Baton Rouge, Shreveport, and New Orleans Louisiana Await

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Paul Gustings manning the Empire bar at Broussards, one of New Orleans literary inspired eateries. Christopher Ludgate photos.
Paul Gustings manning the Empire bar at Broussards, one of New Orleans literary inspired eateries. Christopher Ludgate photos.

I’m packing for a trip that starts tomorrow with a flight to New Orleans. I’m joining a group of journalists on a road trip through the great state of Louisiana, and on Saturday morning I’ll take a swamp tour in New Orleans Plantation country.  Then we’ll visit the city of Baton Rouge with a look at the capital and a food tour.

The next day we head to Opelousas, then on to Shreveport for a two-day conference with all of the tourism boards from the southern states in the US.  It’s a chance to have short meetings with dozens of tourism people who give travel writers a quick run-down on what’s new and what’s worth writing about in their states or cities. Then we work out trips and the coverage begins.

Our journey picks up again a few days later and we will head for the famous, well TV famous, Duck Commander Warehouse. Maybe we’ll even see a few members of the famous bearded Richardson family. Then it’s on to Natchitoches, the oldest permanent settlement in the Lousiana Purchase territory, and to Fort St Jean Baptiste, another early back country settlement.

Then it’s Lake Charles in southwestern Louisiana, completing the arc around the state. We’ll tour the highlights and then see Lafayette and have dinner in a Cajun dancehall there.

We cap off our busy week in New Orleans and have lunch at Antoines, which is now 175 years old. Our final night we’ll dine in another very famous New Orleans restaurant, Broussards, and stroll around the French Quarter. Paul, the ‘tender in the Empire Bar there, is pictured above.

I am already stuffed!