Each year, we comb the state in search of Louisianians doing great things at home and, potentially, around the country or even the world. We look for individuals who stand out in their professions, give back and represent what’s best…
While New Orleans is the most well-known place in Louisiana to celebrate Mardi Gras, Louisianians know there are lively parades and events for weeks all over the state. From Shreveport to Eunice and everywhere in between, here's your guide to…
Now’s the time when I look forward to cozy dinners of substantial food and hearty red wine. Soups, stews, one-pot dishes and sweet or savory baked goods are warming, comforting and an affirmation of life amid the darkness. The enjoyment…
Nature is resilient. Life rebounds and prospers, with or without humans. Nothing seems more evident of this than Briarwood Nature Preserve northeast of Natchitoches, once the home of acclaimed Louisiana naturalist Caroline Dormon. A tornado ripped through the 210-acre preserve…
Mardi Gras parades have long gone to the dogs. We can’t celebrate the Carnival season without our pets! Yes, we parade anything and everything here in Louisiana. Most of the pet krewes features the canine variety but a few, such…
So many times when I’m driving through the Louisiana backroads, I catch a glimpse of bayous, lakes and rivers and vow to return to explore whatever lurks behind the trees and houses I pass. Heading from New Iberia to Lafayette…
I remember reading “The Moviegoer” by Walker Percy, in which the main character Binx Bolling in the award-winning novel remarks at how a place doesn’t exist unless it’s been in a film. Naturally, New Orleans exists, having been the setting…
Winter remains mild this year, so the birds at my window are the usual suspects — resident cardinal and wren couples, tufted titmouse, chickadees and the sparrows I can never name (they all look alike!) I’m waiting for the temperature…
While New Orleans is the most well-known place in Louisiana to celebrate Mardi Gras, Louisianians know there are lively parades and events for weeks all over the state. From Shreveport to Eunice and everywhere in between, here's your guide to…
Now’s the time when I look forward to cozy dinners of substantial food and hearty red wine. Soups, stews, one-pot dishes and sweet or savory baked goods are warming, comforting and an affirmation of life amid the darkness. The enjoyment…
When Allstate Sugar Bowl CEO Jeff Hundley tells people what he does for a living, he often fields the following query: That’s a full-time job? It certainly is — and then some, Hundley says. As the newly tapped head of…
Built in three sections, the McRaven Mansion in Vicksburg has been labeled the “Time Capsule of the South.” And rightly so. The original 1797 structure remains next to the 1836 addition with an elaborate Greek Revival front, constructed in 1849.…
The Bicentennial celebration called “No Man’s Land, Becoming Louisiana” is now entering its second year of festivals, special events and driving tours through Sabine River territory (for decades cursed with border disputes and rampant crime). The 24-month observance is a…
As twilight gives way to darkness, and spirits wander through the Myrtles’ wintry mist, the alluring aroma of burning logs, fat dripping onto coals and ribeye steaks charring over leaping flames puts guests in a smoky trance at Restaurant 1796.…
By the time the 2020 Carnival season reaches its climax on Mardi Gras, Feb. 25, numerous Louisiana cities and towns will have wrapped up their perennial schedules of pre-Lenten parades, balls and other festivities. In one community, however, all proverbial…
“I always wanted the big house with the big family gatherings; I thought maybe if I build it, they will come,” says Vanessa Mayfield, invoking the magical mantra from the movie “Field of Dreams.” Vanessa and her husband Jeffrey, both…
Shreveport photographer Ann George is an artist, a storyteller and a playwright — not in the conventional sense of writing narratives and dialogue, but in composing staged photographic images that appear as still but quiet moments in a story or…
When bathing (thankfully) began trending again in the 19th century, the search was on for ways to produce affordable soap on a large enough scale to keep the working class disease-free, healthy and able to fill the factories and fields…
MARDI GRAS INDIANS Jockomo: The Native Roots of Mardi Gras Indians by Shane Lief and John McCusker Language historian and musician Shane Lief and former Times-Picayune and New Orleans Advocate photojournalist John McCusker take a deep dive into the colorful…
Over 50 million Americans have some form of arthritis, and approximately 923,000 of them live in Louisiana (arthritis.org). For some people, the condition may be unavoidable, but there are ways you can make living with arthritis easier. Some of the…
Chef Nathan Richard of DTB (dtbnola.com) was crowned the 2019 King of American Seafood for his luscious crawfish and goat cheese king cake with cream cheese pepper jelly and Cajun caviar. “I’m serving it at DTB with optional caviar during…
During our first three Carnival seasons after moving to New Orleans, by the time Fat Tuesday arrived, we were too pooped to party beyond a brief amble out to the corner for a couple of the morning parades while sipping…
