Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Our wonderful neighbors, Gene (Hugh Eugene) and Cheryl Long casually mentioned that they have family ties to Louisiana politics. They failed to mention the depth of the Long family legacy.  We have had a fascinating time exploring the Long family political dynasty. 

Huey P. Long served as the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a United States senator from 1932 until his assassination in 1935. After Huey Longs’s death his brother Earl was elected lieutenant-governor in 1936, and governor in 1948 and 1956. Long's widow, Rose Long was appointed to replace him in the Senate, and his son Russell Long was a U.S. senator from 1948 to 1987. Earl K Long become governor of Louisiana and brotherJulius Long was a Winn Parish District Attorney, and brother George Long was elected to Congress in 1952. Hueys nephew Gillis Long and cousin Speedy Long both represented Louisiana in the U.S. Congress. Jimmy's younger brother Gerald Long  holds the distinction of being the first US Congressman to be a registered Republican in the Long Family. 

Baton Rouge is French for "Red Stick" . When exploring Louisiana more than three centuries ago, Sieur d'Iberville saw a cypress stick stained with blood along the Mississippi River bluff thus the cities name. 

The Louisiana Capitol - built and styled very much like the Nebraska capitol building. A tower and the tallest state capitol. Completed in 1931, it has an Art Deco vibe. Gov. Huey Long had an apartment built for himself during construction on the 24th floor believing it would help his hay fever! 

Senate

House

Observation deck 27th floor 

The old State Capitol, nicknamed The Castle, built in 1884 is seriously beautiful. It is a political museum and also used for weddings and events. 

Had the most amusing tour of the Old Governors Mansion. It was designed to look like the White House. They stopped using it because of the cost of installing air conditioning. It was decided that building a new mansion was cheaper.  The tour guide showed is Huey P Long’s office and said Huey was an attorney though he never went to law school. But all you had to do was pass the bar exam to be an attorney in Louisiana. The guild told us that Huey passed the bar exam on his fist try sayings was either very smart or he cheated. I think he was a very smart man! 

Governors office

Bright bathrooms! 

Formal dining 

Library 


Gov’s bedroom 

Natchitoches, LA - Day 2

Fort Saint Jean Baptiste State Historic Site, Natchitoches 

French-Canadian trader Louis Juchereau de St. Denis was on a mission to establish trading ties with Mexico. After traveling up the Red River, he encountered a massive logjam. At this spot, he built two crude huts, which became Fort St. Jean Baptiste. St. Denis became the commander of the fort in 1722, and the colony thrived until his death in 1744.

In 1731 an attack by the Natchez Indians exposed the vulnerabilities of the small French fort, prompting French officials to send engineer François Broutin to construct a stronger fort. 

Note the wooden shoes which were used like snow shoes or rain boots. 

The fort continued to be garrisoned by French marines until 1762, when France’s defeat in the French and Indian War forced it to cede Louisiana to Spain. Spanish authorities continued to operate the fort as a military outpost and trading center. 

American Cemetery 

It saddens me when cemeteries need major love and care. This is the oldest cemetery in the Louisiana Purchase. The American Cemetery contains graves that date to colonial times. Buried within its grounds are war heroes, doctors, politicians, educators, a former mayor who was murdered and the plantation owner from Melrose plantation that we visited yesterday who had 10 children with a slave whom he set free by the time of his death. Shame on this town for not having a volunteer group to mow and care for this treasure. Like so many southern cemeteries lots of young deaths in the 1920’s due to the plague and influenza. 

We drove through the small Northwestern State University. 

And to end our tour of Natchitoches we visited the old courthouse built in 1896.  Moving on in the morning. 

Natchitoches, Louisiana- Day 1

The quaint town of Natchitoches (pronounced - Nack-a-tish) sits along the banks of Cane River Lake. 

The original settlement of Natchitoches is the oldest permanent settlement in the Louisiana purchase, established in 1714 - four years older than New Orleans. I, sadly, have to admit my history of the huge land purchase from the French was definitely lacking. I learned today how large the land mass purchased for $15 million actually was!  Dark tan - middle of the map 

Kaffie-Frederick General Mercantile - is a super fun stop. It is the oldest General Store in the state.  The 1910 cash register is still used for sales. Which speaking of sales—- I couldn’t leave without a Santa to add to my collection made from local cypress knee - the growth just above the roots of a cypress tree. 

We visited Tres Bien Antique shop and enjoyed chatting with the owners and browsing. I bought a complete place setting of my grandmothers dishes for $29. 

The Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (1857) named a basilica by papal decree. Mark helped a caretaker move a huge 100 pound candle stick and he gave us a book on the history of the basilica as a thank you. I lit a candle for my mom and spent moment thinking about her in this pretty church. Memories and grief hit you at odd moments. My mom loved to visit churches on her European travels. 

We couldn’t resist trying our very first meat pie ever from the famous Lasyone’s Meat Pie Restaurant established in 1967. Gotta say it was really tasty! 

Cute little parks in the town.

I believe both of our daughters, Lauren and Morgan, know every word to the 1989 movie “Steel Magnolias” which is based on a true story of one of Natchitoches residents and the friendships of six women. We had to go visit some of the filming locations.  

The Steel Magnolia House

St. Augustine Church where Shelby and Jackson got married. 

I

The oneliners in Steel Magnolias are classics!  Ouiser -  "Don't try to get on

my good side..I no longer have one."

I loved her character - maybe because she had more money than god and she could say anything she wanted. Oh, how fun that would be! Not that I have ever been accused of holding my tongue. 

Ouiser’s House 

Visited two plantations…

Oakland Sugar Cane Plantation circa 1818

The fern covered ancient trees are spectacular. 

The guest quarters had dressing help for bachelors visiting on the armoire/ wardrobe. The single male could turn a wheel to the color of their tie and  it would tell them what matches and what to wear. Great idea! Smile

The children’s room had a trap door and hidden staircase enabling the servants to check on the kids at anytime and not be seen in the house. 

Cane syrup pot

Cooks quarters

Melrose Plantation  - The history of this place was so interesting and way much and too long to type, but let’s just say the story starts when a slave and the founder of Natchitoches had a 19 year long affair and 10 children…. 

Historians are not sure how this house survived the Civil war when this area was the home to significant battles between the north and the south. 

Home of Chris LeDoux, Kaycee WY

Fun accidents happen! We basically threw a dart at a map for a place to stop today. It wasn’t until we drove in that we learned that Kaycee was the home of Chris LeDoux. 

From a Chris LeDoux song…”I can see you got your eye on this old cowboy

And I can tell you've never had one for your own

Or you've never been around one

Now you're thinkin' that you've found one

Well it might be kinda fun to take him home”…….Well yes please! I think maybe the 70 degree temps in Banff changing to 100 degree temps here may have gotten to me. 

Seriously a one horse town, you gotta wonder why LeDoux picked Kaycee - population 267. Except for all the vastness for horses. 

We wondered if someone actually rode this horse to one of the three bars in this tiny town. 

We took the 2 minute drive (seriously) to the prettiest place in town - the Chris LeDoux Park. 

Someone must water these hanging baskets 10 times a day to keep them living in this heat!

LeDoux died at age 56 from a fairly rare liver cancer. But he packed a bunch into his young life. After youth bareback rodeo championships, he went on to win the national bareback championship in 1976. He retired in 1980. 

However, he was a singer songwriter selling his tapes out of the back of his truck at rodeos. He self published 22 albums - not wanting to sign a recording deal to keep his creative freedom. However in 1989, when Garth Brooks named him in Much too young to feel this damn old song - he shot to national recognition. He signed with Liberty Records and recorded and performed for another 10 years before his death in 2005. 

Chris and Garth were good friends and Brooks even offered a part of his liver but wasn’t a match.