visit every parish in Louisiana

pronounced la-foosh and tear-bun

Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center in Thibodaux (tib-uh-dough) and Cocodrie in Terrebonne Parish. I’ll have to make the drive down to Cocodrie sometime again when it’s not almost dark, that and check out the downtown areas of Thibodaux and Houma (home-a). Sometimes I just need to get out of the city, way out of the city. Sometimes I just need open space and a reminder that there is far more to Louisiana than New Orleans.

Drive all the way down until La-23 dead-ends in the wetlands. Sit there at the end of Louisiana for over an hour, letting waves from the shrimp boats wash over your feet and write in your journal about how this is all very worth saving until the black flies discover you and you have to leave.

Farther from New Orleans than Baton Rouge.

Then on the way back stop for barbeque and potato salad and sweet tea at a roadside bbq joint, then for 10 pounds of fresh-picked citrus from a roadside produce stand and chat with the owner until the black flies really do start to drive you crazy and you remember that you really do have to get back to New Orleans eventually. Take the long way back including the ferry at Pointe a La Hache and watch the sunset and wonder how you could ever leave.

Yay plantation hopping. Laura Plantation is in St. James Parish and San Francisco Plantation is in St. John Parish. I’m soaking up as much Louisiana history as I can.

A friend of mine and I picked blueberries at Country Fair Farms in Franklinton over the weekend. We made off with 9.5 pounds of blueberries, roughly 2 gallons, for 11 bucks. 3 days later I am (almost) blueberried out.

On our way back with ridiculous amounts of blueberries we stopped for lunch in Folsom, fried catfish po-boy for me and salad for her, then we shared the sweet potato fries. We also recorded our first trip on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, at 24 miles the longest bridge in the world.

Also in St. Tammany Parish I discovered that going to the DMV can actually be a pleasant experience, if you go to the one in Slidell instead of the one in Harvey. As much as I love New Orleans, I have to say that the farther you get from the city the more efficient and functional life becomes.

I went to the Acadian Cultural Center and the Festival International de Louisiane yesterday. Free music, yummy food (as always in Louisiana), and a break from the big city. I needed that. My only regret is that I didn’t get there earlier to hear more of the music. Next year I’m staying overnight.

Baton Rouge roadtrip, spent the day touring the old and new state capitols, lunch at Louie’s on LSU campus, tour of LSU campus, sushi dinner, spent the night with a friend and soon to be fellow special ed. teacher.

And I hate to think about this, but if I need to evacuate New Orleans next summer for a hurricane, I have a place to go. So this entry should go under the disaster plan and kit goal too.

I want to do a Lafayette mini road trip to check out the Acadian Cultural Center. I just want to know as much as I can about Louisiana culture and history; there’s so much more to the state than New Orleans.

Maybe during the week of March 10th-14th, since the students will be taking their standardized tests and there probably won’t be very many sub jobs. Plus, I’ll be done with my midterm exams/projects.

Orleans-home sweet home since August
Jefferson-subbing all the time, driving friends and family to and from the airport out in Kenner, thrift shopping, bubble tea, etc.
St. Bernard-worked Violet route on first volunteer trip two years ago
West Feliciana-Angola Prison Rodeo

4 down, 64 to go. This should make for a very interesting project.