Southern Airports: Lafayette, Louisiana

Girard Park, Lafayette, LA

There’s a layer of fog kissing the ground at the Lafayette Airport, about two hours west of New Orleans, so unusual for late August. I contemplate that this may signal a delay in my flight to Atlanta, but again, it’s August in one of the hottest spots in the country right now.

Sure enough, the Delta plane reroutes to Houston and I have more than an hour to kill.

Lafayette has long been one of my favorite airports, mainly because its small size means easy access, free parking if you can get in and out in thirty minutes (and like a dollar if not) and a quick trip through security. Most of the time, my flights have been on time, but sometimes small airports pose interesting situations.

Take the time my flight from Atlanta experienced mechanical difficulties. We didn’t leave Georgia until late that night and arrived in Lafayette around 1 a.m. I’m not sure who was manning the booth at that hour but the folks inside the airport couldn’t get the breezeway to fit our flight and the tired folks inside my plane — including the pilot — were about to revolt after more than 30 minutes ticked by. I kept thinking, just open the exit doors and let us slide our tired butts down that blow-up thing.

New airport being built.

Then last year airlines scheduled more flights early in the morning from Lafayette, causing huge lines through security that resulted in many people missing flights. Right now it’s suggested that passengers get there at least 90 minutes before their flight if leaving early in the A.M.

Here’s the good news — a new airport is in the works, thanks to Lafayette residents passing a temporary sales tax to fund the expansion. But we’re looking at 2022 before that happens.

Breakfast at Acadiana Tap Room

Despite my delay on this foggy Tuesday morning, I still love my little airport. I arrive early to no lines at TSA — go figure — grab a coffee at the stand and make myself comfortable. Three TSA agents with little to do since the lines have disintegrated, gather near my seat and animatedly debate where to find the best boudin in Acadiana (for you non-Louisiana people, that’s a sausage filled with pork, rice and spices). Naturally, I listen closely and make notes.

When my plane gets delayed further, I head to the Acadiana Tap House, a bar-slash-café that straddles both sides of the security corridor. Here I’m able to watch the latest baseball games and listen to hot New Orleans jazz. Local beers are on tap here, namely Ragin Cajuns ale, Parish Brewing’s Canebreake and Abita. Since I’m a native of the Big Easy, I find myself nodding my head to “Basin Street Blues."

What: Lafayette Regional Airport

Where: Lafayette, Louisiana. Cajun Country. Two hours west of New Orleans.

What’s Good: Café offers gumbo and other regional favorites, plus local beers. Breakfast is pretty darn good. See photo above.

What’s Bad: Long lines through TSA in the early morning; it’s advised to get there 90 minutes early.

What’s Unique: Likely the only airport in the United States that gives announcements in French.

Wifi: Free, connected to the city's municipal fiber options. Pretty darn fast.

What’s Coming: A new terminal in 2022.

On the trail of the Longleaf Pine

Rugged hills and a "Little Grand Canyon" in Louisiana? You'd be surprised.

In the heart of Louisiana the flat swamps and marshlands of the south turn to hills, rolling through the “Great Piney Woods” surrounding Alexandria. One of the gems of central Louisiana is the Kisatchie National Forest, 600,000 acres of pine forests, lakes and beautiful scenic drives.

Largely because of its unusual terrain, the Kisatchie Ranger District northwest of Alexandria is considered by local residents to be the “crown jewel” of the Kisatchie National Forest. Variations in topography range from level land to steep bluffs.

One such stretch of this region is the Longleaf Trail, located 5.5 miles south of the Derry Exit on Interstate Highway 49, a 17-mile route that follows a high ridge through the rugged Kisatchie Hills area. The Trail has been designated a scenic byway and touted as one of the most scenic drives in Louisiana. The terrain is exceptionally rugged for Louisiana, ranging from 120 to 400 feet in elevation, which allows for dramatic overlooks that go on for miles. Visitors will find mesas, buttes and sandstone outcrops, backdropped by longleaf pines, and the Kisatchie Bayou, a state natural and scenic stream. The Trail also traverses the National Red Dirt Wildlife Management Preserve, which includes the Kisatchie Hills Wilderness for about half its length. It provides numerous opportunities for viewing the wilderness.

Be sure to stop at the Longleaf Vista, which offers picnic areas in addition to the gorgeous view and 1.5-mile trail down to a bayou and over to the visitor’s center. Most of the Vista’s buildings were built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

Camping — most of it primitive — is also available within the forest. 

To access the Longleaf Trail, exit I-49 at the Derry Exit, then head west on Louisiana Hwy. 119 to Hwy. 59. After traveling through the Kisatchie Forest, the Trail ends at the intersection with Hwy. 117, south of Bellwood. Longleaf Trail is a two-lane paved road suitable for all vehicles. It remains open year-round.

 

The Kisatchie Hills Wilderness lies next to the byway and is known locally as the "Little Grand Canyon" because of its steep slopes, rock outcrops, and mesas. Hiking and horseback riding trails lead you into this wilderness area. The Longleaf Vista Picnic Area is surrounded on three sides by this 8,700-acre wilderness area. A 1.5-mile nature trail is located here, as is a small visitor center. Restrooms and drinking water are also provided.

Wildlife observers will find white-tailed deer, foxes, opossums, squirrels, raccoons, and coyotes inhabiting the area. An occasional roadrunner can also be seen. Birdwatchers will delight in the numerous songbirds.

Most of the camping areas along the byway are primitive but do have drinking water or restroom facilities. Dogwood Campground is the most developed and has 20 RV and tent sites, drinking water, and flush toilets. Kisatchie Bayou has 17 walk-in sites and only one drive-in unit. Drinking water and vault toilets are provided. There is no water at Coyote, Cane, and Oak Campgrounds.

Information: Kisatchie National Forest, PO Box 5500, Pineville LA 71361 / 318-473-7160.

Weird, Wacky and Wild South is written by travel and food writer Chere Dastugue Coen, who loves getting outdoors in the woods.

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.

New Orleans cocktails follow the calendar at Loa

We’re all about cocktails here at Weird South, so when Loa, the unique bar of the boutique International House of New Orleans, sent us a calendar featuring their inspiring and original drinks, we took notice.

The International House exists within a Beaux-Arts historic building in the city’s Central Business District, once home to the nation’s first World Trade Center. But everything about this hotel screams originality. Dreamy, exotic Loa is no different, offering flavors that match the city in which it dwells — whimsical, creative, pushing the limits, even bizarre. Jean Lafitte, one of the cocktails they created for the New Orleans Tricentennial, for instance, incorporated Spanish moss gathered at night from City Park.

Here are seven local New Orleans rituals with Loa cocktails by proprietor Sean Cummings and Loa’s creative director Alan Walter, as provided to us by the hotel’s press release.

Carnival [March] - Inspired by a glorious 19th-century watercolor series by Carlotta Bonnecaze, the first woman and Creole to design Carnival costumes and floats for Mardi Gras, Loa offers Five O’Clock Tea cocktails served by a costume-clad Victorian Jackass. Composed of Aperol, Mate Tea, Ojen, Local Citrus Oleo Saccharum, Prosecco, and Sorrento Lemons, the ritual cocktail provides guests with a more sophisticated take on New Orleans’ most famous holiday.

St. Joseph’s Day [March] - Sourced from Loa’s own Bywater lemon grove, Sorrento Lemons infuse Walter’s Limoncello in honor of the festive Sicilian holiday.

Summer Dress [May through October] - Like all well-bred deep-southern households, International House unwraps and cools down in style for the summer season. At Loa, Walter embraces this changing of season with a refreshing take on a NOLA classic: made with seasonal fruit sourced from lead bartender Nick Inman’s home orchard, a Granita is the adult version of the nostalgic snowball which has rescued New Orleanians from the oppressing heat since the 1930s.

St. John’s Eve [June] - In Vodou, devotees don’t merely pray to the hundreds of vodou spirits, or “Loa,” they literally serve them. So for the holiest day in the Vodou calendar, Walter partners with Sallie Ann Glassman, New Orleans’ most famous Vodou Priestess, to create his annual John’s Way Elixir, in which seven waters maximize the healing properties of ingredients grown by Walter and his select purveyors.

Winter Dress [November through April] - As shadows lengthen and the days become shorter, International House restores its decor from Summer Dress, while Loa honors the changing of season with a fall-focused cocktail, the Chien et Loup, an ode to that time of the day when a dog becomes indistinguishable from a wolf.

All Saints’ All Souls’ Day [November] - In heavily Catholic New Orleans, All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day have been observed for centuries through rituals celebrating life over death. At Loa, Walter crafts an ode to the beautiful tradition, pairing Spiced Pecan Milk and Edible Flowers to mimic the whitewashed tombs, yellow chrysanthemums and red coxcombs adorning graveyards across the city, with Mezcal, an ode to the tradition’s Mexican roots. You can read our Weird South post on this here.

Magdalena [December] - To honor the female mysticism and explore the life and legacy of Mary Magdalene, Walter offers a soulful complement to a beautiful art exhibition, serving The Magdalene, a Green Chartreuse-based libation paired with Palestinian and Israeli Almonds, Turmeric, and Dark Chocolate.


Weird, Wild and Wacky South is written by food and travel writer Chere Dastugue Coen, a native of New Orleans who loves an unusual cocktail.