July 2021

The road trip this year was a Southern history tour throughout the South up from Louisiana to Tennessee and back down to Texas. The first stop was Cane River Creole National Historical Park up in Natchitoches, Louisiana.

It’s a fairly long drive to get to the park itself, it isn’t on very popular roads to get to. The park preserves the plantation properties made during times of slavery. You are able to walk among the preserved buildings and fields, which was eerie in the early morning fog. There’s also plantation homes, but they were inaccessible due to Covid. If you do try to go to the plantations, do not follow the GPS on Google; it’ll take you to the back roads of residential areas, where the roads are dirt and very narrow. Plus you’ll be the only car on it like I was, much to the curiosity of the homeowners.

Also a John Wayne movie was filmed here, as said by these markers:

Next stop was Natchez, Mississippi, where a quick stop was made to the city’s visitor center for lots of cancellations stamps and then a stroll onto the bridge nearby with locks of love fastened onto them.

Nearby is a lovely square with historic buildings and hotels nearby.

We found a great little stand called the Bellemont Shake Shop and had delicious fried shrimp and fries before settling in for the night.

The next morning, we drove up to Epps, LA to Poverty Point, a UNESCO archeological site where Native Americans earthworks are dated back almost 12 centuries and many artifacts were unearthed.

After paying a small fee, you can go on a walking tour or a driving tour with points to stop at and climb up the mounds to see all around you.

It is unknown why the mounds were built, that’s the mystery of them. We happened to see a crop-duster plane flying low, which was interesting.

Next, it’s off to Mississippi!