Louisiana Road Trips February 2013 Edition

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Talkin’ It Up! This month is so very special to me as we celebrate the 100th issue of LA ROAD TRIPS. One hundred is a pretty big number, especially for a microbusiness that has endured great losses from disasters like Katrina and Ike, the BP oil spill, budget cuts, and the economic downturn. I recently came across an old client list and was stunned to see all the businesses that have since closed. But we just seem to endure, reinventing ourselves and forging new paths. I’m humbled by the kindness and support we’ve received, especially from the most unlikely sources, and will be forever grateful to every reader of LRT and those that advertise with us.

This is also a bittersweet time, as we watched Jim Bowie’s Relay Station in Enterprise burn to the ground just before the New Year. This wasn’t just a restaurant – it was an institution created by visionary John Ed Bartmess and his wife Shirley. They sold the business to Raymond and Christie Nugent several years ago but still frequented the site. During a conversation with Raymond right after the fire, he was overwhelmed with the community support. “Everybody came to help put out the fire. Some men were across the river duck hunting and they left their blinds and came running in the pouring rain to help us.”

The fire started early one morning and before sunset, I had received at least a dozen phone calls and emails from LRT fans asking what they could do to help. The most common offer was to donate political signs to rebuild the massive collection at the restaurant, and the most common question was will they rebuild. Probably not.

I then spoke with John Ed and Shirley, reminiscing about better times. “My three daughters and granddaughters all grew up here, working on weekends. Now with children of their own, one is a dental hygienist, one is a Physical Therapist, and another an Accountant.

“When the place burned, I got calls from all over, even Austin and NYC. The call from NYC was from a family with a 3-year old son that

ROAD TRIPS "Celebrating country living and city happenings!"

february

contents

DELTA OUTDOORS

INSPIRATIONAL

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16

13 14 16 21

In the Crosshairs by Sonny Harrington Survival for Dummies Cold, Wet & Miserable – Just the way I like it! by Johnny Wink A Life of Trial…and Error by Dennis Stewart Christmas Eve Bucks Going Native by Larry Brock Garden for the Love of it My Favorite Fishing Hole by Joe Joslin February Fishing on the Bend

FESTIVALS & ENTERTAINMENT 20 23

Fin, Fur, Feather – Tastes of Wild Game Swamp Stomp Fest at Nicholls

8-9 White Sulphur Springs by Lora Peppers 12-13 Up in Smoke! Jim Bowie’s Relay Station Destroyed by Fire by Lee Estes Grant’s Canals by Terry L. Jones

HUMOR 11 21 22

All Things Southern by Shellie Tomlinson “Sugar Swelling and a Scriptural Defense!

Love Train by Dixie Hall Runnin’ the Roads by Barbara Sharik The Big Bang Theory is a Reality

had visited the restaurant. He’s 10 now and remembers me taking him in my arms onstage to sing Jesus Loves Me. We’ve met such wonderful people and have made friends we never would have met otherwise. Another night, a little girl from China came onstage and sang You Are My Sunshine. But my favorite night of all time was when Mona brought her mother in, who was 80 years old and in the final stages of breast cancer, and I danced with her right at their table. She died not long after that. Mona said Jim Bowie’s was her very last outing on this earth before she passed.

“Another great memory from Jim Bowie’s was when LRT contributor George Sims wrote about two headstones, a century and a half old, found in a ditch in Bastrop. Long story short, he ended up leaving the headstones here behind the chapel and later, I casually Louisiana Road Trips

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MONTHLY TIDBITS 2 Giveaways 3-4 Talkin’ It Up! 14 Louisiana Lagniappe – Remember When 15 Forever Friend by Deborah Burt 17 February Calendar 22 Backtalk 22 Louisiana Lagniappe Answers

RECIPES

HISTORICAL 15

Winter Jam 2013 by Robert Lemoine

8 17

Sweet Travels by Donna McManus Elegant Desserts of Love Recipes by Stacy Thornton

ROAD TRIPS 4

Beds & Beignets by Mary White A Streetcar Tour of St. Charles Avenue 5-6 The Peabody Hotel by Mona L. Hayden 7 River Inn at Harbor Town by Cheré Coen 9 Travel Adventure by Dianne Newcomer A New Game in Town 11 Fifty/50 by Su Stella 14 Explore Louisiana North by Johnny Wessler History of the King Cake 18 Segwaying Memphis by Sonny Harrington 19 Hit the Road – by Deborah Burst Mardi Gras Magic mentioned this to a friend who found that the stones belonged in Ashley County, AR. Even more coincidental, the editor of the newspaper there was a personal friend of a lady from AR who now lived in Maryland that had the same last name. One headstone did indeed belong to a distant family member.

“She flew down from Maryland to Arkansas, met a friend and drove to Enterprise to retrieve the headstones. One was returned to its original site in the Hamburg Cemetery and a local funeral home director is keeping the other one until they determine where it belongs. She told Mona in an interview, “We had a wonderful time on this trip.

We crossed the ferry over the Ouachita River, then went to Jim Bowie’s Relay Station and visited with

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BEDS & BEIGNETS

By Mary White

PUBLISHER LRT Publications

A Streetcar Tour of St. Charles Avenue Of the many thoroughfares that dissect New Orleans into magnificent morsels, St. Charles Avenue can claim to be its most regal. Once the home to the city’s most well to do, it still retains an air of grandeur and opulence. Commencing “down river” at Canal Street, it runs through the length of Uptown New Orleans and ends one block above Carrollton Avenue.

While visitors to New Orleans could explore St. Charles Avenue on foot, they can also take a seat and enjoy the picturesque views from one of the iconic green streetcars. Running along the Riverfront, Canal Street and St. Charles Avenue, the city’s streetcars have been transporting passengers since the early 19th century; the St. Charles line is the only one of the three that has been continuously running throughout the car’s history. (The other two were replaced by bus service at one time).

During the spring and fall when the weather in New Orleans is mild, visitors are encouraged to push up the windows and catch a refreshing breeze while taking in the magnificent sights along the grassy esplanades of the 13.2 mile ride. Audubon Park, named after artist John James Audubon, sits on land that was formerly a plantation. Massive oak trees stand tall next to lagoons and large swaths of lawns and gardens. Sports enthusiasts can enjoy the 1.8 mile paved loop for running, bicycling or rollerblading along with a few rounds on the Audubon Golf Course. Tulane and Loyola Universities are located directly across the avenue from Audubon Park.

The pièce de résistance is the spectacular collection of antebellum southern mansions gracing the oak-lined avenue. Widely

Talkin’ It Up!

described as the “Jewel of America’s grand avenues,” it showcases a wide range of stately, historic architecture including Greek Revival, Italianate, Mediterranean-style and Colonial.

The Grand Victorian Bed and Breakfast (www.BnBFinder.com/GrandVictorian) is one of the majestic homes located along the avenue in the Garden District. Built in 1893 and designed by famed New Orleans architect Thomas Sully, the home was discovered and restored to its original glory by Innkeeper Bonnie Rabe.

While considering a career change, the New Orleans native came upon the structure in severe disrepair and decided to purchase the home and take on the restoration project. Its location on St. Charles Avenue in the Garden District, a tourist destination adored by Ms. Rabe, was a determining factor in the transformation of the 7,600 square-foot home into a New Orleans bed and breakfast.

“I never dreamed of being an innkeeper,” said Ms. Rabe. “But I love living in Uptown New Orleans—the streetcars, local restaurants, the vibrancy of the neighborhood—and knew a B&B would do well here.”

The Grand Victorian Bed and Breakfast features eight guest rooms each named after a historic Louisiana plantation and turn-of-the-century furnishings and antiques. Guests can catch the St. Charles Streetcar nearby or take a short stroll to the boutiques, restaurants and entertainment along fashionable Magazine Street.

Mary White is the author of “Running a Bed & Breakfast For Dummies” and an avid B&B goer. She has stayed at bed and breakfasts all over the world and particularly loves the inns of Louisiana. In 1998, Mary founded BnBFinder.com, a top on-line bed and breakfast directory that lists thousands of B&Bs, inns, and boutique hotels worldwide.

______________________

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Mona L. Hayden

monalh@bellsouth.net (318) 547-1221

OUR GUARDIAN ANGEL Debbie Hamilton Pope June 14, 1952-August 24, 2008 Louisiana Road Trips magazine is published monthly to promote, inform, and entertain the residents of Louisiana. It is distributed FREE; however, home delivery is available. This magazine will reach approximately 61,000 individuals.

Submission of articles and photos are always welcome but may be limited to availability of space and edited for content.

Copyright 2013 with all rights reserved. Reproduction of any material appearing within this publication is prohibited without written permission of the Publishers.

The opinions expressed in Louisiana Road Trips magazine are those of the authors or columnists and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, nor do they constitute an endorsement of products or services herein. “Louisiana Road Trips” magazine retains the right to refuse any advertisement.

ROAD TRIPS P. O. Box 2452 West Monroe, LA 71294 (318) 547-1221

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continued

John Ed before digging up the stones. This was such a wonderful experience.”

With a heavy heart, John Ed says, “The building is gone but our memories can’t be taken away from us.” The last time I saw John Ed at the restaurant was in November, around Veteran’s Day, where he bought dinner for no less than four tables of veterans that night. The restaurant is gone but the legacy of John Ed and his vision will live

on in his children and grandchildren as well as the wonderful community of Enterprise, Louisiana and those fortunate enough to have visited.

And I’ll remember it always.

Like John Ed, during the Louisiana Road Trips

years of publishing this magazine, we’ve lost a lot but gained even more – good relationships and lifetime friends.

I like to think that our Guardian Angel, Debbie Pope, would be proud. Today, we have contributing writers from all over the state

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and country, and sometimes I feel like Louisiana is just one big neighborhood.

I tell people LRT is basically one girl with a laptop and a cell phone, but I’m also blessed with a whole bunch of great friends!

Let’s keep in touch.

Mona

Mona L. Hayden, Editor monalh@bellsouth.net (318) 547-1221

The Peabody Hotel, Memphis, TN Regal, Refined & Ready to spoil you endlessly…

By Mona L. Hayden It’s 11am at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis where hundreds of guests and local residents fill the lobby and upstairs balconies for the dramatic entrance of The Ducks. Each morning they march from their Royal Duck Palace on the rooftop of the hotel into an

Photo Credit: PeabodyMemphis.com

elevator and down to the lobby to the jazzy tempo of the King Cotton March. The ducks take center stage on the red carpet as they stroll to the majestic travertine fountain where they’ll spend their day, much to the delight of guests, until the Peabody Duckmaster returns at 5pm to lead them back to the rooftop in another elaborate procession.

A time-honored daily tradition for over 80 years (since 1933), it began when the hotel’s general manager returned from a hunting trip with his friend, smelling of Jack Daniels, and put three small English call ducks in the fountain as a prank. This was so well received that it became permanent. Since that day, ducks can always be found in the fountain at the Peabody but never on the menu.

While the original grand hotel opened in 1869 at another location, upon its closing the downtown structure opened in 1925 in regal style of Italian Renaissance right in the heart of Memphis on Union Avenue just blocks from the legendary Beale Street entertainment district. This national historic landmark has 464 guest rooms that include 15 suites and offers the best views of the Mississippi River and downtown Memphis from the rooftop.

Kelly Earnest, Director of Public Relations at the Peabody, says hotels generally don’t get much local business but the Peabody is an exception. “Many high profile people and celebrities stay here while in Memphis. You may see people like Oprah and Laura Bush, or pass Jack White in the lobby. You never know who you’re going to see from day to day. For instance, about 10 years ago Jimmy Carter came through hotel at 4:45pm and asked when the

Photo Credit: PeabodyMemphis.com

Duck March started. Promptly at 5pm. He requested that they wait for him to get settled in his room but was told that they don’t alter the schedule for anyone. He stayed downstairs to view the Duck March, along with Lisa Marie Presley and Nicholas Cage on the balcony and Michael Jordan sitting at the bar. Even with names like these, the ducks are sometimes the biggest celebrities in the hotel. I saw the Duck March when I was a little girl and I’ve taken my daughter to see it,” she says. “We’re situated in the heart of the city, just a mile off the interstate, and the only 4 Diamond hotel in Memphis, home of rock n roll, birthplace of the blues. Once you park at the hotel, you can walk to most anything. The Peabody is the South’s Grand Hotel. It’s where everybody wants to come when they get to Memphis.”

As a guest, be sure to check out the special packages. A favorite is the Ducky Day Family Package that lets you be an Honorary Duckmaster, assisting with the march, and receive an official brass-head Duckmaster cane, duck cookies, a rubber ducky, and more. Whether you’re with a group or just in for a night of luxurious pampering and continued on next page > > >

It’s very evident that the Peabody is the epitome of sophistication and finesse, from the furnishing and décor to the services provided. This bar is set high and spills over to a complete wing of the 3rd floor that houses the pastry shop. Konrad Spitzbart, Executive Pastry Chef, and his staff of 13 work around the clock to produce stunning desserts and pastries ranging from the infamous duck cookies sold throughout the hotel to the Sweet Ending Trio served in Chez Philippe’s.

Originally from Austria, Chef Konrad came to the U.S. in 1993 to explore pastry. He worked at 5-Star hotels in Detroit and Beverly Hills, even catering Oscar and Grammy afterparties. About six years ago, he found his way to Memphis and the Peabody where Elvis and ducks reign. Since then, one of his most popular creations is his peanut butter and banana Elvis cakes.

Chef Konrad and his crew dazzle hotel guests and locals alike as they cater weddings, banquets, and special events. A colossal undertaking each year is the massive gingerbread house for display in the lobby of the hotel. Baking and construction begins in September and just after Thanksgiving, the fantasyland is dismantled upstairs and taken down to the lobby and reassembled, as if by magic. The display is removed soon after Christmas as the hotel prepares for its huge New Year’ Eve Party where some 2-3,000 tickets are sold in advance.

A quick tour of the pastry kitchen reveals gigantic equipment, tools and staples in massive proportions. For instance, less than half way through the gingerbread display, the project had already consumed 300 lbs. of confectioner’s sugar and 10 gallons of egg whites. In an average week, 120 lbs. of cream cheese is used in the kitchen. In additional to pastries, bread, and confections to be shared, the kitchen also prepares 300-400 individual desserts, and that’s before the weekend!

Chef Konrad recalls his largest catered event at the Peabody being about 1,100 guests.

“That’s quite a feat. Thankfully, my work space here is bigger than the Beverly Hills hotels,” he says. Even with the extra space, he still keeps most of his utensils in a huge automotive tool box close at hand. After all, the need may arise for handmade chocolates, gourmet ice creams, or pastries and desserts shaped like ducks, of course, at a moment’s notice.

The efficient seamless movements of the staff, along with the vision and implementation of the chef’s master plans, make the kitchen resemble Santa’s workshop. At times, you’ll find interns working for several months at a time here, learning and perfecting their craft. “School is not bad but hands-on training is exceptional.

Most of all, you need the passion to be successful.” Truer words were never spoken, as Chef Konrad’s passion for pastry is obvious on every dessert plate served at the Peabody.

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The Peabody Hotel continued ultimate relaxation, you’re welcome to learn more about the history of the hotel with a free tour each day at 11:30 led by the Duckmaster.

Another not-to-miss event is Afternoon Tea (served Wednesday – Saturday from 2-3:30pm, reservations required) at Chez Philippe. This exquisite restaurant serves classical French cuisine and remarkable desserts prepared in-house (see sidebar). The Peabody is also known for

hosting the ‘best brunch in the city’ on Sunday’s.

While in Memphis, allow time to tour Graceland (graceland.com), home of Elvis Presley, where exhibits and tours are routinely updated and altered.

The 35th Anniversary was celebrated throughout 2012 as Graceland continues to be a prime tourist attraction for fans worldwide.

Another stop should be the Arcade Restaurant (arcaderestaurant.com), Memphis’ oldest café (1919), where Elvis was a regular patron. Elvis fans enjoy having their photo made in ‘his booth’ at the restaurant.

After an exciting time in Memphis, you’ll retire to your wellappointed room to find a Peabody Duck Dessert, touted as ‘the perfect kiss goodnight from the South’s Grand Hotel’. Does it get any better? I think not.

Visit Peabodymemphis.com or call 1-800-PEABODY for more information or to make reservations.

Visit our website: www.laroadtrips.com

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River Inn at Harbor Town a Riverside Treat

By Cheré Coen Memphis is located right on the Mississippi River but downtown lies above the river’s edge on a small bluff. Mud Island, which is actually a peninsular, stretches down to also block part of downtown’s view of the river.

Close to downtown Memphis but located directly on the Mississippi is River Inn at Harbor Town, a quaint European-style hotel that’s a lovely combination of elegance, Southern hospitality and comfort. Harbor Town is a planned community much like Seaside in Florida and River Ranch in Lafayette, with homes, condos and apartments, plus great retail selections and restaurants.

River Inn sits at its heart, with fabulous views of the river and easy access to its shoreline.

The hotel offers 28 rooms and suites and fine dining at Paulette’s restaurant, a Memphis establishment for more than¬ 38 years, only recently relocated to Harbor Town. Guests receive complimentary wine or champagne on arrival and full beverage service beginning at 4 p.m. in the Little Bar, which connects the lobby with Paulette’s. Also in the late afternoon is live piano music and a roaring fire during the winter months. It’s a cozy way to rest upon arrival, after a full day of sightseeing or to have great conversation with friends.

Paulette’s serves up a menu of continental European selections with an Asian twist and offers a fine wine cellar. Accommodations include a complimentary full gourmet breakfast which ranges from eggs and stone ground grits to fresh pancakes and French toast. Coffee is freshly ground and a basket of pastries adorns each table.

In addition, the hotel offers a boardroom, a library on each floor and the Roof Terrace Bar when weather permits. Access to a neighboring fitness center is also available to guests.

Harbor Town offers an opportunity for an artist to serve in residence; currently, that artist is Memphian Matthew Hasty. His dreamy landscape oil paintings are displayed in the River Inn lobby and are available for purchase.

Visitors will naturally want to check out downtown Memphis and its music clubs, museums and the famous Beale Street, not to mention driving to Graceland and other attractions. Harbor Town offers a nice respite, with its walking trails, ponds and the long stretch along the Mississippi River, which allows visitors to get close and personal to the Big Muddy. Walking along the third largest river in the world is a treat like no other.

Spots to visit within Harbor Town include Tugs Casual Grill, Miss Cordelia’s Grocery with its gourmet foods and organic produce and the quaint Café Eclectic, a bistro and coffeeshop that serves up farmto-table menu items and a lovely selection of pastries fresh from its bakery.

River Inn and Harbor Town are selfcontained on Mud Island, but a bridge gives visitors easy access to nearby downtown Memphis.

A stay at River Inn provides everything you would love about visiting Memphis, but with a unique river experience.

Cheré Coen is a travel writer living in Lafayette and the author of “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.”

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Sweet Travels Elegant Desserts of Love

By Donna McManus

February is the month of love, and what better way to say I love you than with an elegant homemade dessert! Why go out to a restaurant on Valentine's Day? You can create a romantic ambiance at home with candles and soft music. Top off a romantic dinner with one of these easy yet elegant dessert recipes provided by The Sugared Violet.

Valentine's Day should be enjoyed by everyone, not just couples.

Make the day special for someone you know or simply treat yourself. Share the love…and enjoy.

Champagne Mousse 8 ounces of white chocolate 6-8 tablespoons champagne or dry sparkling 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut in small cubes 4 egg yolks 3 tablespoons caster sugar (very fine) 6 tablespoons heavy whipping cream You’ll need 2 heatproof bowls and 2 saucepans that bowls will fit neatly on top. In one heat proof bowl add white chocolate, butter and champagne. Add a little water to a pot and set bowl on top to make a double boiler. Bring water to a low boil and stir until melted and combined. In the other heatproof bowl add egg yolks and sugar then set over a second pot of water and bring to a low boil. Whisk until thickened, approx. 5 min.

Let both mixtures cool to room temperature. While these are cooling, add cream to a mixing bowl and with a hand mixer, whip to form soft peaks only. Combine the egg and chocolate mixtures together, blend gently with a spoon until just incorporated. Take whipped cream and very gently fold into mixture to combine. Place into stemware glasses or individual serving dishes and chill. Garnish with strawberries slice and fresh mint leaves.

Tiramisu 2 (8oz.) fat-free sour cream 2 (8oz,) pkgs. light cream cheese 2/3 cup sugar 1/4 cup skim milk 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 cup strong coffee 2 tablespoons coffee liqueur 2 (3oz.) pkgs. ladyfingers, split 2 tablespoons sifted cocoa powder Combine sour cream, cream cheese, sugar, milk and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat on high speed until smooth. Combine coffee and coffee liqueur in a small bowl. Layer one pkg. of ladyfingers, cut side up, in a 2 quart rectangular baking dish. Brush with 1/2 of the coffee mixture. Spread with 1/2 of cheese mixture. Repeat with remaining ladyfingers, coffee mixture, and cheese mixture. Sprinkle with cocoa powder. Cover and refrigerate 4 to 24 hours. Makes 15 servings.

Strawberry Cream Puffs 1/2 pkg. (17.3 oz) thawed puff pastry (1 sheet) 1 pkg. (4 serving) Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding 1/2 cup thawed Cool Whip 1 cup milk 2 teaspoons grated orange zest 1 pint fresh strawberries, sliced ! square Baker's Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, melted Preheat oven to 400°F. Unfold pastry sheet on lightly floured surface; roll out to 10-inch square. Using a 3 inch cookie cutter, cut 9 rounds. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 10 min.; cool completely. Meanwhile, pour milk into large bowl, add dry pudding mix and whisk until well blended.

Gently stir in whipped topping and orange zest. Cover. Refrigerate 15 min.

To Assemble: Cut puffs horizontally in half. Spoon pudding mixture evenly into bottom halves of cream puffs; top with sliced strawberries and cover with tops. Drizzle with melted chocolate. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve with chocolate covered strawberries. Makes 9 cream puffs

From the kitchen of The Sugared Violet…….sending good wishes your way in all your travels!

Donna Ellen McManus, Owner/Pastry Chef View all the epicurean delights on Facebook Be sure to "like" The Sugared Violet on Facebook

White Sulphur Springs: An 1800’s Louisiana Spa Resort

By Lora Peppers While going through my Grandmother’s papers, I found an old typewritten report on the history of White Sulphur Springs. It was compiled by the LaSalle Parish Development Board probably in the 1960’s. I remember as a little girl, my grandparents took me to this small covered bubbling fountain out in the middle of nowhere.

The air smelled like rotten eggs. My grandparents filled up a couple of milk jugs with the smelly water, but I wanted no part of it! Little did I know that it was a huge tourist spot in the mid-1800’s. People came from all over the country just to drink and bathe in the water, hoping to be cured of their ailments.

In 1833, a man named Joseph P. Ward was passing through the area when he discovered the spring. Seeing the potential investment opportunity, Joseph decided to build a resort around it. He would call it White Sulphur Springs, after his native town in Virginia. Joseph constructed a hotel, dance hall, saloon, slave

quarters and many other buildings. Brothers Jim and Rezin Bowie were said to be frequent gambling guests of the saloon.

Word spread about the sulfur water’s supposed healing properties and business soon poured in. It is said that wagon loads of crutches and canes had to be carried away due to cured patrons! By the 1850’s, the resort had expanded to two hotels, a livery stable, cotton gin and grist mill, a post office and a school. White Sulphur Springs Resort was making money hand over fist.

One of the guests of the resort, a woman known only as Jennie J., described a trip to the resort in the Louisiana Democrat newspaper of August 15, 1894. Jennie had been staying at the Bethard Hotel at the springs for five weeks, “…the cool spacious, rambling house, on top of the hill, that catches every breeze from Heaven blown.”

The day would start with a walk down to the spring to drink as much water as they could, followed by breakfast. The men would then head off to go fishing. Jennie described how the men would come back from their fishing trips loaded

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down with trout, perch and bar fish. She relates that “…trout weighing over five pounds are numerous.” After lunch, the guests would take a nap followed by four o’clock coffee and a walk in the woods. Jennie described her hiking trips as only a Victorian era lady can; “I love the woods, the beautiful woods and restful, peaceful hills. I feel like I could lay down a burden of care and forget that I had ever borne it, for the solitude of the forest comes like a rest after a fretful day. Here cares slumber, aching thoughts are lulled by murmering [sic] sounds, and the wind thus soothed, quickening pulses lose their feverish throb and peace and rest come to the weary.” Once the sun set in the west, the sounds of violin, guitar and harmonica would drift out of the dance hall. Jennie stated that guests would gather to dance the quadrille, waltz, reel and something called the pea vine for hours into the night.

Near the turn of the century, only the Whatley House remained to accommodate guests. The springs had been on the decline ever since the Reconstruction Era. White

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TRAVEL ADVENTURE

By Dianne Newcomer

A New Game in Town wants to get in the game is to shoot more so you can rebound often. " Travel Coach Linda Bashner suggests "Find your confidence level." Ability and physical skills can take you only so far. You have to believe in yourself before you can get out and dominate. You need to be passionate and think big. "Don’t be satisfied with what you did last season," encourages Linda, "but picture yourself going further. Set goals and expect more from each game or each journey.

One of my best clients is an 80 year old school teacher. Another puts a pin on a world map noting places traveled and more importantly, places to visit. Visualize the possibilities then be confident enough to make it happen. " Travel Coach Page King advises: "You’ve got to beat the zone!" Just as a basketball team often uses the zone defense to change the tempo of the game, you need to use travel to force you out of a comfort zone. You can breach the zone by passing the ball around, but personally, I like the fast break strategy where you get a rebound and make a quick run up the floor before the zone can be set up by the opposition," says Page. "Yet, as a travel coach and mother of 4 young boys, I am realistic. Fast breaks don’t happen very often so I have to plan to step out of the zone. I enjoy family trips to my sister’s place at SeaSide in Florida yet half the joy of traveling is going somewhere completely new and unknown. For my family, the islands of Hawaii provide such a perfect destination as each island offers something different. If you don't wish to island hop, there is a wonderful 7 day cruise that takes you around the islands. Call me for details."

Travel Coach Mary Margaret Brenner warns: "Don’t overthink the game! As most continued of my clients know I am more of a Boston Red Sox fan than a basketball coach but in any been retested in modern times so drink at your sport, letting a bad play impact the rest of the own risk. Locals still come to fill their jugs at the springs with no apparent ill effects. If you happen game, negative thoughts or overthinking often to stop by, hold your nose and drink deep! It may holds us back. No matter what the game, the key is to be in the moment. We race down the just be the cure for what ails ya! court then we start overthinking. We lose the moment and don’t even take the shot!"

Lora Peppers, a Monroe native, grew up in Bastrop and graduated from ULM. Her love of history dates back So folks, listen to the advice of these to childhood when one of her favorite activities was travel coaches at MONROE TRAVEL visiting local cemeteries to examine headstones. She also SERVICE and call 323 3465 or come by 1908 loves to travel, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park being her favorite place on Earth. Her job as a genealogist Glenmar--right next door to the Muffin Tin-and let's take your shot at seeing the world in and historian has given her the opportunity to lead many 2013. Visualize it. The clock is ticking. It's time lectures and author several books. She can be reached by e-mail at loradpeppers@hotmail.com. to get out there and PLAY!

2013 has taken possession of the clock. Time is running and every attempt to steal a little something is met with a full court press. Just moving the ball around and hoping for something to happen is not a plan. We need a timeout to regroup and slow the momentum of the game, at least long enough to decide what we need--yes, even want--to do.

"Stop the clock! Time out!" Running the usual "set plays" won't stop 2013, so here I stand screaming at the top of my lungs: "No more new starts on old habits! It's time for a game-changer: bring on the 3point buzzer beater!" As long as the clock is running, there is still time for a little razzle dazzle. Of course, we may have to change our course of action.

Investing in us requires effort, a commitment.

Hoping just won't make it so. To inspire you to take the ball and go for buzzer beater moments in 2013, I borrowed these words from Mark Twain: Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines and sail away from the safe harbor. Explore. Dream. Discover.

If the time has come to catch the winds in your sails and get off the sidelines and play, my husband, Rob, and I own MONROE TRAVEL SERVICE and we would love to show you the way. At MONROE TRAVEL SERVICE, we have some extraordinary buzzer beaters and sell them every day to your friends and neighbors who refuse to let the clock beat them. Have fun on a river cruise, a photo safari in Africa, a cruise among the glaciers of Alaska, a guided climb of Kilimanjaro, a chance to swim with the sharks, an escorted tour of Europe, an adventure to

Australia's Outback, a trek of Macchu Picchu, or fishing trip to the Amazon? If you can imagine it, we can get you there.

Since every coach needs help to put together a winning effort, I decided to seek the advice of my fellow travel coaches at MONROE TRAVEL SERVICE for their suggestions on ways to beat 2013. Travel Coach Rob Newcomer says: "Play well within the paint!"

In the game of travel, there are some slam dunk plays that happen in "the paint," too, and Coach Rob has some trip ideas for players who like the physical action but prefer a more guarded situation. Here are his guided trip recommendations for a heads-up adventure: 1. Experience Patagonia: A cruise and hiking adventure in Chile and Argentina.

2. Explore the Galapagos Island—by land or sea—your way!

3. Get up close with Alaskan wildlife— but no camping and families welcomed!

4. Ride the Wild Rivers --rafting trip from 3 days to two weeks!

5. Bike touring in Canada and California Travel Coach Mary Lou Kirby says: "Get to the Offensive Boards!" In travel, just like in basketball, one should never underestimate the importance of rebounding. "The more times you go back to the board, the better the odds to score", says Coach Mary Lou, who admits she is a big rebounder. "At MONROE TRAVEL SERVICE, they call me the Alaska expert because in the last five years, I have returned to Alaska three times. I strongly suggest to my clients that returning to the same destination offers another chance to enjoy something you missed. The best advice I can give anyone who

White Sulphur Springs Sulphur Springs resort was given its death blow in 1911. The president of the Louisiana Board of Health, Dr. Oscar Dowling had the water analyzed. Dr. Dowling announced the water had no healing properties. As a matter of fact, it was a health hazard. The water was laced with bacteria.

The resort was abandoned and the buildings eventually fell to time.

On the side of Highway 8, about twelve miles southwest of Jena, you will find a little octagon roof and a low concrete wall sheltering what is left of White Sulphur Springs. Is the bacteria gone? I haven’t heard if the water has

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IN THE CR SSHAIRS

By Sonny Harrington

Survival for Dummies What if? I know a lot of us think of those two little words in countless situations. What if I win the lottery? What if those Mayan’s just ran out of rocks on their calendar. What if I get lost in the woods?

That’s more likely than getting struck by lightning. I’m not a survival expert but here are my two cents on the subject.

Here’s the scenario, or should I say, how I believe it will happen. On a cloudy day you’ll have your head down, maybe tracking a deer or perhaps have someone with you that diverts your attention.

Your internal compass has lost magnetic north and you are not coming out near the field or road you planned for.

These days, that cell phone is your best friend with GPS but I think that’s just cheating – absolutely no fun or adventure. What if you forgot it or the battery’s dead, and you’re LOST! Lucky for you, Louisiana is a great place to be lost. First off, if you just stop and listen you’ll hear something. It may be a plane going into the Monroe International Airport or traffic on I-20, or a tug boat on the river.

It’s usually not very quiet here. So let’s put ourselves in a remote WMA (Wildlife Management Area).

Which way is north? Well, the moss (not Spanish) grows on the north side of the tree, ‘cept in Louisiana where it grows all around the tree. Just find the side with the most moss on it and that’d be north. DO NOT PANIC! I promise somebody will come looking for you and if not, I’m sure the tax collector will find you. Seriously, always tell someone where you’re going, especially if it’s to a deer stand.

Don’t just say “Ten Mile Creek Hunting Club”. Be more specific about what tree you’ll be on and about what time you think you’ll be back. Second, be still. If I’m looking for you, a moving target is harder to hit. Can you build a fire? Ever try to build one with a string and bow? You know, all that Boy Scout stuff? At least they hear me cussing and can home in on that. You could sit down with a deck of cards and play solitaire. I guarantee someone will walk up and say, “That red Jack will play on that black Queen”.

Back to fires. Around here you may have trouble finding something dry to burn so look in hollow trees and logs. However, a signal fire needs green wood to smoke and dry wood won’t do that. We don’t have mountains in LA to help navigate by. Try to control your body

temperature, avoid sweating in cold weather tissue damage but chances are you’re not going to die from a bite. They may even do a because you’re really gonna chill out. If you “dry bite” which means they don’t inject get wet you’ve got a problem as hypothermia venom. Guess they don’t want to waste it on is the big killer. Get out of water if you’re in it and climb a tree, most likely a cypress. Wool is you since you’re not food for them. I know a fellow that’s been bitten several times and he the only thing I know that can get wet and just seemed to develop immunity after a still keep you warm. In Alaska, I learned that if I kept my head and feet warm the rest of me while. I don’t hunt with him anymore. My aunt’s dog has been bitten multiple times and would stay warm. It’s kinda weird but 12 is still going strong at age 15. However, my degrees in Montana isn’t nearly as cold as 32 partner at the camp lost his dog last year to a degrees in Louisiana is because we’ve got all rattler. They usually always get bit on the face that humidity. or neck area. FYI, most snake bites are alcohol Stay out of the wind if possible. My first related, “Hold my beer and watch this.” survival lesson was from my father, a Marine, Enough on snakes, how bout spiders? at age eight. We were deer hunting on a fairly We’ve got two poisonous ones – Black Widow warm December day and one of those and Brown Recluse, that’s it. If you do get a blue northerners came blowing in, spider bite, remain calm and get medical dropping the temp about 30 degrees attention. Don’t compress the area or use and pouring rain. No radar or tourniquets but you can use ice to help with pain. warning back in the 60’s, you just had If you stay in the woods long enough about a minute to react. My old man you’ll get hungry. There’s a lot to eat out put me down by a log and started cutting there. Just don’t eat persimmons til after frost saplings and palmetto with his knife. He falls; know that muscadines ripe in laced that stuff all over me before the first September, blackberry’s in May and June, and drop of rain ever touched me and I stayed dry pecans in the fall. Easiest thing to catch is as toast. RULE #1: Always carry a large knife. likely an armadillo around here and a RULE #2: Try to have a Marine close by. On porcupine up north. By now you’re on that the other end of the spectrum, in this state, Nutra/nutria System Plan with plenty of fish your just as likely to suffer from heat and frogs. Hey, the guy on TV eats ‘em! My exhaustion, get encephalitis from mosquitoes, friend in Union Parish says he even likes spotted fever from ticks, scratch your genitals sushi if it’s cooked right so never say never. off from red bugs (notice I didn’t say chigger) And I don’t think crawfish would ever be the or suffer from poison ivy, oak, or sumac. Ok, same…. WHAT IF? Bon Appetite. it ain’t that bad, but watch for snakes. There Sonny Harrington is a Hunter Safety Instructor. He are only four to worry about – Moccasins, is also an NRA (National Rifle Association) Rifle & Pistol Instructor and has hunted from Alaska to Copperheads, Rattlesnakes, and Coral snakes.

Mexico.

If you get bit, don’t cut into and definitely don’t suck anything out. No ice, no tourniquet, just get to the hospital. Call poison control 1-800-222-1222 ASAP and tell them the details. They’re good at locating anti-venom. It’s good to ID the snake so shoot a pic of it with your cell phone. If you get bit by a rattlesnake from southeast Arkansas or northeast Louisiana, RUN don’t walk to the (Civilian Firearms Training Academy) hospital.

Coral snakes are stripped red, yellow, and black. There is an Eastern King that’s red, black, and yellow – kinda close but no cigar. Rattle snakes are self explanatory, Copperheads actually have a pretty camo "Refuse to be a Victim" brown pattern, and Moccasins, well, February 4, 2013 5:00pm $100 they’re just nasty. The last three mentioned have wide heads and are pit Call to pre-register 376-0207 vipers. The Coral has a neuro toxin. Also, Classes every first Monday through July most of the poisonous snakes have except in May (second Monday) elliptical pupils in the eye but you probably don’t want to get that close.

Call about private classes for groups of 10+ FEAR NOT! Snake bites may cause severe

Try to have a Marine close by.

Louisiana Road Trips

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ALL THINGS SOUTHERN

By Shellie Tomlinson

"Sugar Swelling and a Scriptural Defense!" two, no one ever told us not to — which reminds me of a story, but then, you knew it would.

My sisters and I loved our trips to Mama’s home-town in Natchez Mississippi. Getting together with our cousins was always fun, even though we rarely congregated without getting into trouble. The day I have in mind was no different. We had all noticed that sometimes our little cousin Michelle’s eyes seemed to swell, but we had never given it much thought until that particular day when Aunt Marleta told us older kids not to give Michelle any candy. Apparently, they had taken Michelle to the doctor and he concluded that it was sugar making her eyes swell. Oh, really? Duly noted…

No sooner had our mothers left to run errands when the most generous spirit descended on our small congregation. We

were in revival. We who had once guarded our sweet-tarts and candy straws with our very lives were suddenly willing to embrace one of our Papaw Stone’s recent sermons, “it is truly more blessed to give than to receive.” We gave, Michelle received. No one has ever given more. By the time the women came home from uptown, Michelle had to be led to the car by her hand, only small slits remaining where her eyes had been.

Aunt Marleta is a good Christian woman but she was in no mood to hear us quoting scripture that day; Michelle never lost her weakness for candy and Mama—well, Mama took the opportunity to teach us girls that no good deed goes unpunished!

Y'all have a fantastic day and, for goodness sakes, let me hear from you. I like knowing you're there. ~Hugs, Shellie

or the Nasher Sculpture Center, and learn about President Kennedy at the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. See the Museum of Geometric and MADI art, the Interurban Railway Museum, the Sid Richardson Museum, the Kimbell Museum of art, and the Modern Art Museum – all free! Finally, I’m gonna wear my red cowgirl boots, buy a cowgirl hat and eat at Stanley’s Famous Pit BBQ restaurant!

ARKANSAS – See Big Foot at Fouke, dig for diamonds at the Crater of Diamonds State Park, book a houseboat vacation, tour a cave, take hot baths in Hot Springs, tour the Clinton Museum, Delta Cultural Center, Civil War and Natural History. Finally, visit one of the 14 old time soda fountains in Arkansas!

MISSISSIPPI - Bring my cool ride to “Cruisin’ the Coast” in Biloxi, visit the Hattiesburg zoo, stomp grapes at the Italian Festival in Cleveland, tour Beauvoir the Jefferson Davis Home, hit the Blues Trail, the Natchez antebellum homes, visit Hollywood Café in Robinsonville, visit all the Hurricane Katrina induced tree sculptures along Biloxi coast (www.biloxi.ms.us/sculptures). Finally, eat Cajun style shrimp and oysters in Bay Saint Louis!

TENNESSEE – Watch the ducks at the Peabody Hotel, hear the blues on Beale Street, visit Sun Studios, tour the National Civil Rights Museum and finally, wipe the sauce off my hands and face after enjoying Neely’s Bar-B-Que. FLORIDA – Swim with the manatees, visit Coral Castle Museum, touch the sky at Cape Canaveral, meet my family at any major

park and ride anything that moves. Finally, visit Key West and find local spots off the beaten path to get my margarita on!

General things to do - Get out that metal detector and find treasures, take scuba lessons, bird watch, canoe/kayak, paintball fights, take a cooking class, check out FREE movies/music from library, attend various church services, read 6 historical markers, square, ballroom or line dance, find a private swimming hole, ride my bike, volunteer at the local hospital, bowl, shoot hoops or golf, take a ghost walk or cemetery tour, enjoy carnivals or street fairs, test local micro brews, seek out a sunset, buy caterpillars and release as butterflies, see an Imax or 3D movie, go to a live theater production, fossil hunt, relax at a Hookah Bar, eat something I can’t pronounce, swim the Gulf again, walk in a forest in the rain, learn to make homemade cheese, and finally bum around Europe for 2 weeks.

Also, I have come to the realization I can’t and don’t want to do it all. Visit my website www.SuStella.com to see some of my work and details of my ideas. With your marketing, sales or business skills, let’s figure out a way to make money together in 2013.

The Surprise Ending – Somewhere in these 100 weeks, my sweetie and I are contemplating marriage. IF we do, it will be a giant zombie wedding in New Orleans… if it happens I’ll let you know the details because you are ALL invited! We want it to be bigger than life... LOL... Life marches on to its crazy beat so don't miss a step!

Hello folks! Grab yourselves a comfy spot and let's chat...~smile~ My sisters and I grew up with a railroad track within walking distance of our house and yet, Cyndie, Rhonda and I never once took a ride on the rails. In light of some of our other notorious escapades, our never catching a train is something of a family mystery but I have two theories. One, we never thought about it, and

All Things Southern “Bringing you the charm and heritage of the South…” ph 318-559-0319 • cell 319-282-2508 tomtom@allthingssouthern.com

Fifty/50

By Su Stella In about 100 weeks I’ll be 50 years old, so I made a list of 50 fun things that I want to do by then. I really don’t expect complete them all but each one I do enjoy will fill my memory. I am posting this article on my fridge along with a calendar so I am never left thinking “what do I want to do today?”

LOUISIANA – Visit Yogi and Friends to support the real big cats, take the paddleboat adventure on the Red River Shreveport, monkey around at Chimp Haven, step back in time at the St. Francisville plantations, or further back at the Renaissance Fair in Hammond. Watch the Angola Prison Rodeo, attend the Ruston Peach Fest or Pontchatoula Strawberry Fest, milk goats at WesMar farm, bring home the milk to make feta cheese, visit the Wild Country Safari Park in Delhi, imbibe at ‘Tales of the Cocktail’ in New Orleans, get misdirected in a corn maze, stay at a quaint bed and breakfast, tour Covington Brewhouse, and enter a mud bug eating contest. I‘ve dreamed of having a fishing camp within 2 hours of Shreveport. Finally play in the fountains on the Red River in Shreveport and top it off with a Counter Culture frozen yogurt!

TEXAS – Do the Friday night Owl Prowl at Caddo Lake State Park, visit TC Lindsey in Jonesville to experience an old general store, tour the Cowgirls Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, the Women’s Museum in Dallas, experience the Dallas Museum of Art

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Up in Smoke!

Jim Bowie's Relay Station Destroyed by Fire A Poignant Conversation with John Ed Bartmess

By Lee Estes One of Louisiana's most unique and interesting Road Trip destinations, Jim Bowie's Relay Station Restaurant, Crown Jewel of Catahoula Parish, erupted in flames Dec. 28, 2012. The restaurant and everything in it was declared a total loss.

This well known landmark, which opened for business on Oct. 27, 2000, was the brainchild of John Ed Bartmess, former teacher, coach, and principal at Enterprise School which was abandoned during the mid-1990s. Most of us are aware that schools and post offices are the heart of any community and when they die, the community usually follows.

During its tenure, Enterprise witnessed some notable events such as following a graduation around the middle of the last century, two graduates exchanged cap and gown for wedding apparel and got married immediately on the same stage. Another interesting story involves the class of 1966 where eight of the boys all wound up fighting in Vietnam at the same time. The Enterprise Post Office, a genuine log structure, outlived the school for several years but is now closed and occupied by a Korean war veteran.

John Bartmess' retirement coincided with the schools closing and he briefly considered going into the travel business, transporting locals to tourist destinations such as Branson and Orlando. Then he reconsidered, wondering how to bring money in to Catahoula Parish instead of out? The answer came when he saw one of the early Cracker Barrel restaurants somewhere in Tennessee and visualized a similar, yet unique, restaurant in Enterprise, Louisiana. Only a dreamer could imagine such a place in Enterprise with the nearest population center, Monroe, about fifty miles away. However, Jim Bowie’s was located near the Ouachita River where one of the last

remaining ferries operated there. John, determined character that he is, made his plans. He would build a restaurant, constructed entirely of used lumber gathered from old houses, barns, store buildings, or whatever he could beg, borrow, or buy within a distance of some forty or fifty miles.

He would put the restaurant in one end, and fill the other end with antiques, folk art, and collectibles indigenous to the area.

The abandoned Enterprise school was razed and material from that structure contributed, including the interior of the principal's office which would be incorporated into the restaurant. About the time he finished building the property, Frank and Janie's restaurant in Monroe closed and all of their kitchen equipment was for sale and soon found its way to Enterprise.

About this time my book, Fading Textures, was released and John heard about it and called me, marking the beginning of a wonderful friendship with him and wife Shirley. When the restaurant opened for business, there were some conditions involved. They would only be open on Friday and Saturday evenings, no alcoholic beverages served, and no credit cards accepted. To the surprise of many, business was great, and the clientele would grow over the years until Jim Bowie's would become one of the top destinations in Louisiana for people from all over the United States and beyond.

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The restaurant had a small stage at one end where regional musicians performed country, western, and gospel music for the customers. There were hundreds of political signs collected over the years on the walls and ceiling as well as license plates from almost every state in the union. Louisiana politicians from Earl Long to Bobby Jindal were represented. One cache of signs was rescued from a dumpster where they had been discarded following an election. Best of all, the food was consistently good. One visitor was overheard to say, "I don't like hushpuppies, but I ate eight of them."

Waitresses were recruited from family members and former students at Enterprise school. Small gifts were bestowed to customers coming from the greatest distance, or sometimes to those who could identify who wrote a certain song or something similar and later for your first visit to Jim Bowie’s. All this contributed to a congenial ambiance which soon attracted regular guests from surrounding towns. On one evening there were guests from England, Russia, Turkey, and China, all dining at a remote restaurant in Enterprise, Louisiana make from reclaimed lumber.

The restaurant was just the first of John Bartmess' building projects. It didn't take long for a collection of surrounding structures to complement the property. A covered bridge, a blacksmith shop, a one room school filled with memorabilia from the original Enterprise school, a chapel completely finished in cedar, an amphitheater using the bed of an antique truck for its stage, and a grist mill with waterwheel formed a semicircle around the restaurant. Of particular interest was the Hall of Heroes honoring service men and women from all over Louisiana. Jim Bowie's was a museum representing Louisiana of the past century.

Lost in the fire were many artifacts and gifts accumulated over the years. One item of note was a hat worn by John Wayne in one of his movies and autographed by the movie great.

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Cold, Wet & Miserable – Just the way I like it!

By Johnny Wink It is 29 degrees and ice all over Jones, LA as I’m writing this. I got my candles ready if the lights go out. In addition, I have three groups of hunters in camp waiting to get in the blinds to kill some ducks.

I once heard that if you are going to the duck blinds and you’re cold, wet, and miserable, you are going to kill a lot of ducks.

Well, as of right now, that’s the truth. We are killing a lot of ducks of all kinds; also getting late season Specks, too.

This weather has got them going to different places to feed and it’s like new geese, because of the way they just come right in to the sounds of our Speck calls. The other day, right before the ice hit, the skies were full of ducks flying south ahead of this front. And let me tell you, Mallards all day long. With all the rain and ice now, we finally got what we wanted––cold weather.

But we‘re never completely satisfied.

Now I hope it stops raining because we are about to be flooded in some areas. Also, I admit I’ll be glad to see the sun shine once again. Mainly because when that happens, look out for the Mallards. They will be falling from the skies on top of the Mojos!

Believe it or not, the wind has been doing us a big favor, too.

The ducks that don’t want in are blown right over us in a lot of cases. And, you know what?

When all this is going on and you’re in the duck blind shooting limits of ducks and a few geese, amazingly, few people notice the cold.

They are too busy loading their guns and shooting and don’t have time to get cold.

However, it does take its toll on my Polaris and 4-wheelers. They take a pounding with this kind of weather. The ruts keep getting deeper every time we go through them, and then the rain fills them back up almost every night, making for a muddy mess. But what a wonderful mess when it is all said and done. Not to mention, that’s what ducks like, and if you want real good duck hunting, this is it!

We’ve come a long way from when I first started hunting bundled up from the inside out, wearing long johns, shivering, my fingers frozen and my nose red. Now, with today’s high tech clothes and underwear like armor, and fine waterproof jackets and stuff, we can stand most of what ever Mother Nature puts in front of us. But, for the customer that just comes for a one or two day hunt and doesn’t invest in clothing like this, it won’t be a fun day. This is time for the hardcore duck hunter who will be rewarded well with heavy straps of big ducks. This is what we dream of: Cold, wet ice, wind, and orange feet.

This season has blown by (or is that flown by). As soon as the last decoy gets put up in my barn, I will be one happy, happy, happy man. I thank the Lord that nobody got hurt, nothing went haywire, and all the dogs did so well. Plus, my guides, Mac, Butch, Cody, and Hannah, Thank y’all. I could not have done it without y’all. And Steve, when I needed help, you were there, too.

The ducks that don’t want in are blown right over us in a lot of cases.

But most of all, thanks and double thanks goes out to all my hunters. Without y’all, I wouldn’t have a guide service. I hope you liked us enough to come back next season. In this business, there are days when we don’t kill a lot of ducks and we can’t help that.

Thankfully, we didn’t have many of those days this year. We put the smack down on ‘em!

Thank the Lord for getting us through another year. We have finished our 38th year guiding duck hunters in Morehouse Parish. I just wish all those decoys that are iced-up in the muddy rice fields were in bags in my barn.

Then and only then, will I rest. Then after I rest up, women look out because I will again be in search of a trophy wife… or maybe just a trophy girlfriend. Well, maybe just a woman that’s not a trophy but thinks she is a trophy.

Anyway, beware. Johnny’s back and we all know what that means. Happy hunting!

Congratulations to Mona on the 100th issue. Thanks, Mona, for letting me share my hunting stories in this fine magazine.

Jim Bowie's Relay Station Destroyed by Fire continued My wife and I visited John Bartmess’ at the site of Jim Bowie's on Jan. 3, following the fire. It was an emotional time for all of us as John related most of what I have written above. In our conversation he praised Louisiana Road Trips for giving Jim Bowie's the statewide publicity it needed to grow and prosper.

John had sold the property to Raymond and Christie Nugent in 2008 and they continued to operate in a similar manner.

No real decision has been made about rebuilding, but many of us pray for it to rise from the ashes. It will be impossible to duplicate the original but all the surrounding structures are still in place and the ferry still crosses the Ouachita.

There have been phone calls, letters, emails, and visits to Enterprise lamenting the disaster of losing one of Louisiana's most popular destinations. One lady, Suzanne Rogers, a teacher at Caldwell Parish Junior High and former waitress at Jim Bowie's used this quotation from Psalms 29:18 to describe how John Bartmess lived and thought: “Where there is no vision, the people will perish.”

Lee Estes, a Kentucky native, migrated to Louisiana in 1956 with his wife, Lottie. He worked in aviation then with A&LM Railway. He began making photographs in Europe after WWII and ranked among the leading monochrome exhibition photographers in the U.S. during the 80’s. His extensive travels included leading tours across the globe. Lee has authored three photo/documentary books and is currently involved with the documentation of The Dixie Overland Highway (US80) in Louisiana, funded by a grant from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities.

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A LIFE OF TRIAL…AND ERROR

By Dennis Stewart

Christmas Eve Bucks

taken several bucks but never taken an 8that had not been there point. Wyoming had yielded up bigger ones before. It but Louisiana had never been that generous. moved. I Early before daylight, I climbed one of my could see a ladder stands on my 20 acres. I have 8 stands flash of deer there, one for every direction the wind blows antler. It was and for every possible weather condition. a buck! I Around 7am, a doe came easing out of slowly some thick brush so I got situated, figuring a turned, buck was probably following found the brown patch in my scope and fired. her. Sure enough, she kept The buck fell in his tracks. I watched carefully looking back and a few for a few minutes to see if it was going to seconds later the buck came move. It didn’t. I climbed down and walked up to push her along. I took over to my second Christmas Eve buck in a careful aim with my 270 and fired. Both deer row! It was a nice young 4 point. ran back into the brush. I waited the requisite Since then, I haven’t seen another buck 20 minutes then climbed down and started on my place. My new wife has joined me a looking for blood. Not seeing any, I walked in few times when I hunted out of my roomy the same direction the buck had run off. About box stands with a propane heater. I like when 50 yards in, I found my first Louisiana 8 point! she comes hunting with me, as she always Hunting season of 2012 rolled around. I brings a sack full of sandwiches, cookies, hunted for most of November and the first chips, and peanut brittle, and a thermos of hot three weeks of December without seeing a chocolate. I’ve just about got her trained not buck, not even on my trial cams. Things were to eat unless a train is going by. Maybe I’ll let not going well but I refused to give up. On her be in the stand with me when I take Christmas Eve, well before daylight, I was another buck on Christmas Eve, 2013. sitting, with a honey bun, in a new stand near Dennis Stewart grew up in northeast Louisiana, graduated where I had taken the 8 point last year. The from La Tech and LSU Law School. After having taught law at ULM and working as an Assistant District sun came up and I kept thinking about that Attorney, Dennis is now a Hearing Officer in Rayville. He honey bun. With railroad tracks along loves to hunt, fish, read, write, and shop on eBay. Highway 80, I have learned to use the sound of the trains to mask the noise I make eating snacks in my deer stands. I promised myself that as Remember When . . . soon as a train came, I would open the honey 1. Before the Europeans came, Louisiana bun package. belonged to whom?

By Johnny Wessler, I waited and waited. No 2. The first Mardi Gras took place in New Louisiana North Coordinator trains. They must have Orleans on Shrove Tuesday in what thought it was a holiday or The King Cake’s history can be traced back to 12th year? something. A few minutes after century France where a cake would be baked on the eve of 3. In 1821, John James Audubon 8, I decided to unwrap that January 6 to celebrate the visit to the Christ Child by the established a studio where? honey bun. I made one last 4. The Jesuits of Santo Domingo three Kings. scan of the surrounding woods introduced what in In the early days, a small token such as a bean, pea or and lo and behold, about 40 Louisiana in 1751? coin was hidden in the cake. The finder was declared King yards behind me was a brown 5. The LA State Penitentiary for the day and was said to have good luck in the coming patch in a big wad of brush was established in what year. This adds to the excitement and symbolizes the year? difficult time the wise men had finding the baby Jesus.

6. What name was given to the famous New Orleans music Today, a small ceramic figurine of a baby is hidden in the when it was introduced in Chicago? cake and whoever finds the baby is 'allowed' to host the 7. Riverboat gambling was legalized where in next King Cake party.

1991?

The cake is shaped round to symbolize the unity of 8. The discovery of what in 1916 caused faiths and to portray the route used by the kings to reach Monroe to flourish?

9. Where and what was the lowest temperate ever the Christ Child. recorded in LA? You can find King Cakes at most bakeries, baked fresh 10. Where is the only area in the world where daily and filled with real fruit filling or cream cheese or perique tobacco is grown? both, sweet and cinnamon flavored. These are decorated in Answers on next page 22 the traditional Mardi Gras Colors of purple, green and gold representing justice, faith and power.

Way back when I was a kid growing up in Winnsboro, my most exciting day of the year was Christmas Eve. The day was filled with anticipation. There would be the movie at the Princess Theater where they would give away a bicycle. My parents, along with my sister and me, would visit family friends like the Lofton’s or Gardner’s that night, and we would eat really good chili and pop firecrackers. Then everyone would cram into a car and ride around Winnsboro looking at Christmas lights, especially those at the Riley Nursing Home down Lone Cedar Road. Of course, the best part of all was trying to go to sleep in bed that night while thinking about presents that would be waiting under the Christmas tree the next morning, left by Santa himself.

I’ll be 60 years old this month so that was a long, long time ago. For a large number of years, Christmas Eve seemed to have lost some of its luster. Then a few years ago I bought 20 acres of woods near Holly Ridge and on Christmas Eve of 2011, I rediscovered some Christmas Eve holiday cheer. I have hunted for many years in Louisiana and have

They must have thought it was a holiday or something.

History of the King Cake

ouisiana

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Grant’s Canals

By Terry L. Jones By 1863, the Confederates had lost control of the Mississippi River except for two strongholds at Vicksburg, Mississippi, and Port Hudson, Louisiana. If the Union could capture those places, the Confederacy would be split in two and the Mississippi River opened once again to Northern trade.

Gen. U.S. Grant was ordered to capture Vicksburg, and in January 1863 he put his Army of the Tennessee aboard transports and moved downriver from Memphis.

Floodwaters prevented Grant from marching overland from the river against Vicksburg, and Confederate cannons on Vicksburg’s bluffs made it impossible to move the army by boat past the city to attack from below.

There seemed no practical way to approach Vicksburg, but Grant had an ingenious solution to the dilemma—he would use canals to bypass the city altogether. A year earlier, Union forces began digging a three-mile-long canal across DeSoto Point directly across the river from Vicksburg. The Yankees planned on using the canal to bypass the city but it was never completed. Grant decided to complete the canal and then cut the upstream levee to let water roar through the ditch and scour out a new channel. Within days the river would shift approximately two miles west of Vicksburg. If Grant could not capture the city he would simply make Vicksburg irrelevant by moving the river away.

William T. Sherman’s corps, with the aid of an unknown number of confiscated slaves from Madison Parish, was put to work completing the canal. By February, they were fully committed to the project.

But continuous rains plagued the workers and caused the water to rise even higher.

Digging in the sticky gumbo mud,

living in the water-soaked camps, and suffering from myriad diseases quickly exhausted the men. One member of the 55th Illinois remembered, “[This period] was on many accounts one of the gloomiest in the career of the regiment. At the time of its arrival the river was rapidly rising….The swamps became lakes, and camps and roads were sloughs of black mire. If one put his foot squarely down anywhere, it was questionable when he raised it again, if the shoe Grantʼs Canal at DeSoto Point (Frank Leslieʼs would not stay behind.”

Magazine) Steam powered dredges were brought in to help were inundated that winter as they finish the canal, but work was slow and arduous. deliberately cut the levees along the Pneumonia and other diseases ravaged the laborers, Mississippi. Grant was roundly criticized for and Confederate artillery frequently fired at them. his canal projects, particularly the one at Hundreds of soldiers and slaves died and were buried DeSoto Point, but the engineering logic in the same levee on which the survivors lived. behind them was sound. Although too late to Fluctuating water levels washed out the shallow help the Union army, the Mississippi River graves, and decomposed arms and legs began jutting did change course during the flood of 1876 from the soggy, putrid soil. Often the dead had to be and cut a new channel across DeSoto Point. reburied higher up on the levee, which prompted one Today, a small portion of the Grant’s Canal soldier to write, “The troops were thus hemmed in by can be seen near the base of the I-20 bridge. the burial-places of their comrades.”

Grant eventually came to the conclusion that Dr. Terry L. Jones is a professor of history at the the canal at DeSoto Point would not work. Flood University of Louisiana at Monroe and has published several books on the American Civil War. water constantly filled it in, and the engineers could not get enough current into the canal to scour out a new channel. But DeSoto Point was not the only place the Yankees were digging.

Another canal at Lake Providence was undertaken to connect the Mississippi River with inland bayous.

By Deborah Burst Grant hoped this canal would Keeping with the theme of Mardi Gras, I just read a blog from a allow him to use transports Yankee, Ohio native, Annie Drummond, who moved to New to take the army from the Orleans, found a man, and is now a forever Who Dat. I enjoy her river and through various take on life--full of spunk, and every week reminds us why we love Louisiana streams to connect this fine state. I mean where else can you cure your with the Red River and holiday/wintertime blues in a matter of days. There’s nothing like a reenter the Mississippi and attack Vicksburg from below. huge hunk of King Cake for breakfast just six days after New Years.

At Lake Providence, We are the only state where Valentine’s Day gets a bum deal, two of Grant’s engineers between the shelves of Mardi Gras decorations and King Cake boxes, proposed digging a mile-long there’s hardly any room for the waxy, heart-shaped chocolates. And canal from the river into the like Christmas, we start celebrating a month to two months ahead of lake and then follow various time. I’m talking serious training on eating, drinking and screaming. waterways from the lake to But there’s another cure for the summertime, wintertime, or the Red. They discovered that anytime blues, and that’s Mona Hayden. I met Mona briefly at a cutting the levee to fill the conference, and remember the exact day she called asking if I could canal with water would flood be a contributing columnist. I was walking my dog Spikey, or I the town of Lake Providence, should say he was walking me, out of breath, and remember saying, but one of the officers not sure how long I can keep it up, but I’ll give it a try. admitted they did not think That was nearly six years ago and more than 100 articles. “this matter of sufficient Thanks to Mona’s generous editorial space, I have dined in the finest importance to interfere with restaurants, slept in the most exquisite hotels, and have traveled the accomplishments of the across the country and beyond. She works damn hard, is the most object in view.” Lake giving person I know, and no matter your mood, I guarantee a chat Providence was sacrificed, with Mona will leave a smile on your face. but the canal there failed, as And this is why, in this screwed up publishing world, well.

Louisiana Road Trips and Mona Hayden have survived. She’s honest Grant’s canals were a and a keen business woman who shoots straight from the hip, unlike fiasco; all that was some who offer empty promises. accomplished was the As a fulltime freelance writer and photographer, I have the flooding of even more of freedom to hire and fire editors. And I’ve seen the gambit of both Northeast Louisiana. Union engineers estimated that good and bad, but throughout it all, Mona Hayden and Louisiana nearly 1,000 square miles of Road Trips will always remain a forever friend and business partner. land (and scores of homes) Congratulations Mona! Look forward to the next 100 issues!

Louisiana Road Trips

Forever Friend

Cheers to Mona Hayden and Louisiana Road Trips

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GOING NATIVE

By Larry Brock

Garden for the Love of it

Wow! It’s official. 2012 was the warmest and 2nd most extreme year in U.S. history – record heat, severe drought, parched fields, shallow rivers, storms. Now it’s 2013. By mid-January, the river parishes had received over 10” of rain, some more.

That’s compared to less than 2” at this same time last year. And temperatures have been mercurial. An erratic climate is one reason to consider native plants in the home landscape. After thousands of years of living in the same place, they’re adapted to local weather, soils and conditions. They have a “home-court” advantage.

Early February is midway between winter solstice and spring equinox. For some ancients, it inaugurated the “light” half of the year and was cause for celebration. Though winter might yet have a chilly bite, the advent of spring is certain and bright.

For months, Jupiter has been that bright “star” rising after sunset in the east and setting in the west at sunrise. Then Venus has been that bright morning “star” rising in the east at dawn. Both planets were visible together on opposite sides of the morning sky. This winter’s heavens have been a stargazer’s delight with several planets visible in the night sky, familiar constellations, meteor showers and a huge moon halo before one approaching storm.

Winter road trips have been lined by the silent silhouettes of deciduous trees ruled by red-tailed hawks keeping lonely vigil over barren fields. Stately egrets and herons stalked flooded sloughs below. Other sightings included turkey vultures, northern harriers, kestrels, belted kingfishers, crows, sand hill cranes, geese, cattle egrets, coots, cormorants, gulls, kill deer, doves, grackles and starlings. Naming birds of the highway corridor can be an enjoyable pastime, if you can keep your eyes on traffic and pull over when necessary to ensure public safety.

Deciduous hollies have highlighted many winter drives. Hidden in summer among fencerow trees, they have now come into their full winter glory. For the landscape there are many varieties and cultivars of hollies to choose from.

Other red-berried plants include burning bush, Chinese photinia, coral berry, dogwood, nandina and pyracantha. Blue-berried plants include cherry laurel, ligustrum, privet and wax myrtle.

Finally, there’re the nearby tallow, Bradford pear, persimmon and chinaberry trees.

What a delight to watch birds and other wildlife eating the annual nuts, acorns, fruits, seeds and berries produced in a natural garden.

When planning your landscape, incorporate plants that cater to wildlife. With proper plant selection, a small plot of land can support a wide variety of birds, maybe a squirrel, rabbit or passing deer.

Remember to join the Great Backyard Bird Count on February 15th – 18th. The annual 4day event creates a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. It’s free, fun,

easy and anyone can participate. Check it out at www.birdsource.org/gbbc.

Mild but persistent December frosts overcame the last of my 2012 annual and perennial blooms. Color faded from the landscape, even as winter grasses and broadleaves greened. Then chickweed, dandelion, henbit, sow thistle, shepherd’s purse started flowering. Paperwhites too.

Plus bush honeysuckle and sweet olive are in seasonal, aromatic bloom. Now camellias, forsythia, jessamine and quince have begun their spring show. Nature will out!

Now in sight of the growing season, review your landscape. Prepare your yard and garden for spring. Prune. Divide bulbs, perennials. Share with friends. Plan and dream. As Lindley Karstens wrote, “Plant on a whim. Lay the footpath where your heart says it should be. Change things because you feel like it. Garden for the love of it.”

As recommended last year, consider ways to capture and conserve seasonal rainfall in the coming year. Increase waterholding capacity of the soil by adding organic matter. Apply soil conditioners that fight compaction and increase water infiltration.

Slow runoff to allow permeation. Add mulch to preserve moisture. Install catchments if feasible. By adding hardy native plants, summer irrigation needs can be reduced. Plan for a sustainable landscape by Going Native.

A life-long resident of Lake Providence, Larry Brock was inspired by his grandfather’s passion for gardening and his own desire to recover the horticultural uniqueness of this region. Larry is drawn to the relationships between plants, birds, insects and soil and can be found puttering outdoors in his yard most any time, weather permitting.

Winter Jam 2013

By Robert Lemoine

For the last few years, North Louisiana has been impacted by a Christian Concert Tour traveling the nation. This year is no different as Winter Jam 2013 prepares to hit the stage at the CenturyLink Center in Bossier City on March 8th with 10 bands for $10.

Recently, I had the opportunity to talk with some of the members of these talented groups. This isn’t just a concert; it’s a ministry that reaches out to people of all ages. Anthony Armstrong of Red said, “It’s an opportunity for people to be uplifted by the music.”

The other groups performing will be Capital Kings, TobyMac, Matthew West, Jamie Grace, NewSong, Sidewalk Prophets, Royal Tailor, Jason Castro, and OBB. This kid friendly, family oriented show allows people to see the faces behind the music. It also allows for someone to come to Jesus.

In just the first six shows, five were sold out. According to the official reports, 29,902 out of the 78,573 people at the shows made a decision for Christ. That’s 38% of the crowd! Chances are most of the others had already given their lives to Jesus. Imagine that lost soul in the youth group at your church that just can’t be reached…what might happen?

Cole Walowac of Capital Kings said one of the greatest things about the show is “seeing the Christian artists fellowshipping and walking the talk.” This inspires me personally to know that these “stars” are humble enough to gather in the name of the Lord. It gives hope that all is not lost Louisiana Road Trips

and that His people are still around. As busy as these people are at the performances, they still MAKE TIME for Jesus.

One of the founding members of NewSong, Eddie Carswell, added, “God was in it from the beginning and if we try to take credit for it, it will wind up in the ditch.” So, regardless of what you think, the show is not just about the music you love. It’s about loving the Creator.

This show is expected to be sold out and at only $10 at the door, why wouldn’t it be. If you’re looking for something to do on a Friday night, this very well could be your answer. For more information, visit www.jamtour.com. Be watching for more interviews next month as we prepare for a show that will change your life….if you let it.

May God bless you and keep you safe in all that you do in His name. Remember, the fastest way up is to kneel down.

A lifelong resident of Union Parish, Robert Lemoine is a Christian small business owner.

He and his wife, Summer, oversee www.foreverandalwaysonline.com and also sell Christian merchandise at flea markets and fesitvals in north Louisiana and surrounding states. Robert's writings are most inspirational, Christian, and patriotic with occasional reflections on lessons learned. He can be reached at writing@foreverandalwaysonline.com.

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RECIPES

by Stacy Thornton

I’m sure you know that Louisiana Road Trips is celebrating its 100th issue this month. Now that’s something to be proud of! It has been an honor to be part of LRT and especially this issue. We have so much to celebrate and be thankful for – our family, friends, and the ability to wake up each and every day thanking God for all of his blessings.

I have faith that 2013 is going to be a wonderful year! I started a new job last month so changes are in store. I’m now a promotional consultant for The Logo Store USA and am very excited to be a part of another wonderful team. Check us out at www.logostoreusa.com.

For 100 issues we’ve been able to share recipes to celebrate all the many happenings each and every month. This month we have Mardi Gras, the Super Bowl, and Valentine’s Day. Indulge some and treat yourself to good food and good company.

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Shrimp and Grits 3 cups chicken broth 1 cup grits 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated 1 cup Monterey Jack Cheese, grated 1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped 2 lbs raw shrimp, peeled and deveined 1 can Rotel tomatoes, drained

1 cup heavy cream 1/2 tsp salt 4 tbsp butter 6 green onions, chopped 1 clove garlic, minced 1 can cream corn

Anytime Spinach Salad 1 bag prepared baby spinach 1 cup honey roasted nuts 1/2 medium red onion sliced thinly into rings 11 oz can mandarin oranges, drained 11/2 cups Craisins or sliced strawberries 1 cup feta cheese, crumbled balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing Place ingredients in a salad bowl, toss, and serve with dressing.

BBQ Shrimp 5 lbs headless raw shrimp 4 lemons thinly sliced 2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce 2 sticks of butter, cut into pats 2 pods crushed garlic 1/4 cup italian salad dressing 3 green onions French Bread salt and cracked black pepper to taste Wash shrimp and place in glass baking dish. Cover with butter pats and lemon slices. Mix other ingredients together and pour over shrimp. Place under broiler until shrimp turn pink. Turn oven to 350 degrees and cook until done, about 20 minutes.

Serve with toasty French bread.

Fancy Valentine's Day French Toast

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook grits in broth, cream and salt. Add cream corn and 3/4 cups of each cheese. Melt butter in medium skillet; add bell pepper, onion, and garlic and saute until tender. Add shrimp and saute in butter and vegetables. Combine grits, shrimp, and rotel. Pour mixture into a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.

Red Velvet Truffles 1 boxed red velvet cake mix 1/2 can prepared cream cheese icing 12 oz bag semi-sweet chocolate morsels Prepare cake, cool and crumble with a fork. Mix crumbled cake with icing.

Roll dough into 1 inch balls and freeze. Dip frozen balls in melted chocolate.

Cool on wax paper.

1 loaf Italian Bread 1/4 cup cream cheese 3 eggs 1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup butter 1/4 cup strawberry preserves 1/4 cup milk fresh strawberries for garnish

Slice bread diagonally in about 1/2 inch thick slices. Spread cream cheese and fruit spread on slices and top each with bread making fruit sandwiches. Whisk eggs, milk and vanilla in a shallow dish. Melt butter in large skillet over medium high heat. Reserve half of the melted butter to drizzle over sandwiches. Dip each sandwich in egg mixture and place in skillet. Cook until browned on each side. Drizzle with reserved butter and top with fresh strawberries.

Calendar of Events

February 2013 February 2-4

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Tour Spring Fiesta House during Superbowl in New Orleans 504-581-1367

February 6

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Farming on the Bayou St. Martinville, LA – 337-394-3754

February 9

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Concert by Candlelight New Iberia – 337-364-1603 World Famous Cajun Extravaganza and Gumbo Cook-Off Lake Charles – 337-475-7393 La Political Museum Hall of Fame Induction Winnfield – 318-628-5928

February 10

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Taste De La Louisiane Lake Charles – 337-436-9588 Piney Hills Half Ruston – 318-232-2213

February 12

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AKC Dog Trials New Iberia – 337-365-7539

February 16

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26th Tee Mamou-Iota Mardi Gras Folklife Festival 337-779-2226 Mardi Gras Hot Rods Classics and Motorcycles Parade Lake Charles – 337-436-9588 Iowa Chicken Run

February 13

February 15-17

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Koresh Dance Company: 20th Anniversary Program Alexandria – 318-443-4718

February 24

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Rock N' Roll Marathon &1/2 Marathon Series New Orleans – 504-566-5011

February 28-March 2

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Eagle Expo Patterson – 985-395-4905

Community Center Carnival & New Roads Lions Club Carnival Parades New Roads – 225-638-3998 Louisiana Road Trips

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Segwaying Memphis

By Sonny Harrington Just the other day I was kid. I remember watching the Jetson’s on TV, a cartoon about George Jetson and his family, living in the future.

George had a boy named Elroy, a wife, daughter and dog. Elroy put on this pack and jetted to school. It was a sci-fi futuristic cartoon with moving sidewalks and spacemobiles.

I think Dean Camen, founder of the Segway, must have been a big fan of this show, too. I first saw one in a movie about a mall cop. The word ‘segway’ means ‘smooth transition’, and that it is – a 2-wheel, self-powered, battery operated vehicle with computers and motors in the base, constantly working to keep itself upright. Gyroscopic sensors and fluid leveling sensors detect weight shifts that move the machine accordingly.

The Segway has a zero turn radius and runs up to 12.5 mph for about 24 miles before needing another charge. Depending on the model, it weighs roughly 90 lbs with 20 inch tires. It’s ideal for specialized police forces, from meter maids to mall security. My favorite part is that it’s quiet – real quiet. Riders should weigh between 100-260 lbs. Well, lucky me, I’m right in the middle of that. I’m about as average a fellow as you’d ever meet as far as height and weight, fitting most police descriptions when it comes to suspects – 5’ 10”, 180 lbs.

Now I’m getting on up in age, and not by being stupid, so when I had the opportunity to go on a Segway tour, I had to ponder on it a minute.

I don’t heal as fast as I used to so I made sure my health insurance premium was paid up. Also, anytime I do something that requires a helmet, I give it a good look-over first. I can ride a bicycle, motorcycle, rollerskate forwards and even backwards, love to fly airplanes, and have rode horses since I was a kid so I figure, what the heck.

Urban Track Adventures: Segway Experience of Memphis met us at the Peabody with the segways. The tour guide began by placing some little traffic cones out on the sidewalk and with just a little coaching, I’m weaving in and out like I’d been doing it all my life. Just stand on it and lean forward to move forward. Lean back and it stops, lean too far back and it reverses. Within minutes, I am ‘one with the machine’. We cruised all over Memphis, saw where MLK was shot, went down to the river, found some great places to eat BBQ and made it back to the Peabody without needing a Bandaid or breaking a sweat. Segway tours of Memphis are offered twice daily Tuesday thru Sunday.

And there’s more good news. They make an off-road model. Can you imagine cruising the woods and slipping up on squirrels and dear? I’ve just got to figure out how to load a big buck up on this thing after I take him down.

Louisiana Road Trips

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Hit the Road

Mardi Gras Magic

A memoir of carnival confessions

By Deborah Burst I'll never forget the first time I discovered what it meant to be a New Orleanian. No, it wasn't my first parade or riding down the levee on a piece of cardboard. I learned it from my sixth grade teacher in Norfolk, Virginia.

A Navy family, we left New Orleans when I was five, moved around a lot, eight schools in 12 years, and now it was time to make the journey back home.

Standing in front of my teacher’s desk, with yet another heavy heart, I quietly confessed my departure, "Mrs. Broderick, we're moving back to my daddy's home, um, back to New Orleans."

There wasn’t much I remembered about New Orleans besides the faint recollection of begging my father for raw oysters as he shucked them on the back porch stoop. And that painful memory of what happens when you stick your fingers down a crawfish hole.

Normally Mrs. Broderick showed little emotion, well except for that time we watched the first spacewalk on our classroom TV. She was clapping her hands and bobbing up and down like an 8-pound catfish on a cane pole.

We were stone silent entertained more from her antics than the snowy-static blur on the television.

Back to my story. I stood in front of her desk, waiting for the usual, “That’s too bad Deborah, we’ll miss you…blah, blah, blah.” But instead she exclaimed, "New Orleans, do you know how lucky you are?"

I’m like, okay, and before I could ask, she got all bubbly and spewed out, "All the Mardi Gras parades, and po-boys, you're going to have so much fun!" Of course I had no idea what she was talking about...it was all foreign to me, the best I could come up with was some kind of circus with clowns running around. Oh yeah, there were clowns alright, but not the kind I imagined.

My dad loved parades and would bring us downtown on Mardi Gras day. One year my costume was my dad’s altered Navy uniform.

Imagine a teenager dressed in a real sailor suit on St. Charles Avenue, a block from Lee Circle.

Talk about work that Navy float for beads, I was

pimping my white hat, black Navy tie and tight bell bottomed blues.

Another memorable trek was in the French Quarter. I was in my early 20s, walking, or should I say shoved down Bourbon Street. There was a lot of touching and feeling going on, and it wasn’t my boyfriend. Matter of fact, I didn’t know who in the hell was doing the groping-male, female or otherwise. But I did enjoy the costumes, including one that I thought was rather ingenious and required little preparation.

It was a misty, cold Mardi Gras, and suddenly a masked gent whipped around the corner. Similar to Zorro, he wore a black feathered hat, boots and cape. Without a word, the masked crusader opened the cape to reveal his birthday suit with a strategically placed coned birthday hat. He quickly tipped his hat and speed off for another jaw-dropping performance.

Years, later, my biggest thrill was fighting for the stuffed animals my husband handed me from his float. Waving the monster teddy bear in the air, the crowds would go crazy. It was a challenge for a shorty like me, a 5-foot nothing, but I always landed the prize.

After the kids were born, we hauled the ladders to St. Charles at the crack of dawn to stake our territory. One year the moms decided to spice things up a bit and flash the passing floats. At the count of three, we opened our coats and exposed cheap plastic boobs and krewe panties pulled over our jeans.

Unfortunately we had to stop. Yea, the kids were whining we were getting all the beads, and I noticed someone across the street shaking his finger at us. It was the director of our church catechism classes!

Soon, the kids grew up and joined the college-age version of Mardi Gras. The nerve, I was replaced with UHaul trailers filled with

kegs, worn out sofas and port-a-potties. But in my usual competitive style, I was determined to outdo the student mayhem.

Yes I added another entry to my carnival diary toasting Mrs. Broderick’s infamous proclamation.

My media brownie points landed me a lunch at Galatoires on the Friday before Mardi Gras--the elitist version of drunken debauchery.

People walk in straight-laced with a blueblooded grace, and somewhere between their Foie Gras and Trout Meuniére, most were table tripping in a deafening roar of clinking glasses.

I’m at a press table surrounded by high-brow journalists who soon left in search of the ultimate story. I stayed.

Minutes later, a stream of jazz musicians accompanied by a long line of Bourbon Street hotties began filling the restaurant, waiving hankies and throwing beads. I stood on a chair, camera around my neck and started clicking.

Oh yea, the local girl got the story.

Today, the entire family is together again on St. Charles Avenue with VIP bracelets and access to a gated condo complex and parking lot. Last year one of the 610-Stompers, dressed in his sexy red silk jacket and blue shorts, grabbed me for a tantalizing dance. My sister caught it on video and the nearby fans gave a big round of applause.

A far cry from a bewildered little girl standing in front of her teacher’s desk, but now I know the true meaning of Mardi Gras Magic.

A New Orleans native now living in the piney woods of Mandeville, Deb will be partying with the Super Bowl fans in the French Quarter and catching beads uptown at the Mardi Gras parades.

Check out free phone apps or go online for parade routes and schedules. This year some of the New Orleans (Orleans Parish) parades have been rescheduled during the weekend of the Super Bowl. http://www.mardigrasneworleans.com/schedule.html On the Northshore, enjoy parades from kiddie krewes to K-9 krewes. http://www.louisiananorthshore.com/events/ Lake Charles has the second largest Mardi Gras in Louisiana including post-parade parties with live Zydeco music along with gumbo and chicken runs. http://www.swlamardigras.com/ Louisiana Road Trips

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Fin, Fur, Feather – Tastes of Wild Game The Larose Civic Center is the place to be on Thursday, February 28th for tastes of wild game prepared by the finest local chefs and novice cooks from Lafourche Parish! The 16th Annual Wild Game Supper takes place at 307 East 5th Street, Larose Civic Center under the LRP Pavilion.

A long time fundraiser for the Larose Regional Park Endowment Fund, See the display of mounted wildlife including animals from 4 continents along with local wildlife mounts at the supper.

Enjoy live music by local favorite Seabrook, a cash bar, a unique auction featuring a Gun of the Year, and a buffet of more than 40 dishes. Taste nutria, elk, buffalo, rabbit, alligator, moose and more prepared by our chefs as they vie for awards in fish, feather and fur categories. Other dishes to expect are hogshead cheese, turtle soup, red fish courtboullion, deer chili, oyster soup, gumbo, and routee duck. New this year will be a Crackling Cookoff with participants competing for the Best Tasting Award! If you have an adventurous palate, you will find the menu interesting and the crowd entertaining!

General Admission Tickets begin with a $55 donation, starting at 6:30pm; VIP Tables (Seat 8) with a $650 donation, starting at 5:30 along with a complimentary bucket of beer and a personal server; VIP Sponsors also seat at 5:30pm, with each guest receiving a t-shirt and the table hosting a bucket of beer and preferential seating. VIP Sponsor banners will be hung at the event.

Louisiana Road Trips

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The gathering proves to be an oasis for hunting enthusiasts young and old. Each diner also votes on their favorite dish in each category. A special honor is The Outdoor Icon Award for someone dedicated to the outdoors, hunting and conservation.

From a few men at supper in a warehouse, then to the gym at the center, and last year 1200 people came to the 25,000 sq. ft. pavilion. A limited number of tickets are available and must be purchased in advance.

This is the must taste event of South Louisiana!

www.laroadtrips.com

Love Train

By Dixie Hall

The Dairy Queen on Cypress Street in the 70’s was hopping busy and it was 3:30 pm. I was 15 and had empty pockets but was looking out for a green eyed new guy that had winked at me at school.

I told Ms. McMillian, the librarian way back in the 5th grade that I was never getting married and that I was going to help her in the library for the rest of my life. (she had never married) Little did I know how powerful a “wink” would throw your total commitment “not to marry” down the tube. As I thought about what a sorry, no good librarian I was...or rather would never be...”wink”.

Green eyes is standing next to my window with the speed of a falling star...he winks and I am talking and laughing like some kind of village idiot. It was as if all the other people in the whole parking lot had been grayed out by a permanent marker.

When I heard the words, “Want to go in and get something to eat?” Ole empty pockets can go in and pretend she does not like ice cream today, or she can just slink on home where her brother will “frog” her in the leg for tattling on him the day before. While I am sitting there unresponsive, (Let’s call him Friendly Joe Winker) friendly Joe Winker says...I’m paying.

So a wink, free ice cream and for 4 years I experience...first love.

One of the first dates for many of my friends was at “Friendly Joe Winker’s House”.

None of us had ever been to a dance party. My

friends all watched American Bandstand but for some reason I had to watch the Flintstones with my younger brothers and sisters. I could not dance except like Fred Flintstone...a few hand motions and shuffle my feet.

I let “Friendly Joe Winker” know right up front I was not a dancer at the party. He seemed thrilled, hhhhhmmmm? “Well, (wink, wink) that means we will have to slow dance the whole evening. I am sweating like Mickey Mantle warming up for the championship game. I held his hand and tried not to make any crazy moves...He seemed thrilled the whole time. I’m still not sure what happened. He lived on Medorah Street by W.M. Jr. High. It would take him 30 minutes to take me home.

My mom instructed me not to kiss a boy on the first date so this must be the second date.

First date was eating ice cream at Dairy Queen, remember? I had peppermint lip stick and my first kiss ever, ever, ever was with “Friendly Joe Winker” My grandpa, dad and uncles would kiss me on the cheek and it was so so. “Friendly Joe Winker” kissed me on the lips and I started laughing and talking like the village idiot again.

Happy times walking around the Monroe Civic Center fountain, playing tennis at Forsythe Park, roller skating in the old gym at First Baptist in West Monroe...simple things. One night after an exciting date at Dairy Queen and watching the movie Love Story ...we stood on the driver side with door open and looked up at the stars. We were on the “Love train.” We were sure that what we felt for each other was forever.

MY FAVORITE FISHING HOLE

After confidently kissing “Friendly Joe Winker” goodnight I hurried in under my curfew time and the watchful eye of my dad. By the way...no guy was ever going to be good enough. I had figured that out! I had agreed to go steady that night and that meant wearing HIS huge senior ring on my finger that had been wrapped over and over and over in yarn on the back to stay on my slender fingers. I used hippy, neon orange yarn so that any girl in school would notice I was going with a “fox”.

Well, not 20 minutes had passed and “Friendly Joe Winker” was beating on the front door. I figured he had probably changed his mind already about going steady. It was going to take me forever to unwind that yarn. The knocking was that of a wild man.

Once we got FJW calmed down he told us his calamity: He was driving down our country road and something started clawing at his feet and legs. Since it was dark and the road winding he stomped his feet and began to move them quickly only to be clawed more. He knew it wasn’t human and if it was an insect or rodent he could not stand the suspense and terror. He finally was able to pull over once on Arkansas Road.

Once a light was on the situation he realized one of our naughty cats had crawled up under his seat and waited to pounce as he went down the road. “Friendly Joe Winker” went on and on and on and on about the cat. It was funny to me that he was acting like such a baby...but he was all mad about it. I told him to “get over it”. The Love Train was a little bumpy that night.

I hope each of you has special memories of your “Love Train”. As I get older I think more and more of giving my love away to people who just needs a helping hand, encouraging word...or a simple handwritten note. (wink, wink)

By Toledo Bend Pro Angler, Joe Joslin

February Fishing on The Bend "My Favorite Fishing Hole" now has something it hasn't had in a while...wall to wall water. At the time this report was written, Toledo's level was over 170 ft and it looks like the lake will fish differently from last year during the pre-spawn and spawn. Last February, the lake was at 164, from 159 a few months earlier. I fished a lot of ditches and edges of ditches since we did not have many large grassy flats as most were dry land.

We had great fishing but with more Texas rigs and crankbaits worked on the edge of drains. That will also work this month but we will be doing more spinnerbait and Trap fishing as the bass will be on grass flats and shorelines. Flipping and pitching flooded buck brush and willows is also back into play as bass have enough water to move all the way in to shoreline cover. This will be a great spring for flipping your favorite plastic or jig.

We will also continue to target ditches and drains with Stanley double willow Vibrashaft spinnerbaits as well as lightweighted TX rigs, shaky heads and wacky rigs with Berkley Havoc Bottom Hoppers and 5 inch Yamamoto Senkos. The lipless crankbait

(I'm talking Bill Lewis' original Rat-L-Trap) in Toledo Gold and blue/silver will also see a lot of action in my boat. White crawfish colored Trap is also good for us.

Depending on the weather this month, we could also catch a lot of bass on the jigging spoon and drop shot, especially if it’s cold. Our jigging spoon will be 1/2 and 3/4 oz sizes hammered variety and our drop shot will be a Havoc Bottom Hopper JR (4.75 inches) rigged on 8 lb test Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon.

Regarding fishing, the crappie will start to migrate up creeks and depending on the weather, the males could start stacking up in the mouths of ditches and drains off of main creeks. You can also catch them under bridges as they move up. Yellow and white bass will be on the edge of the river and with the large amount of current this February, the white bass should pile up in the eddys off the river north of Huxley Bay. Call guide Greg Crafts for a white bass trip as Crafts works out of Huxley.

With several days of rainy, cold weather in January, I took the opportunity to do a boat check since it had been several months since I checked my rig for loose and missing screws and nuts etc. There were several important things that I discovered needed attention. I have a 12 inch Slidemaster manual jackplate that comes standard on my 2013 Skeeter FX and checked the four bolts that connect the Slidemaster unit to the jackplate itself. The side mechanism is a really neat design that makes it easy for one person to adjust the height of the motor. To my amazement, one of the four stainless bolts was gone....not loose but

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gone. I did make a slight adjustment on the unit a few weeks ago so I suspect I didn’t tighten it enough. I located the exact stainless bolt to take care of the problem and tightened the other three bolts. I have owned 20-25 boats in my life and never had that happen but it is a good reminder to do a complete boat/motor check on a regular basis. A bass rig takes a lot of punishment on a large body of water such as Toledo and Rayburn.

Also, check the bow of the boat and screws on the depth finder mount and the trolling motor. I have a 36 volt/101/Digital Fortrex Minn Kota with gas assist lift feature which I dearly love. The Fortrex mounting unit for the trolling motor is also excellent but make sure to check the 6 recessed stainless Phillips head screws (3 on each side) of the mounting bracket. I do this every 6-8 fishing trips because with all the pounding up front. The two front screws are the ones that loosen most and can work out completely.

Most maintenance boat issues are easily taken care of if caught in time. A five minute inspection every few weeks is usually all it takes and could save you lots of headaches, major expenses and even injury. Be safe out there!! Both Toledo and Rayburn are shaping up to have great fishing these next few months. Good fishing and wishing you God's blessings.

Joe Joslin is a syndicated outdoor columnist, tournament angler and pro guide on Toledo and Sam Rayburn. Contact him at 337-463-3848, joejoslinoutdoors@yahoo.com, or www.joejoslinoutdoors.com.

www.laroadtrips.com

RUNNIN’ THE ROADS

By Barbara Sharik

The Big Bang Theory is a reality: Louisiana Road Trips publishes its 100th issue This is the 100th issue of Louisiana Road Trips, which gets me thinking about 100 this and 100 that, contemplating changes having occurred during the past 100-plus years in the United States.

According to statistics, only 14% of homes had bathtubs and only 8% had telephones. Remember telephone operators? Real people who took your number and connected you to other real people?

Nowadays, you call a business with an automated answering system.

The disembodied voice advises to press various numbers and often in the end, you hang up without ever having talked to a human being.

Even calling friends, you get machines or voice mail. You’re directed to leave a message and the person will call you back. My message invites callers to leave a message, however it never says I’ll call back.

From smoke signals to cell phones so advanced even Jules Verne’s head would spin.

Just when we think we’ve reached the apex, the ultimate mode of communication with the advent of fax machines comes… and goes. Then, there’s every manner of computerized handheld devices and SmartPhones.

Everyday another more sophisticated version comes along.

There were no vacuum almost every home had a set of A little over 100 years ago, cleaners or televisions. I recall encyclopedias. Now, with the there were approximately 8,000 my family’s first introduction of the dot-com automobiles and only 144 miles television––black and white, generation, they’re obsolete. of paved roads. Hey, we still with less than perfect reception Click on any subject imaginable have a few of those around. The and one channel and something on your personal computer or maximum speed limit in most called a test pattern. Now there laptop or handheld device and cities was 10 mph. Most of us are cable and satellite receivers find everything under the sun. walk faster than that. Kids saw and movie-theater sized Musically speaking, I the “Man in the Moon,” but only television flat screens with remember my first record player surround-sound. Not to fantasized someone might walk mention, you can watch movies and portable radio. I remember on it one day. Now we’re and read books on hand held reel-to-reel tape recorders and exploring Mars and beyond. devices. Bring on the popcorn.

Eight-Track Players. Cassettes Black holes beckon.

And, you can too; pop a bag were next and now we have The average life into the microwave and viola!

Compact Discs (CDs), DVD’s expectancy was 47 Popcorn. No pun intended. Oh and iPods. years and the five yeah, there’s the microwave.

The average wage was 22leading causes of What will the world be like cents an hour, with the average death were in another 100 years? Down worker earning between $200 pneumonia and through the ages, and over the and $400 per year. Allowing influenza, years, things come and go.

Hang around. Keep reading. In women to vote was only a wild tuberculosis, idea brewing beneath the surface. no time, Louisiana Road Trips diarrhea, heart disease and will be publishing its 200th stroke. Available over-the-counter Since then, Louisiana has had its issue and I hope I'm still from drugstores were marijuana, first woman governor.

Runnin' the Roads, too. Kudos Sassafras Mead was a heroine and morphine. Laser to Mona, editor and publisher, cheap beverage, while iced tea surgery was undreamed of. and my hero. One-hundred hadn’t yet been invented. There Home remedies such as boiling issues is quite a milestone! together one-pound pickled pork were no daily crossword Barbara Sharik makes her home at Wit's puzzles in newspapers and with one-pound cabbage, and End in Jones, Louisiana with a couple old there was no Mother’s Day or using the liquid to treat “scabby dogs, young dogs and several stupid Father’s Day. The pesticide DDT dogs, a cat, a talking cockatiel and a heads” on children, was the came and went. Sugar cost 4common practice. white dove. She's active in civic affairs, serves as a Justice of the Peace, a Notary cents a pound, eggs were 14In 1903, in the entire country, Public, is the Clerk for the Village of cents a dozen and coffee, 15only about 230 murders were Bonita and a columnist for the Bastrop cents a pound. The tallest reported. Times were either much Daily Enterprise. She has authored gentler, or the reporting system was structure in the world was the several books. You can e-mail Barbara at Eiffel Tower. lacking. Ninety-five percent of all barbsharikvail@hotmail.com births took place at home and 90% of all US physicians Love this publication!! had no college education, at - Dottie M., Columbia, LA best, having attended instead, medical schools.

Please renew my subscription and send Because AZ, OK, NH, new subscriptions to my six friends at HI, and AK had been the addresses below. Mine makes admitted to the Union our seven. This was the easiest and best flag had only 45 stars. AL, Christmas shopping I’ve ever done.

MS, IA, and TN were each Thanks, lady. more heavily populated – Ed G., Lake Charles, LA than CA, which was the 21st most populous state.

I will be watching to see what is going to show up next. I love the The population of Las south Louisiana stories and photos of places. I have been to so many Vegas was 30. of them.

- Pat B., Fort Necessity, LA One in 10 adults couldn’t read or Deb Burst’s article (Mardi Gras and Super Bowl Collide, Jan 2012) was write and only 6% really good. You can always tell where a writer is from by how well graduated high they write about their topics. My guess is she’s definitely New Orleans school. There’s stock.

– Steve, via email (West Monroe) room still for improvement in I couldn’t be any prouder of you and LRT. Congratulations on your that department. I 100th issue. What an inspiring story both of you are. remember when – K. H., Austin, TX

Down through the ages, and over the years, things come and go.

ouisiana Answers …

1. The Indians 2. 1838 3. New Orleans 4. The first sugarcane 5. 1890 6. Jazz 7. The Mississippi River and state waterways 8. The Monroe gas field 9. In Minden on Feb 13, 1899 when it dipped to -16 degrees.

10. St. James Parish

K C A B K TAL

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Swamp Stomp Fest at Nicholls The entire region is invited to the fifth annual Louisiana Swamp Stomp Festival, a musical celebration of south Louisiana culture slated for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, March 22-24, at Nicholls State University.

The festival will take place in the parking lot adjacent to John L. Guidry Stadium (Family Day Site). Admission is $10/day or $25/weekend – free for children 11 and under. Tickets available at the gates, which open at 3:30pm Friday and 9:30am Saturday and Sunday.

Musical talents include Treater, Cameron Dupuy and the Cajun Troubadours, Savoy Family Band, Steve Riley & The Mamou Playboys, Waylon Thibodeaux “Louisiana’s Rockin’ Fiddler”, Foret Tradition, Lost Bayou Ramblers, Grammy Award Winner Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band, Bruce Daigrepont, Horace Trahan and the Ossun Express, Ryan Brunet and The Malfecteurs, and Geno Delafose & French Rockin’ Boogie. Free Zydeco Cajun dance lessons will be offered an hour before the first band starts playing on each day.

Festival attendees can also enjoy the cultural offerings of the Bayou Education Program, or “Tresors du Bayou.” Intended as a prelude to the Swamp Stomp Festival, the program will feature local artists, historians and craftspeople performing FREE. The swamp pop band Treater will perform Zydeco and Cajun music, with dance instructors teaching the Cajun Waltz, Cajun Two-Step and Cajun Jitterbug. Tresors du Bayou will end with a free concert featuring Amanda Shaw and Cute Guys.

The 2013 Louisiana Swamp Stomp Festival is supported by a Community Partnership Grant from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation Inc.; a grant from The Louisiana Lottery Commission; a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council as administered by the Houma Regional Arts Council; a grant from the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium for LUMCON’s Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program; Lafourche Parish, Louisiana Tourism Recovery Program; Thibodaux Regional Medical Center, and additional friends.

Visit www.nicholls.edu/swamp-stomp for complete event details, including information about area artists and craftspeople.

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