his own special touch to the recipe. In addition to the original flavor, there’s also a low-sodium and spicier version. Mannies also is in the process of releasing three cookbooks in the Benwood’s series, and he has a cooking show on KSLA TV, Shreveport that airs every Monday morning at 9:30 a.m. benwoodssurelysouthern.com

THE RUSH OF CHASING HAINTS

HAUNTED ATTRACTIONS MAY NOT BE REAL, BUT BOY ARE THEY SCARY — AND FUN

BY CHERÉ COEN

FEAR RUNS DEEP IN HUMANS.

Fear of the dark, alligators, public speaking — Alabama football.

But some fear is exciting.

Throughout Louisiana this time of year haunted attractions and structures built with creepy settings animated by costumed actors abound. Visitors pay to be tormented by zombies and the ghosts, touch creepy crawly things and wander through the dark while invisible hands grab.

Blame it on the brain. According to scientific studies, a rush of adrenaline produced from the fearful experience ignites the heart rate and blood pressure and alerts the body to fight or flee. The body comes alive with oxygen to the bloodstream and glucose rises to give an energy boost. Once the person realizes the fear isn’t real, there’s a rush of endorphins and dopamine to the brain, causing euphoria.

There may be easier ways to create that heady feeling, but for those who love to be scared, we’ve compiled a few attractions open for business this fall.

DARK WOODS HAUNTED ATTRACTION NATCHITOCHES

Dark Woods morphs each year from the Lost Treasure Mining Company with its 100-foot mining sluice with gemstones to discover into the Dark Woods Haunted Attraction in late September. The 18 acres along Highway 6 (University Parkway) near Northwestern State University turns truly dark with the Dead Fall Trail and Dark Carnival in 3-D.

“We pull thousands of people in every year for 10 to 13 nights,” said Jason Summerlin, co-owner and operator.

Dead Fall Trail takes visitors through woods with 15 horrific sets peopled by 20 to 30 actors. Different storylines are featured every year and this year’s sets will include a Depression-era cemetery, church and Hooverville.

“Everything we do is themed to the 1920s and 1930s,” he said.

Visitors to Dark Carnival roam through a 4000-square-foot building lit with what Summerlin claims is the area’s first ChromaDepth 3-D attraction, similar to black light effects, only a step up.

“It’s not just 3-D, it’s ChromaDepth,” Summerlin said. “It’s a really cool effect and very popular.”

Dark Carnival features 15-plus actors, bungee jumpers and stilt walkers, to name a few — participants who usually make up a carnival.

For the adventurous, there’s the smaller 4-D ride “Buried Alive,” where

(LEFT) DARK WOODS

HAUNTED ATTRACTION

(RIGHT) RISE HAUNTED

HOUSE ( TOP) THE MORTUARY

visitors are placed inside a closed steel coffin for three minutes. They can hear the action outside but they’re totally in the dark.

“Two 1930s gangsters dispose of a body and you’re that body,” Summerlin said of Buried Alive, adding that the coffin moves with the storyline and associated smells are inserted inside. “You’re in the middle of the story. It’s very immersive and fun.”

DATES Dark Woods opens the last weekend in September for a preview, then Fridays and Saturdays in October and Halloween night.

WEBSITE darkwoodshaunt.com/ attractions

RISE HAUNTED HOUSE TICKFAW

Just off Interstate 55 near Tickfaw, Henry Risewell wants to resurrect his dead wife. He enlists Bartholomew Stinger to help with the cryonics but the experiment produces zombies who eventually rise up and eat Stinger.

That’s the story visitors experience when they visit Rise Haunted House. The attraction’s Asylum and Hayride complement the creepy tale.

“The Asylum was a spinoff from the main haunt’s story in that the cryonics made people insane and they were doing experiments on their brains to see what’s wrong,” said owner Nevelle Laiche. “For the Hayride, we infused animal DNA into humans to see if they could survive the cryonics process …

all the characters in the Hayride are human-animal hybrids.”

The scare fest is a team effort, Laiche says. Everyone on staff brainstorms ideas for the haunted sets to fit the storyline. Occasionally, they add a set that strays from the story, “but most people don’t really care about it,” he said. “They’re too scared to notice.”

This year makes Rise’s 13th season and the attraction will be open 13 nights, one of which is Friday the 13th.

In addition, the attraction goes dark on Lights-Out Night the first Saturday in November and visitors use glowsticks.

“We are currently working on a scene in the middle of the Haunted House,” Laiche said of the attraction’s new elements. “We’re not ready to reveal what it is, but we tore out our hospital scene, surgery scene and psych ward scene to make room for it. There will be scares from the top, the bottom and the sides. It’s going to be really fun.”

Not long after Halloween, Rise turns to holiday entertainment, this time without the zombies.

“We put away the gory stuff and hang lights and trees,” Laiche said.

DATES Rise opens at 7:30 p.m. nightly on Sept. 30, Oct. 6-7, 13-15, 20-22, 27-29 and 31 and Nov. 4.

WEBSITE risehauntedhouse.com

THE MORTUARY NEW ORLEANS

This haunted attraction at the end of Canal Street surrounded by the Gates of Prayer Jewish Cemetery was originally a Victorian mansion built in 1872 for John and Mary Slattery and their six children. Later, the home became PJ McMahon & Sons Funeral Home, among other mortuaries, and hundreds of funerals were performed on the site.

After flooding by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the mansion was redone. In 2009 parapsychologist Dr. Larry Montz purchased the property for his Paraplex, Paranormal Observatory Lab and Museum. Today it’s The Mortuary, a haunted attraction intended to scare folks every Halloween season.

So, while visitors enjoy “Blood Wedding,” this year’s theme, keep your eyes peeled for actual apparitions. Over the years stories have circulated that the house carries spirits of those who have passed, from a woman in white moaning the loss of her husband to a man appearing when people disrespect the neighboring cemeteries.

As for Blood Wedding, visitors will witness an evening of revelry and feast for the union of the “Eternal Prince of the Air and the Undying Queen of Darkness.”

For those who want to up the fear ante, visit for the special night on Friday the 13th. Unless, of course, you suffer from paraskevidekatriaphobes, the fear of that date.

DATES Open for two Saturdays in September — Sept. 16 and 23 — then long weekends through October and almost nightly the last week through Halloween, plus Nov. 3-4.

WEBSITE themortuary.net

13TH GATE

THE 13TH GATE BATON ROUGE

This popular haunted attraction acclaimed by many, including USA Today and the Travel Channel, takes visitors through 13 nightmarish realms with ultra-realistic detail. In other words, actors and sets look so authentic and the lines between reality so blurred they’re guaranteed to scare.

Every year there’s something new in the 40,000-square-foot haunted house on St. Philip St. in Baton Rouge’s old Steinberg’s Sporting Goods building practically beneath the Interstate 10 Mississippi River Bridge. Visitors may journey through the dangerous streets of Whitechapel, travel aboard a pirate ship, wander through a zombie graveyard or discover a place overlooking a pit of live snakes.

The 13th Gate is definitely not for the faint of heart or those with a weak bladder, their website warns. We’d have to agree.

DATES The attraction opens Sept. 29 and runs Sept. 29-30, Oct. 5-8, 12-15, 19-22 and 26-31 and Nov. 3-4.

WEBSITE 13thgate.com

FRIGHT TRAIL SCOTT

This fund-raising attraction on 20 acres of woods celebrates its 12th year in 2023 with a long history of scaring Acadiana.

The Crowley Strangler, The Demented from Duson, The Butcher from Breaux

LESS SCARY EVENTS FOR THE LITTLE ONES

Bridge and The Psycho from Scott are eager to approach visitors who dare venture out on the self-guided tour through the haunted woods. There’s also The Haunted Dungeon, Septic Sewer and Twisty Bus for endorphin rushes.

All tickets, no matter the age, cost $30 and owners recommend leaving those ages 8 and younger at home (although they are welcome).

The attraction is open from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays throughout October but Flashlight Only nights, where visitors receive a small

flashlight to take into the deep dark woods, will occur Oct. 28 and 29.

Owners Deborah LeBlanc and Rich Hanf use the annual haunted attraction to raise funds for LeBlanc’s nonprofit, Literacy Inc., which promotes literacy in teens through the donation of e-readers to high school students.

DATES Fright Trail is open Sept. 29-30 and Oct. 6-7, 13-14, 20-21, 27-29 and Halloween night, Oct. 31.

WEBSITE frighttrail.com

Alexandria Enjoy the Alexandria Zoo’s animals while exploring family-friendly activities and enjoying entertainment on Saturday, Oct. 21 with a rain date of Oct. 28. The event began more than 40 years ago and consists of a Funny Bones

Zone, a hay maze, the Treat Trail for kids 12 and younger, Pumpkin Palooza throughout the Zoo, spooktacular sets and the Halloween Express Train Ride. thealexandriazoo.com/ zooboo.html

This annual daytime Halloween tradition of trick-or-treating through the Zoo on designated days benefits Children’s Hospital New Orleans and the Audubon Zoo. audubonnatureinstitute.org

New Orleans

ZOO BOO

BOO AT THE AUDUBON ZOO

53,000+ LISTENS

Traveling Around Louisiana

LLafayette has a festival for everything – from beer to boudin, shrimp to sugarcane, gumbo to gratons – there is always something happening. Experience the vibrant culture Lafayette has to offer at these upcoming festivals.

Kickstarting October’s festivities is the Latin Music Festival to be held on October 7th. Presented by Asociación Latino-Acadiana, the festival’s goal is to promote multiculturalism and heritage preservation. Not too far to follow, from October 13th to the 15th, immerse yourself in the world of Cajun and Creole traditions at Festivals Acadiens et Creole. Three days of music, food, dancing, and crafts will provide an unparalleled experience!

Savor the flavors at the Boudin Cook-Off and Bacon Festival October 21st. For over a decade, boudin has drawn hundreds

to Downtown Lafayette for a celebration and competition all centered around this local delicacy. If you’re still hungry, mark your calendar for the Blackpot Festival and Cook-Off October 27-28. This two-day event honors Cajun culture and cuisine with a blend of music, dancing, food, camping, and jamming. For more details on these festivals visit lafayettetravel.com/fall

Widely known as being one of the top haunted houses in the country, The 13th Gate nestles in Baton Rouge and stands as the epitome of terror. Navigate through thirteen chilling realms, where your darkest nightmares materialize into a spine-tingling reality.

Renowned for its ultra-realism, The 13th Gate pushes the boundaries of horror and actuality having guests in screams and shivers. Not for the faint-hearted, the attraction’s

meticulous craftsmanship, designs, sets, and effects rival not only other haunted houses but even Hollywood blockbusters.

From eerie pirate ships to live snakes, it blends to make an unforgettable experience. The ever-evolving 40,000 square foot haunt surprises even the bravest souls, ensuring anticipation around ever corner. To find out more about the frightening spot and receive a nerve-wracking terror, visit 13thgate.com.

Once a part of No Man’s Land, Beauregard Parish was a region with no king or country, home to outlaws, bandits, pirates, and brave pioneers. The settlers were larger than life, and so are the stories! The region’s use as an official buffer between Louisiana and Spanish Texas lasted roughly from 1806 until the 1819 Adams-Onis Treaty. Slow to be settled, and marked by a pivotal moment in history,

the Neutral Strip region exhibits a culture colored by several pockets of diverse folk groups—like Native Americans, remnants of early Spanish colonies, Scotch Irish pioneers, African Americans, and others—who fiercely hold onto their traditions and notions of identity. Tour one of the last remaining remnants of No Man’s Land the Gothic Jail. The jail was built to set up law and order in this once lawless territory. October brings about a new form of entertainment at the jail with the Gothic Jail Haunted Attraction. Where ghost and mortals compete to make you scream in this truly unique haunted house. Go to beauregardtourism.com to get a list of tour times and events.

When you visit Shreveport-Bossier in northwest Louisiana, you’ll find a place with enough flavor, style and soul for two cities. They are just 15 minutes from the LouisianaTexas border and only three hours east of Dallas. So, they’re a little bit “Cajun” and a little bit “Cowboy.”

If you’re craving authentic Louisiana Creole cuisine, we’ve got you, Boo. Gumbo. Crawfish Etouffee. Stuffed Shrimp. It’s all here. And if your mouth isn’t watering enough, feed your inner Cowboy (or Cowgirl) tasty, smoky ribs, brisket, and steak! Casinos, live music venues, craft breweries, axe-throwing, and glassblowing are just some of the must-see things to do. For those of you who want to breathe in clean, fresh air should travel the 126-mile Boom or Bust Byway, or tackle a tree-lined trail through one of our gorgeous parks. Bring your boat to enjoy one

of our beautiful lakes. You could even “glamp” in a Conestoga Wagon or Teepee.

Plan your getaway to Shreveport-Bossier, today, on visitshreveportbossier.org. They can’t wait to see you.

As one of the last great family-owned and operated hotels in New Orleans, Hotel Monteleone is committed to guest satisfaction and comfort. With its rich history and continued innovations, it remains a sparkling jewel in the heart of the French Quarter ushering in a new era of luxury.

Hotel Monteleone invites guests to create lasting memories within the newly renovated Iberville Tower. After a 2-year, multi-million dollar renovation, the tower now features 160 completely-renovated rooms, 48 brand-new luxury suites, and the elegant and stunning Iberville Ballroom.

The tower offers a self-contained escape within the hotel, providing guests with a seamless transition between the ground-

level energy of Criollo restaurant and the Carousel Bar, luxurious rooms and event spaces, Spa Aria, and the famed rooftop pool and bar. The modern amenities in the rooms, including twice-daily housekeeping service, dedicated concierge, and a welcome amenity exclusive to the Iberville Tower, ensure the most relaxing and memorable stay. To book and experience Iberville Tower and all that Hotel Monteleone has to offer, visit hotelmonteleone.com.

Louisiana Contemporary presented by The Helis Foundation, on view now through February 18, 2024, at Ogden Museum of Southern Art, brings to the fore the work of artists living in Louisiana and highlights the dynamism of contemporary art practice throughout the state while providing the space for the exposition of living artists’ work and engaging a contemporary audience that recognizes the vibrant visual arts culture of Louisiana and the role of New Orleans as a rising, international art center.

This year’s statewide, juried exhibition features 45 works by 31 Louisiana artists from 790 submissions whose works were selected by guest juror Aleesa Pitchamarn Alexander, Robert M. and Ruth L. Halperin Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University. Since its launch in 2012, Louisiana Contemporary has presented 876 works by 569 artists. For more on the exhibition go to thehelisfoundation.org

Discover the charm of West Baton Rouge Parish as you follow the meandering path of the breezy Mississippi River. Situated just minutes away from the state capital, an hour from the vibrant New Orleans, and forty-five minutes from Lafayette and Cajun country, this destination offers a perfect day trip or an inviting stay in one of their affordable and family-friendly accommodations conveniently located near I-10.

(Left) Gulf Brew (Botton)Red River Revel (Top, Left) Helis Foundation Cora Nimtz Log Cabin ((Top, Right) Kickapoo Twist Vineyard Winery

Taking place on Saturday, September 9th, the Annual Smokin’ Oldies Barbeque Cook-Off at the West Baton Rouge Tourist Information & Conference Center will feature a thrilling 3-meat (chicken, ribs, and brisket) category competition. All are welcome, and you can even volunteer to be a BBQ tasting judge!

For more fun, make sure to stick around on Sunday, September 10th, when the Oldies But Goodies Fest kicks off at 11:00 am till 5:00 pm. Enjoy some live music, an Antique Car show, and mouthwatering food! For more information visit westbatonrouge.net.

Experience the best of DeSoto Parish on October 7th doing the thrilling 50 Mile Trail of Treasure! Starting at 7 a.m., this exciting journey allows you to explore the charm and

wonders of the parish. Whether you begin in Stonewall, Louisiana or Joaquin, Texas you are guaranteed an unforgettable adventure of a voyage!

The picturesque route of Highway 171 and 84 take you through scenic landscapes and vibrant communities. Along the way, numerous tents, stores, and restaurants dot the trail, offering a lovely array of treasures to be discovered.

From Stonewall to Mansfield, you can immerse yourself in the local culture, sample delicious regional cuisine, and find unique keepsakes from the talented local vendors.

Along with the opportunity to interact with the friendly locals, explore the hidden gems of Grand Cane, Stanley, Logansport, and Keatchie. Mark your calendar, and visit discoverdesoto.com for more information on this event and more like this one!

Founded in 1714 and known for being Louisiana’s oldest city, Natchitoches’ rich history set the stage for the cultural cities hereafter. It’s older than New Orleans. Famous for being home of the movies, Steel Magnolias, the Horse Soldiers, and Man in the Moon, Natchitoches bestows the adored filming sites of these classic pictures. Visit the Cane River National Heritage Area that includes Melrose on the Cane with the art of Clementine Hunter and the Cane River Creole National Historical Park at Oakland and Magnolia Plantations. Upcoming fall events include the Meat Pie Festival, Natchitoches Car Show, Tappedtober, Melrose Fall Festival, Creole Festival, and the 97th annual Natchitoches Christmas Festival Season. To plan your next trip, visit Natchitoches.com

Celebrating the craft of beer at the best time of the year, Acadiana Center for the Arts presents Gulf Brew on October 21st, a downtown Lafayette beer-centric street festival! With over 200 different types of beer, hand-selected craft vendors by Louisiana Crafts Guild, and two stages of astounding entertainment, Gulf Brew 2023 promises to be the ultimate experience for all beer lovers.

Indulge yourself in the refreshing AC of the VIP Lounge, AKA the AcA building, where VIP ticket holders can savor a premier view of the main stage on Vermillion Street, complimentary delectable food and drinks, and the finest restroom facilities in the area!

Acadiana Center for the Arts offers various captivating events, like the upcoming performance by Michael Winslow on October 5th. The multi-talented actor, comedian, and beatboxer known as “The Man of 10,000 Sound Effects” is known for his ability to make realistic sounds using only his voice! Check out these events and more like them at acadianacenterforthearts.org

If you love the great outdoors, sprinkled with fine art, fabulous dining, and fun times, central Louisiana is the perfect getaway! In the Heart of Louisiana, Alexandria-Pineville, you are just two hours from Shreveport and Baton Rouge, with big city amenities, minus the traffic! Along the banks of the Red River with multiple lakes, enjoy beautiful views, great fishing, and the Kisatchie National Forest as your backyard! You’ll find the captivating Alexandria Museum of Art and plenty of family-friendly attractions in this adventurous area. Dining is a delicious adventure all its own with fresh seafood, new takes on age-old Cajun recipes, international fare, a bustling food truck scene, and even gas stations famous for to-go options! Enjoy as many various types of foods as your palate can take. Explore AlexandriaPineville, and find your heart in the Heart of Louisiana. Book your adventure today at alexandriapinevillela.com! •

(Top) 13th Gate (Bottom) Iberiaville Tower

Protect and Preserve

Protecting the wetlands serves many purposes at the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge

STORY AND PHOTOS BY KEVIN RABALAIS

At Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge, Phillip “Scooter” Trosclair parks his truck beside a makeshift migratory waterfowl research station. For the past 10 days, Trosclair’s Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries colleague Paul Link — North American waterfowl management plan coordinator — has been monitoring geese in the area. Link learned their patterns, and he knows when and where geese land here.

“Within one minute, they were on schedule,” he says, noting that shortly after midnight, he released a charge, detonating a net that rose and then fell over nearly 150 snow and blue geese. His team then separated the geese into 18 cages. Now Link places a GPS collar around each bird’s neck. “They leave here, go to Alaska, then Russia, then California. Birds need these wetlands for their migratory patterns. This is why we have to protect the wetlands. They’re so important, especially for migratory waterfowl.”

(Above) Liz Bourgeois holds one of nearly 150 geese that she and colleagues will test for diseases before fitting them with GPS collars. (Above Right) In 2020, Hurricane Laura damaged the LDWF offices at Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge. While new headquarters are being built, this facility houses temporary offices and will eventually become a research laboratory for in-house staff and graduate students.

Twenty yards away, Liz Bourgeois of LDWF and Deb Carter of the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study draw blood and swab the geese to test for diseases. From her base at the University of Georgia, Carter follows the flyways, tracking birds through Texas, Delaware Bay, the Carolinas, Minnesota, Idaho and here at Rockefeller, which straddles Cameron and Vermilion parishes. “We do all the processing ourselves,” she says as she works from the tailgate of her truck, which doubles as a lab. Carter swabs a snow goose and prepares to bleed a blue goose. The swab lets her know if the goose carries avian flu. The blood sample informs her if the goose possesses antibodies to the disease.

Standing beside Carter, Trosclair — biologist program manager at Rockefeller — stresses the importance of

the refuge’s location for this research. “It’s like a funnel,” he says. “These birds migrate down here for winter. It’s important we have proper vegetation and wetlands so they can fly back, reproduce and return the following year.”

This is one aspect of the endless and wide variety of work that Trosclair and others carry out at Rockefeller.

Established in 1920 as a wildlife refuge, the land’s previous owner, E.A. McIlhenny, worked with the Rockefeller Foundation to institute a refuge for migratory waterfowl. To conduct such research and provide sustainable habitat a century later, staff here face a daily challenge: saving this precarious land from vanishing. In 1914, the refuge contained 86,000 acres. Due primarily to coastal erosion, acreage now stands at 70,000.

DID YOU KNOW?

In 1913, E.A. McIlhenny purchased 86,000 acres in western Vermilion and eastern Cameron parishes to create a wildlife refuge. One year later, he sold the property to the Rockefeller Foundation for the preservation and protection of migratory birds. The Rockefeller Foundation donated the property to Louisiana in 1919. In 1920, the State of Louisiana created the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge.

AT A GLANCE

LOCATION

Cameron and Vermilion parishes

FAUNA

Each year from November through January, biologists conduct aerial waterfowl surveys that cover more than 550,000 acres of LDWF’s coastal wildlife management areas and refuges.

Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge opened to public access in the early 1980s. Each year, an average of 200,000 recreational fishermen visit the refuge for crabbing, shrimping and fresh and saltwater fishing.

(Above) Bourgeois of LDWF and Deb Carter of SCWDS bleed a snow goose, testing it for antibodies. (Above Center) Rockefeller comprises 27 miles of coastline. More than four miles are now protected by rock walls such as this. (Above Right) During Hurricane Laura, water levels at Rockefeller rose 2 feet higher than the gate of the Unit 4 Concrete Structure that “Scooter” Trosclair points toward. (Right) In early January 2023, North American Waterfowl Management Plan Coordinator Paul Link and his team temporarily captured nearly 150 geese, holding them in these cages before conducting tests and fitting them with GPS collars.

At stake is much more than migratory waterfowl research. That’s why work at Rockefeller includes building rock walls along the Gulf Coast. These walls protect the coast by decreasing wave energy. Sediment then settles behind the walls, raising land elevation.

“The first line of defense is the Gulf,” Trosclair says as we leave Link, Bourgeois, Carter and the rest of the team to board a boat and inspect the walls. “If you don’t protect the Gulf, you lose everything. There would be no waterfowl. Without these structures, people in these areas wouldn’t be able to crawfish, grow rice, raise cattle. Saltwater intrusion would inundate the land.”

Trosclair oversaw completion of the first 3 miles of the rock wall project in 2018. Since then, another 1.5 miles have been completed. Another mile is in progress, but Rockefeller borders the Gulf for nearly 27 miles.

“Not finding the $10 million for this project now will eventually turn into a $100 million project,” he says.

A Cameron Parish native, Trosclair grew up working with his father, a seafood supplier who sourced from local fishermen.

“Seeing those boats come up to the dock, all of them filled with seafood, was mind blowing,” he says. In the Gulf, he cuts the engine and poses the same question he asked himself decades before about these bountiful waters: “Where did this come from?”

That question forged Trosclair’s passion and purpose. In the 1990s, still a high school student, he began working at Rockefeller. Today, his voice rings with delight and wonder at this ecologically rich yet vulnerable region.

“The only hope for us to keep our way of life down here,” says Tosclair. “Is to build this protection system.” n

DID YOU KNOW?

Rocks for the coastal protection project at Rockefeller come from Kentucky. In 2018, because of high water along the Mississippi River, boats delivering rocks had to travel backwards on their journey south to Louisiana. “There’s nothing easy about it,” Trosclair says of this work to protect the coast.

Natural Escapes

Cabins with a view enable visitors to disconnect and get closer to nature

BY CHERÉ COEN

When we think of a cabin getaway, mountains and deep woods spring to mind. In Louisiana, visitors may find similar escapes — although actual mountains may be hard to find — but also the unique and unusual. We’ve compiled a few cabins with a view, and some of these may surprise you.

ON THE WATER

Imagine checking into a cabin with all the usual amenities: bunkbeds, fireplace and screened-in porches. But how about a deck overlooking Bayou Segnette, where Louisiana’s wildlife and unique environment is right outside your door?

Waterfront cabins await visitors at Bayou Segnette State Park, literally minutes from downtown New Orleans. Here, visitors may enjoy boating of all kinds,

fishing for redfish and trout in the swamps and marshlands or swimming in the wave pool.

“The cabin on the water at Bayou Segnette was wonderful,” said Karon Warren, who recently visited from Ellijay, Georgia. “With two bedrooms, a full bathroom, full kitchen and spacious dining and living areas, there was plenty of room.”

But the critters outside pleased Warren the most.

“The screened-in porch provided the best spot to enjoy the views of the water without dealing with the bugs,” she said. “Watching alligators float by, fishermen motor by and, of course, watching the sun set all added up to a relaxing afternoon. In the evening, you are surrounded by the sounds of nocturnal wildlife: frogs, insects, birds and others. I thought this nighttime symphony would keep me awake, but I was asleep within moments of closing my eyes.”

Poverty Pointe Reservoir State Park in northeast Louisiana has waterfront cabins on its 2,700-acre man-made lake, a popular spot for fishing and bird and bear watching. Fontainebleau State Park in Mandeville situated its cabins right on the lake. A short car ride but a world away from Interstate 10, Lake Fausse Point State Park has several two-bedroom abodes facing Bird Island Chute and visitors may sit on the screened-in porches and listen to songbirds singing.

Sun Outdoors New Orleans North Shore near Ponchatoula caters to RVs but built a row of adorable small cabins to the rear of the property, half of which face

(Left) NUNU’s Shiny Tiny House in Arnaudville

(Right) Bayou Segnette Floating Cabin

the resort’s lake. Like the RV visitors, cabin users may enjoy the resort’s lazy river, giant hot tub, pickleball courts, children’s activity center, dining options and more.

INTO THE WOODS

It’s nothing but rolling hills and forest surrounding Lake Chicot at the center of Louisiana, so a cabin stay here means what most expect from a camping experience. There are more than 6,400 acres at the park, including 20 miles of hiking and mountain biking trails and an 8-mile canoe trail. For boaters, there’s access to the lake by three boat launches and the fishing means largemouth bass, bluegill and crappie, among other fish species.

Park accommodations include deluxe cabins that sleep up to eight sporting woodsy views or fronting Lake Chicot. For groups, lodges sleep up to 14 and a group camp for 52 is available.

If that’s not incentive enough, the Louisiana State Arboretum within the park offers more nature trails through its beech-magnolia forest.

ON THE FARM

Jennifer Gray rents out two accommodations on her Bonne Terre farm outside Breaux Bridge, the 100-year-old Main House that sleeps many and the quaint Studio for singles or couples. Both exist on a working farm so a stay here means turkeys, chickens, goats, Rio the horse, a miniature cow name Ethylene and Bobo the cat who Gray insists is “the king of Bonne Terre.”

The accommodations routinely popular with artists and musicians are accessible through Airbnb but recently Gray signed up with farmstaysus.com. People arrive to enjoy the animals, but they may also help out with chores such as gathering eggs, feeding Ethylene or picking vegetables in the growing seasons. But Gray insists the work’s optional. “I don’t want people to come and think they have to work,” she said with a laugh.

Bonne Terre is more a place to slow down and commune with nature, Gray said. And even though visitors may view farm animals from their windows, “You’re close but it’s not smelly.”

NUNU Arts & Culture Collective, an art gallery and community space with monthly and weekly cultural events in Arnaudville, also opens its doors for visitors to its Shiny Tiny House. This one-bedroom, one-bath tiny house designed and built by local artists comes equipped with a loft queen bed, full kitchen and Wi-Fi access. It’s located next to the arts center so it’s a quick walk to NUNU’s art exhibits, live music, French tables and art workshops, among other events. However, for those craving peace and quiet in the countryside, the Shiny Tiny faces rows of sugar cane and a cow pasture. n

Eureka Moments

This quirky spa town in Arkansas draws outdoors enthusiasts, animal lovers and even ghost hunters

BY CHERÉ COEN

It’s believed that when Greek Archimedes understood how to determine the purity of gold he exclaimed, “Heureka,” meaning “I have found it!” Today, we use that expression as “Eureka!” when we hit upon something amazing.

Like when Dr. Alvah Jackson stumbled on a spring bubbling out of the Ozark Mountains in northwest Arkansas. Jackson bathed in the mineral waters and soon realized that the aqua healed his eye ailment. He shared these miraculous waters with others and founded a town. Naturally, he named it Eureka Springs.

Today, the springs still flow all over town and the quaint but sometimes eccentric enclave attracts visitors from around the world. It’s also very haunted, which makes Eureka Springs a great destination for fall, when the veil between living and dead grows thin. You might just spot a full-body apparition and yell “Eureka!”

STAY

There are numerous cabins and vacation rentals within the city and throughout the surrounding countryside, all perfect for fall foliage drives and hiking through woods and along mountainsides. Two urban hotels that offer both history and lore are the Basin Park Hotel in the center of Eureka Springs and the 1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa overlooking the town.

The Basin faces the Basin Spring Park where Jackson experienced his eureka moment, and the historic property includes a balcony restaurant and a whiskey bar that dates to Prohibition (it was originally a speakeasy). In addition to guests enjoying the Crescent’s full-service spa, heated pool and Frisco’s Sporting Club with food trucks and lawn games, the hotel’s fourth-floor lounge offers spectacular sunsets from its perch atop the mountain.

Both hotels sport guests who have never checked out, and ongoing ghost tours tell their stories. Two spooky spots not to miss are the Crescent Hotel basement’s “morgue” and the Basin’s wine cave built against the mountain.

“There’s a lot of activity down at the wine cave,” said Gina Rambo, director of marketing and communications for 1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa and the Basin Park Hotel. “It’s dark and it’s cobwebby and it’s damp. Even people who are skeptical have had experiences.”

And, well, we’ll leave it to your imagination why the Crescent has a morgue. It hails from a quack doctor who ran a sketchy cancer hospital at the Crescent in the early 20th century.

GET SPOOKED

In addition to the ghost tours offered at the Basin Park and Crescent hotels, the Eureka Springs Historical Museum presents its 13th annual “Voices from Eureka’s Silent City” living history walking tours in October. At the annual fundraiser benefitting the museum, actors will portray the town’s historic residents who reside at the city cemetery. In other words, they’re dead.

OUTDOORS

COVID-19 may have put a damper on tourism for the past few years but not in Eureka Springs.

“When COVID hit, we were actually quite busy because of the outdoors,” said Rambo.

The town offers several springs, in addition to Jackson’s discovery, and each spring exudes its own personality, such as the Grotto Spring with its everglowing candles and or Sweet Spring at the bottom of the spiral stairway. Visitors may pick up “Six Scenic Walking Tours in Historic Eureka Springs,” published by the city’s preservation society, and explore the town’s water features, some of which allow for drinking.

Outside of Eureka Springs are numerous ways to enjoy the outdoors, from kayaking on Lake Leatherwood and hiking through Pivot Rock and Natural Bridge to the Blue Spring Heritage Center, another spring that’s also a Trail of Tears historical site.

Animal lovers may choose the big cats of Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge, the largest big cat refuge in the world. Visitors may enjoy tours, educational talks and accommodations on-site while viewing the lions, tigers and other wild cats saved from illegal ownership.

For more information o n things to do in Eureka Springs, visitvisiteurekasprings.com. n

(Left) 1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa (Middle) Thorncrown Chapel, designed by architect E. Fay Jones (Right) Beautiful blue water of a natural spring near Blue Spring Heritage Center

Fresh Catch Checking crab traps on the beach in Grande Isle is serious business.

BY PAT PIPER, ST. AMANT