Forget Netflix, Lake of the Ozarks a beautiful place

If you’re like me, you just finished or in the process of bingeing the second season of “Ozark,” a Netflix series that concerns an American family forced to work for a Mexican cartel. The Byrds move from Chicago to the shores of Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri and experience a wide variety of culture shocks, with every stereotype imaginable, not to mention danger every step of the way.

The show is actually shot in Georgia, so don’t write off this idealic lake just because you think the Snells or Bad Dad Cade are going to get you. Here’s one reason why. Recently, Conde Nast Traveler named the Lake of the Ozarks’ Ha Ha Tonka State Park as the most beautiful spot in Missouri in its article of the most scenic places of each state. They weren’t alone. A few years ago, the park was also voted the fourth best state park in America by readers of USA Today.

The park's name, Ha Ha Tonka, derives from the local Osage Native American phrase thought to mean "laughing waters," in reference to the park’s large natural spring that pumps out more than 48 million gallons of water per day. In addition to the spring that’s the 12th largest in the state, there are 14 hiking trails and a natural bridge. Because it rests on the Niangua arm of the lake, the park offers plenty of opportunities to fish, swim and boat.  

The park's main attraction, however, is the fascinating ruins of the 20th century "castle" perched high on a bluff overlooking Ha Ha Tonka Spring and the Lake of the Ozarks. The structure was constructed as a country escape for Robert M. Snyder, a wealthy Kansas City businessman who died in one of Missouri's first automobile accidents (or was it the cartel, hmmm). Snyder never lived to see his dream realized but the home was completed by his sons and later operated as a hotel before being gutted by a fire in 1942. In addition to the outer walls of the estate, a stone water tower also remains.

Ha Ha Tonka is open year-round from 7 a.m. until dark and admission is free.

But back to the cartel, rednecks and hillbillies who make up “Ozark” and that bleak image of the lake on the show. The Lake of the Ozarks offers attractions and events as well as more than 200 restaurants and nightspots and more than 50 marinas. The lake sits in the center of the state with 1,150 miles of shoreline — and yes, that is more than the state of California.

But then again, Ha Ha Tonka State Park also contains a steep sinkhole named "The Colosseum," a 150-foot deep sink basin with two bluff shelters that were used as hide-outs by bandits in the 1830s. Hmmm again.

To learn more about Ha Ha Tonka State Park, visit mostateparks.com/park/lake-ozarks-state-park.

Weird, Wacky and Wild South is written by food and travel writer Chere Dastugue Coen, who loves binge-watching a great Netflix series. They better bring "Ozark" back for season three!

New Orleans art museums offer cool news when weather gets hot

Most Louisiana residents don’t wish for temps to soar in August. They’re too busy dreaming of autumn’s arrival. But if the heat index reaches 93 degrees in New Orleans, three city museums will offer free admission to Louisiana residents the following day. The participating museums are the New Orleans Museum of Art, Ogden Museum of Southern Art and the Contemporary Arts Center.

It’s all courtesy of The Helis Foundation. 

But there’s more. Imperial Woodpecker Sno-Balls will offer sno-balls for free on “Art & AC” days at NOMA’s front entrance and Helis will sponsor a raffle at each museum. Visitors should check-in at the front desk and receive one set of two tickets. Fill out the top portion of the ticket and turn it in for a chance to win one of two prints of "NOLA Color Study" by David Armentor. The other can be redeemed for one sno-ball.

To find out if the day’s heat index reaches 93, follow FOX8 in New Orleans with meteorologist David Bernard, along with NOMA’s Facebook page.

Weird, Wacky and Wild South is written by food and travel writer Chere Dastugue Coen.

Take 5: Write on! Five Southern accommodations with a literary bent

Monteleone Hotel, New Orleans

1. Fitzgerald House

For two years F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, lived in a home in Zelda’s hometown of Montgomery, Alabama. Even though their time here was quick, they wrote portions of their novels, "Save Me The Waltz" and "Tender Is The Night." Now, the circa-1910 Craftsman house within the city’s historic Cloverdale district contains the F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum and is the last home the Fitzgeralds lived in that’s open to the public. But here’s even better news – there’s a two-bedroom apartment with modern amenities and private access available for rent and guests receive a complimentary tour of the museum.

2. Authors Key West Guesthouse

There were so many authors who visited Key West and some, such as Ernest Hemingway, who lived on the southernmost island of the continental United States. The Authors Key West Guesthouse, a bed and breakfast, honors those writers in its compound of historic Conch-style houses, suites and rooms. There’s even a pool spa for those who need to relax while drawing inspiration. While in Key West, be sure to visit the Ernest Hemingway House. 

3. Monteleone Hotel

Walk into the Monteleone Hotel in the French Quarter of New Orleans and you’ll immediately spot a tribute to the authors who stayed, played or wrote here. Truman Capote claims to have been born at the historic hotel, but most will say his mother went into labor here. Other writers who have walked through the marble lobby have been William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, Anne Rice, John Grisham and Stephen Ambrose. Even suites have literary names so you can stay in the William Faulkner Suite if you like. Hotel Monteleone is one of only three U.S. hotels to receive the Literary Landmark designation by the Friends of Libraries, USA.

4. Alexander House
Each room pays tribute to a famous author in the Alexander House Booklovers’ Bed & Breakfast in the quaint town of Princess Anne, Maryland, along the state’s Eastern Shore. There’s the jazz-inspired Langston Hughes Room, the nautical Robert Louis Stevenson Room and the more austere Jane Austen Room. View portraits of authors on the bed and breakfast’s wall or enjoy a good read in the home’s library. There’s even afternoon tea in the Victorian’s Café Colette, which is sure to inspire.

5. The Betsy

Writers are invited to live in residence at The Betsy in South Beach, Miami. The hotel offers a New York apartment-styled “Writer's Room” complete with fast internet, its own library and a desk donated by the Hyam Plutzik Centennial Committee to commemorate the poet’s time in Florida in the 1940s (Plutzik is also the father of hotel owner Jonathan Plutzik). Since the hotel began offering the Writer’s Room, more than 400 working writers have stayed here. To see who’s staying now, click here. But for the rest of us, there’s still that wonderful literary theme to enjoy — The Betsy places a bookmark with a poem on guests' pillows every evening. 

Weird, Wacky and Wild South is written by food and travel writer Chere Dastugue Coen, who writes novels under the pen name of Cherie Claire. She adores a literary getaway.

Happy Birthday Vulcan!

When I was kid and our family headed from New Orleans to Chattanooga to “See Rock City” and Ruby Falls, plus the other attractions in the Smoky Mountains, we knew we were almost “there yet” when we spotted Vulcan towering over the landscape. Vulcan is the world’s largest cast iron statue and the 50-ton homage to the Roman god of fire has been standing sentinel over the Birmingham skyline since the 1930s. You might wonder why an Alabama city would erect a statue to the god of fire, but Birmingham was known for years for its steel production.

When my kids were little, we visited Birmingham for its awesome children’s museum and nearby DeSoto Caverns and, of course, we visited Vulcan and the surrounding park on Red Mountain, now known as Vulcan Park and Museum. The statue’s enormous and visitors are allowed access to the top where a stunning view of Birmingham and region can be seen. What my children enjoyed most of all, however, was the view from behind — literally. Vulcan wears a skirt of some sort while he works at his forge with a cute view underneath. It’s nothing sordid, mind you, but it did bring my kids to giggles.

My kids on Vulcan's foot

The statue created by Italian artist Giuseppe Moretti in 1904 and brought to the Alabama town in pieces turns 114 on June 3 and yes, there is a birthday bash for the iron man. From noon to 4 p.m. there will be “V,” Vulcan’s six-foot plush mascot, plus Birmingham City Mayor Randall Woodfin and City Council President Valerie A. Abbott making appearances. And even more importantly, ice cream from Piggly Wiggly and Bud’s Best Cookies will be handed out after V blows out his candles. Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for children and free for Vulcan Park and Museum members and children 4 and under. Admission includes entrance into the Vulcan Center Museum, Vulcan’s Observation tower, and entrance into the new Linn-Henley Gallery exhibit, “Southern Thunder – The Legacy of Alabama Auto Racing.”

Want to know more about the mythology? Here’s Wikipedia’s explanation.

Weird, Wacky and Wild South is written by food and travel writer Chere Dastugue Coen.

I only have pies for Chattanooga's City Cafe

Pam Wattenbarger and her peanut butter cake

Chattanooga is one of my most favorite places to visit. You can see seven states above Lookout Mountain, "See Rock City" and its trails through fun rock formations, admire the majesty of Ruby Falls in an underground cave — and that doesn't even include the town! So when my friend Pam Wattenbarger, an author and travel writer who pens the Simply Southern Mom website, offered to introduce me to a lunch spot that served up giant slices of cake in an old-fashioned-looking diner, I was so there.

City Cafe is practically attached to the Days Inn Hotel in downtown Chattanooga and a bit out of the way. There's another location on Lee Highway in Chattanooga and in the neighboring town of Cleveland, but we were visiting the downtown location that, I found out later, has a funky bar off the side called The Office. The downtown spot (along with the others) offers 450 menu items that range from Mediterranean dishes to American favorites such as burgers, fries and shakes. There are lunch specials, chimichangas, chicken pot pie, broiled scallops and salmon Monte Carlo. To say the menu runs the gamut is an understatement.

Naturally, since it's a diner, I chose the tuna melt with fries, a huge helping of tuna salad on toasted wheat bread with a layer of sliced American cheese, the kind you peel off the plastic wrap but which combined with the tuna tasted delish. Halfway through this mammoth sandwich, I had to pause because there was no way I was not saving room for a slice of City Cafe's cakes.

These cakes are enormous! Did I mention they were big? So large that you pause on the way to your table and your chin falls open and your eyes bug out.

Here are but a few of the many offerings:
Red Velvet
Butterfinger Cake
Coca Cola Cake
Death by Chocolate
Milky Way Cake
Italian Cream Cake
Mint Chocolate Chip Cake

I could go on and on.

Mint Chocolate Chip Cake

I chose the canola cake with the little canolas on top and Pam went for the peanut butter. We asked for take-out boxes because the slices were so huge but we delved right in and had a hard time stopping. We did bring home parts of our desserts, but we managed to enjoy much of our slices first, stumbling out of this diner like drunks at 2 a.m., our full bellies and blood sugar off the charts.

The diner's been rated Best of the Best by the Chattanooga Times Free Press and won the Certificate of Excellence and Hall of Fame nods from Trip Advisor. It's easy to see why.

Weird, Wacky and Wild South is written by food and travel writer Chere Dastugue Coen.