North Louisiana has treasures to share, just get off the highway and look around.
The flight from New York was easier than I expected and might have been somewhat cheaper if I had left out of Newark. I took a two-step process that had a short wait in Atlanta before landing at the Monroe Airport, where I started a quick paced and well designed tour of central and northern Louisiana.
The first stop of the trip was Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge; a nature preserve on the lake established in 1997, with new hiking boardwalk and trail, observation deck and education center. It is located in a historic building on a former plantation. Established in 1997, it specializes in the local fauna and flora. An unusual aspect of the education from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is that they recognize the land must be managed to the advantage of all the citizens. There is also the recognition that most of the urban areas do not have a natural wildlife setting for children to observe. And as land is being developed at a fast rate, if it is not preserved now, there will be an issue in the future.
They have a nature lodge with exhibits and a long pathway to a boardwalk which goes out into Black Bayou Lake. By the look of their full buckets, the “fisher folk” seemed to be quite satisfied with their catch of the day and the boardwalk is long enough to give everyone privacy and quiet. While the birds and frogs had no problem getting lunch, it is better if you bring your own and practice “leave no trace.”
Poverty Point: (Hint) It has nothing to do with poverty and the land doesn’t come to a point.
Louisiana is generally shaped like a hiking boot, with the toe facing to the east. At the top of the boot, in the northeast corner (where the laces would tie), is a mystical and mysterious place with the unlikely name of Poverty Point. The name has nothing to do with the exhibit. It was named after a prior owner of the property. One caution here: Be prepared to be overwhelmed.
Before you go, check out both of these Web sites: Nps.gov/popo and Povertypoint.com. There are two Web sites, since Poverty Point is a national monument administered by the state of Louisiana, and both entities deserve credit. The sites are interesting, mostly academic, very informative, but low key. Of course, I was not the one to develop the sites, which was fortunate because I would be yelling and screaming every descriptive word.
After seeing the park, I have to wonder how did these treasures escape me? Here, in the northeastern section of Louisiana, is a really prehistoric "village" or gathering spot.
Treasures of Central and Northern Louisiana
In the 1950s, a 20-year-old aerial picture of the area was discovered that showed unusual markings on the ground. What they observed from the picture were five broken lines of small rows of elevated land, or mounds, in the shape of an almost perfect letter “C.” On-site research revealed an additional two, larger and more prominent, separate hills. The settlement has been dated back to approximately 1800 – 1350 B.C., and can be seen on the Google Satellite Maps where Route 577 meets the southern edge of the park.
This is a working excavation and new relics are still being discovered. Over the years, research has led to over 19,000 artifacts and a million archeological questions.
One of the residents stopped for a picture
Who were these people? How did they build the extensive rings, mounds and earthworks with such precision and in what was apparently such a short time? Archeological speculation based on the artifacts suggests a village setting and a trading area that extended north almost to the Great Lakes. Imagine a major city where the people disappeared and left very little of their daily life and culture. We would see some of their left behind products and perhaps track their activities through them. That is what happened here. Time and plantation activities almost wiped away the village, but enough remained to show it existed!
Up until this time, I had heard of such sites only in Europe, but now I am happy to see this one in the United States. I wondered why it was not mentioned in my history books.
Some of the relics found
If you have a high school youngster that has any interest in archeology, my suggestion would be to read a report by Jon L. Gibson found here: www.crt.state.la.us/archaeology/POVERPOI/Popo.htm, and then get down to visit Poverty Point National Monument. The report is easy to read (skip the really big words) but the on-site exhibit is almost overwhelming. It could easily take a full day, so pack a big lunch, extra water, hat and walking shoes. The staff is friendly, knowledgeable and very enthusiastic to show off the site. The museum is mainly in one large building that contains glass enclosed exhibits and a small theater used for site orientation. Each exhibit case contains a ton of information, so my suggestion is to read just enough to understand what the relics are that you are looking at, but don’t linger and get overwhelmed. By the way, ask to see the “atlatl,” an ancient device that increases the thrust in throwing a spear.
After touring the museum, get on the tour bus to go into the field and see the actual mounds. With very little imagination, the past becomes real. The guide points out the rows of mounds and stops at the largest one, referring to it as the Bird Mound, almost 70 feet tall.
As an added nearby bonus, there is the Poverty Point Reservoir State Park: www.crt.state.la.us/parks/ireservoir.aspx. It contains a marina, beach area, a stocked, man-made lake, and lodges for overnight visitors. There is also the Black Bear Golf Course which is part of the Audubon Golf Trail system. Both the clubhouse and Waterfront Grill restaurant still have the brand new smell and apparently have not yet been discovered by the masses. Management apparently takes great pride in presenting a quality program and facilities, and they show off well. (blackbear-golf.com)
The next morning's light breakfast at the Cenia Express was totally roadside: well fried eggs on a biscuit with crispy fried bacon—fuel for the day, and speaking of fuel, it was in a gas station. One of our members apparently did not have enough wake-up coffee so she didn't read the signs and lit up a smoke by the propane tanks. She got safely away before the newest exhibit in fireball history occurred.
A model of the settlement at Poverty Point
There was a highway run to Ruston, La., where we met up with the Follettes, who had spent 30 years of their lives playing with clay. My teacher said, “Stop throwing the clay,” . . . their teacher must have said, “How creative”! Between the design studio, workshop and the gift shop, the love for pottery shows. They took time from a busy day to show us around and let us in on the production process. Inside the gift shop were many one-of-a-kind artworks and household pottery; outside there was a little peek into the depth of their creativity. The grounds were filled with various folk art items, starting with a bird on the sign, to a holiday bottle tree. I don’t know if the seeds are available in the gift shop, but exquisite ceramics are. (www.follettepottery.com)
The local place to lunch is the Log Cabin Mesquite Grill in Ruston, La. If you Google this place and check the Google satellite aerial picture, all that is seen is a one-story ranch style building, but come close, go inside and get two treats: the Cajun chicken and a real log cabin used as a dining room. I have been told that the log cabin is the original restaurant and I would tend to think it’s true. The Cajun chicken, I tasted, so I can vouch that it’s good. Don't waste eating time going over the menu, dive right into the Cajun chicken and consider a second portion for dessert. (logcabingrill.com)
Re-energized at lunch, we took off for the Lincoln Parish museum. It isn't the oldest or the fanciest house in town, but it shows the passion for history that community historians love. It also has a short term exhibit on Victorian female underwear, so a short walk to the attic puts one in the position to mention the unmentionables. The first floor contains local history, both on exhibit and painted on the walls. The exhibits are backed up with “talking walls,” where hidden speakers allow those who lived the town history to have their say. (Lincolnparishmuseum.org)
“Down the road a piece” is the Bienville Depot Railroad Museum in Arcadia. It is a restoration of an old-time railroad depot and even boasts an active freight track, that is so close to the building, it makes the structure rattle and false teeth chatter. It contains local historic items and gives a taste of the times and a hint of the ambush of Bonnie and Clyde. This period of time has been somewhat neglected in the "new " history books and certainly on television, so to actually visit local museums may be the only way to get a full picture of our nation’s history during the 1920s and '30s. (arcadialouisiana.org/chamber/visitors.html)
Cabins in the state park
A short driveway from the Depot Museum is the actual, original, one and only Bonnie and Clyde Ambush Museum. What the Depot hinted at is revealed here in detail. The two were driving down the road and the local sheriff set up an ambush that was planned to capture them, but instead, ventilated their bodies and car with bullets. The pictures show the results in unexpected morbid curiosity and detail, but the real lesson is that while crime seems to pay very well, the actual bill for living it is also very high. Forever these two will be riding down that road to their death. While there, I had the chance to meet the Museum’s owner, "Boots Hinton," whose father was Dallas Deputy Sheriff Ted Hinton, who led the ambush. So for him, the incident was family history. (http://bonnieandclydemuseum.com)
Furthering the 1920s history was a stop in Minden where the downtown architecture and brick streets attract Hollywood movies. In the past three years, over 15 movies have been filmed here. For fun and ice cream, we stopped at Skipper's and met the Skipper himself. He showed us a portion of his playable antique coin games and the best ice cream in town. Our host was Ken Callen, who played in the TV reality show, The Real Gilligan’s Island, as one of the two Skippers. A walk on the main street revealed several shops that added to the old-time village motif. The Dorcheat Museum covered some of the local history in an interesting, educational fashion, through exhibits, music and videos, along with short talks by volunteers. The Easley Fine Art Gallery brought a contemporary feel to the street, while Millie Rose's Second Hand Antiques supplied four floors of character. She offered us soda and sugar-free friendship, sang us a song and then walked us back to the van, even though we bought very few souvenirs. She made me feel so much at home in this town that I expected to receive a tax bill.
(www.escapetothesoutheast.com/LA-DMO-WebsterParish.asp)
Follette's sign
We left Minden wishing we could have stayed longer, but on this road trip adventure, that was to be expected. And after all, “we had miles to go before we sleep.”
This day ended in downtown Shreveport, Louisiana, under the stars, sitting on a balcony overlooking a historic street with upgraded buildings, eating hors d’oeuvres and solving world problems. The Robinson Film Center, in downtown Shreveport, is a restored, early 20th century building with the original exterior walls and interior steel skeleton that supports Abby Singer’s Bistro, meeting rooms and two movie theaters. The theaters and restaurant are reasons to hang out downtown. (robinsonfilmcenter.org)
This morning, the van took us on adventures far off the main highways and down really local roads. There was a lot of winding and even a turnaround or two. Fortunately, our driver was trained in late night drag racing and got us to each destination safe, sound, on- schedule and legal.
Soumas Heritage Creole Gift Shop and Gallery is located off the highway in a residential neighborhood. It is a small local store building that has about 4-car parking and if you drive too fast, you’ll miss it. Here, Panderina Soumas allows customers the privilege of meeting up with her, her family history and her efforts to preserve Creole Culture of the people. Gifts, spices, clothing, religious items and insight into Creole Heritage are available. If all you saw were antiques and “stuff,” you missed the main point. She is preserving a way of life and philosophy through her family relics and her talks. (soumascreole.com)
Hummer and Son Honey Farm: Dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, Mr. Hummer has been playing with bees for more years than he will admit to. He started out as a youth doing it as a hobby, and grew his passion into one of the largest apiaries in the area. He showed us a hive, opened it up and pushed the bees around to show us the queen. Now, I was in a group of 12 people, all from different areas of the country, and I am sure I could outrun at least half of them if the bees got annoyed, so I stayed on the edge of the crowd. Mr. Hummer knows bees and honey and there is nothing more to be said. He gave a short talk on the health benefits of honey and a short tour of his facilities. In his talk, he said that getting a bottle of honey local to our own area was best; however, a bottle of his was still good. (hummerandson.com)
Briarwood – The Caroline Dormon Nature Preserve: (cp-tel.net/dormon/)
She was born in 1888, died in 1971, and in between, changed her world. The Web site above calls her homeland a “Wild Garden” — “Wild” in the sense that the trees and shrubs she collected grow without artificial confinement, and “Garden” in the aspect of a nurturing environment. When comparing the trees here with the typical urban trees, they show a better and fuller life than the destruction by utility lines and civilization's pollution. Located in the midst of the Kisatchie National Forest, it will be forever protected. Fortunately for us, she lived during a time before extensive urbanization and was able to collect examples of native trees and plants. Touring the forest is rather special at the moment, since the caretakers actually knew her and are giving talks based on her examples and what she said. A tour of her log cabin home in the woods leads to her bedroom which is laid out as if she “will be right back.” Her sketch pad and paints are on one bed, while her hat is laid out on the other. The cabin itself seems to be waiting for her to appear. With her rocker by the fireplace and pictures hung around the room, even her bookshelves seem to be waiting for her to read just one more story in the firelight.
Natchitoches Landmark Historic District: Don’t even try to pronounce this town’s name until you go to the Web site: natchitochestour.com.
It has little movies and the first one has to do with saying the town’s name. Here is a hint: Not all the letters are sounded out. They start out at the front of the word, stop suddenly in the middle and then squish it up in the end. The official site is: Natchitoches.net; and the chamber of commerce is: natchitocheschamber.com. That’s three sites and a visitor will need each of them to get a grip on all that there is to see and do.
It is a very relaxing place, with many restaurants, bed and breakfasts (B&Bs) and shops overlooking the Cane River Lake. A full weekend may not be enough time to absorb it all. Almost everything in the town has a story and a history, from the oldest hardware store in continuous operation within the same family, Kaffie-Frederick General Mercantile Store (oldhardwarestore.com), to the Cane River Lake, which was a river but is now a lake but could still be a river, someday. And then there is the Roque House, an example of Creole architecture built sometime between 1790 and 1803. (I saw four signs with different approximate dates.) The town’s history goes back to the original French who settled in the area in 1714. There is ongoing restoration of the old buildings and completion of new construction of a building whose architecture respects the old style. Several movies have been located in town. The most favored appears to be Steel Magnolias. In fact, that might be a good summary of the town: a steel magnolia.
Just within a 5 minute walking distance from town is the Violet Hill Bed and Breakfast. It was built about 1880/1890 and has been lovingly restored to that period. High ceilings, wood floors, comfortable bed and a private bath, what more could one ask for? The back porch overlooks a walkway down to a deck right on the lake. This is the best place to greet the morning sun with a cup of tea or coffee, and then walking up to the main house for breakfast will supply the exercise. (violethillbandb.com)
Mariner’s Seafood & Steakhouse on Sibley Lake is the setting for our meeting with Historians Terrel and Lillie Delphin for a talk on Creole Culture. Here we learned that a good part of the survival of a distinct Creole Culture from mainstream assimilation is due to the close-knit family structure. Generations lived close to each other to give support and to pass on the family heritage. (www.marinersrestaurant.com)
This is the last full day of my Louisiana road trip and we stopped for lunch at Mr. Lea’s Lunchroom. Their reputation for pies is almost world renown and I can certainly say that the Peach Pie is particularly good. The flavor is not lost in the ice cream, whether it is covered with one scoop or two. While eating, I did not feel any calories or fat being added to my waist and I truly think that utilizing the fork and lifting a glass of milk, since it takes energy, caused a weight reduction. I think I have to return several more times to test my theory. (http://www.leaslunchroom.com/Default.aspx?tabid=209)
The Southern Forest Heritage Museum, located in Long Leaf, Louisiana. (www.forestheritagemuseum.org)
When I reached the age of having children my mother told me that I would now live my life through my children. Well, along the way to getting older, something must have gone wrong because I have had a recent experience that is all mine. One of my dreams has been to live in and breathe the air of an earlier age, just to get a little feel of what life was like in the early 20th Century. I used to look at my model train set, smell the engine, hear the chug and wish I could dive right in and live in one of the houses, if only for a minute.
The Southern Forest Heritage Museum is an unassuming name, with an unassuming Web site, in an unassuming town by the name of Long Leaf . . . until I saw the exhibits, smelled the air and touched the engines.
About 1892, a lumber town was cut in the midst of the Long Leaf Pine trees. In a short time, the shrill of a steam whistle drowned out the song of the birds and a space was carved out of the woods. For almost 40 years, the trees would fall, until one day, in 1969, when the workers went home for the day and never returned to work. Doors were locked, engines stopped, and the heart fire of a thriving town went out. “Last one out, turn off the lights.” And they did!
Flash ahead to 1989, when a small group of history buffs re-discovered the town, took it over and unfolded a treasure that, like the town of Brigadoon, won’t stay long in its present accessibility. SEE IT NOW! Dial that phone and make reservations. Long thought-to-be-lost steam engines, work cars and even a backwoods bus can be seen and reverently touched. Although this place is a shrine to Forestry, all I saw were the steam engines. We were told that nowhere in the world can one see a double-end skidder, ride a utility car and watch the straps flying overhead, 30 feet up in the cutting mill rafters.
“Watch those hands!” “Don’t touch the moving parts!” Ladies and gentlemen, there is magic in the air.
Starting out in a small theater style classroom, the town’s history and layout is explained in just enough detail to get the brain to move the calendar back to 1920. With a trip on a utility car, the fullness of the experience opens up to almost overwhelm the senses. The large size of the railroad cars dwarfs the crowd and you are a kid again, feeling tiny in the woods, staring up at huge steel cranes and machinery, and wondering if it would fall on you but afraid to move and miss all the action.
Tonight is the last night in Louisiana and we are staying on the property of Loyd Hall Plantation Bed and Breakfast. Built about 1820, on a 640 acre farm, Loyd Hall has seen much history. From the Civil War and Union occupation to being almost lost to neglect and overgrowth, the manor house is now restored and functions as a bed and breakfast and a catering hall for large gatherings. I stayed in the old kitchen building which was divided into two separate apartments, each with its own modern kitchenette, bath and bedroom. There is the main plantation house with two units and five cottage units surrounding the in-ground pool to the rear. There are reports of ghost sightings of the original owner, James D. Loyd, who was hung on a front tree, or a Union solder that died in the attic, and of the mandatory old house strange noises, but I slept well, rising only to the sound of the morning birds. It was my firm intention to stay up and see if something would happen . . . but the bed was so comfortable. . . . (loydhall.com)
