Crossroads
Louisiana Regions
Crossroads aptly gets its name by being right in the center of our state, thus giving visitors a taste of all things Louisiana – not the least of which is our famous Southern Hospitality. For a sample, you'll want to visit Natchitoches, the inspiration for the movie and play Steel Magnolias, where the women had big hair and even bigger hearts. Home to the author, Robert Harling, it is also home to some of the South's most charming bed and breakfast inns and antique shops.
If you follow the Red River that winds its way through town, you'll travel southeast to the region's largest city, Alexandria. Surrounded by natural beauty and wildlife, visitors can take advantage of their time here with trips (that can include relaxing hikes) to the Dewey Wills Wildlife Management Area, Kincaid Lake Recreation Area and the Wild Azalea National Recreation Trail.
If you're really into Mother Nature, you'll be entranced by the 800,000-acre Kisatchie National Forest. Here you might encounter bears, possums and deer, and you'll rarely see another group of hikers for this is truly an unspoiled wilderness. How about a canoe ride, like the Indians did in these parts over 200 years ago? You can't do better than the wild and wonderful Kisatchie Bayou.
And when the sun goes down, treat yourself to a stay in the ornate Hotel Bentley, dubbed "the Biltmore on the Bayous." It was here that Generals Marshall, Patton and Eisenhower planned the "Louisiana Maneuvers," the dress rehearsal for World War II.
At Frogmore Plantation, you're invited to attend the reenactment of a slave wedding. And at Loyd Hall Plantation Bed & Breakfast, you can spend the night with a red-haired, violin-playing ghost.
Not far away from all this opulence, is the Lewis Family Museum, run by Frankie Jean "Killerette" Lewis, the sister of piano-bustin' rock 'n roller Jerry Lee "Killer" Lewis.
And don't miss the Tunica Treasure in Marksville. Rumor has it that some of the coins and china were given to the Native-American tribe by King Louis XV for helping the French explorers. (You can also try to win a treasure of your own at the casino nearby.)
Although several Cane River plantations welcome visitors, students of feminist literature will particularly enjoy the Kate Chopin House and Bayou Folk Museum. Kate shocked Louisiana society by sitting with her legs crossed, and she shocked the world with the publication of The Awakening, a daring story of a woman's quest for self-fulfillment.
And speaking of strong women, you'll learn about three more at Melrose Plantation, built in 1796 and later owned by Marie-Thérèse "Coin-Coin," a former slave who managed to buy the freedom of many of her children. On the top floor of the Africa House, you can view a mural depicting plantation life created by well-known folk artist Clementine Hunter. Before she picked up a paintbrush, she picked cotton and worked in the plantation kitchen. And you'll also learn about "Miss Cammie," a more recent owner, who hosted writers such as Faulkner and Steinbeck, among others.
If you travel El Camino Real, the old King's Highway, you'll wind up at the breathtaking 185,000-acre Toledo Bend Reservoir, which can boast, without exaggeration, some of the best fishing, hunting, canoeing and birding in the country. This area is truly a paradise for families who love the outdoors.
You've seen nature at its most wildónow see it tamed at Hodges Gardens, the "World-Famous Garden in the Forest," with cascading waterfalls and magnificent multi-level gardens.
But life wasn't always so cultivated here. Following the Louisiana Purchase, this area became neutral territory or "No Man's Land," as it was home to outlaws and renegade Indians and had no law or enforcement agencies. Today you can see the resting place of Leather Britches Smith, a man who "didn't fear nothing." And the museum at Fort Jesup State Historic Site will show you just how rough life could be for the soldiers who helped open up the frontier. Whether heroes or hellions, their triumphs and tragedies will be laid out before you in Crossroads.
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There is so much to see and do in Louisiana. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
