Louisiana's newest state park opens this week.
By Dale Irvin

“Stop right here!  Be real quiet…”

State Park Ranger Paula Brooks brought our preview drive through the soon-to-be opened Bogue Chitto State Park to an abrupt pause.  There on the trail ahead, looking at us quizzically, was a deer.

“You’ll see a lot of these,” she noted. Which indeed we did, but to my slight disappointment nary a glimpse of the wild hogs she reported seeing on numerous occasions during the two weeks she’s been onsite preparing for the opening.

But even without the hogs, there was much to marvel at in this huge 1,786-acre park site alongside the Bogue Chitto river.

Revisiting a rare retreat in St. Tammany, just around the corner from Bogue Chitto State Park.
By James Fox-Smith

In 1995, I was new to Country Roads, and to St. Tammany parish, the first time I visited the nature preserve and retreat known as Little River Bluffs. At that time the magazine was just beginning to extend its coverage, both to the Northshore and to weekend getaways, and from the moment owner David Campbell met us at the gate of his forest retreat, I knew the resulting article was going to write itself. At Little River Bluffs, Campbell was offering his guests an experience almost unparalleled in our uber-developed part of the world—to retreat into fifty acres of uninterrupted woodland strung along the banks of the cool, clear, artesian-fed Little Tchefuncte River. There, guests could stay in architecturally inspired lodgings built into secluded forest glades along the river banks, and spend their days surrounded by birdsong, the sound of the wind in the trees, and river water murmuring over sandbars. It was a special place then. And fifteen years later, on the other side of the hurricanes, tornadoes, and widespread land development that have changed the face of the St. Tammany parish landscape that surrounds it, I'm pleased to report that Little River Bluffs is as serene, as unspoiled, and as beautiful as ever.

But in the end, many guests at Little River Bluffs never really get around to further exploration, instead finding themselves content to laze in a hammock, drift in a kayak, sit on a riverbank and watch a kingfisher swoop and dive. Because this is a rare place. Indeed, if Little River Bluffs was rare fifteen years ago, it's all the more so now. With the pace of change urging us ever more quickly forward, it's nice to know that some places remain the same.

11030 Garden Lane, Folsom, La.
(985) 796-0600
www.littleriverbluffs.com

Sleeves up—bolls will soon be bursting in Cotton Country.
September 1—November 15

Two plantations offer the chance to pick cotton this harvest season, a hands-on history lesson that offers a glimpse into the hardships experienced by slaves and sharecroppers when cotton was king. Be sure to call both of these sites before jumping in the car for full details.

At Rosedown State Historic Site in St. Francisville, visitors will walk the rows to pluck cotton and then complete the tedious task of removing the seeds. It's not all hard labor, these days—why not pack a picnic and enjoy the plantation's extensive gardens while there? 12501 Highway 10. (888) 376-1867.

Frogmore Plantation, which is still in operation as a major cotton producer, invites visitors to gather cotton while dragging cotton picking sacks behind them through the fields, then compare the old cotton collecting and processing methods with the new. They have the only computerized cotton gin in the country, as well as a rare historical steam cotton gin. Cotton picking at Frogmore begins mid-September and lasts through November 15. 11054 Highway 84, near the Natchez/Vidalia area. (318) 757-2453 or www.frogmoreplantation.com.

Click HERE for a listing of B&Bs in the St. Francisville and the Natchez areas.

In the northeast corner of Louisiana, cotton, hospitality and heritage are as abundant as always.
By Anne Craven

At the invitation of a tourism promotion organization named Louisiana North, I recently traveled to a few spots in, well, north Louisiana. Now this is a part of the state that was completely foreign to me. I had heard of Tallulah only because a few of my college pals hailed from the small town, but Oak Grove, Transylvania, Jonesville? They could have been in Arkansas for all I knew.

Here's what I took away from the experience: people up there aren't all that different from people down here in the toe of Louisiana's boot. They love fishing, boating, music, fried seafood, yams, just like we do. And they know a thing or two about hospitality. First stop was the Byerley House, a welcome center in Lake Providence, where several residents came to meet and greet those of us on the tourism tour. When those locals offered homemade pecan cookies (so buttery and delicious) and lemonade, I knew this was a place I'd be returning to. Even if the cultural flair of destinations like New Orleans and Lafayette isn't exactly evident in this part of the state, what can be appreciated is a quiet way of life, surrounded by beautiful rural views as roads pass almost exclusively through growing fields, and by residents who smile and press on even in the face of tough economic realities. READ MORE...

Voted one of it’s Top 20 Events by the Southeast Tourism Society, CelticFest Mississippi is coming up Sept. 10-12,at the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Museum in Jackson. The fest brings together over 45 traditional music and dance groups to present the best in Celtic music on eight stages, a full weekend of entertainment for just $12.••• Reports are, that with the exception of the occasional tiny tarball, gulf beaches are once again clear and beautiful. And in addition to the perhaps the most dazzling sand in America, Pensacola is offering another huge incentive to return to the beach . The brand new "You Play, We Pay!" promotion offers visitors to the Pensacola Bay Area an American Express gift card valued at  $100 for each night you stay up to $300. Look for details coming soon here. ••• Attention coupon clippers! Before your next trek to the Big Easy you might want to head here and here, to sort your way through coupon offerings that range from discounts on admission to elegant historic homes, to discounts on cheezy ghost tours, not to mention the occasional free cocktail. ••• The fun and frugal folks who at the Great Houston CVB have rounded up (maybe even with a lasso Texas style) a remarkable selection of fun things to do there for under $2, including an offering that’s worth the trip alone—the Art Car Museum—which is free!

Boston for Even Fewer Beans
Published August 24, 2010

So they made a liar out of me.  Last month I opined that the amazingly cheap fares to Boston we've been enjoying all summer were starting to climb, from a low of $118 to $138 at that time, and urged you to grab a ticket right away because they'd never be lower. I was wrong. Much to my astonishment USAir is now offering a $98 roundtrip from New Orleans to Boston. READ MORE...