New Orleans is filled with spirits, liquid and ethereal. Here is a quick overview of some of the great haunts.
Along the Cane River, south of Natchitoches, LA, sits the Melrose Plantation, home of folk art legend, Clementine Hunter. But it’s history is extends far beyond the boundaries of art.
I am craving it as I write this. Despite its location on touristy Jackson Square, Stanley is the place that the locals go for breakfast. Be sure to order the Breaux Bridge Benedict with Charlie T’s boudin.
Garden of Salvation – Kenny Hill 5337 Bayouside Drive Chauvin, LA 985-594-2546 Concrete environment Restored/preserved – Open to the public Other than the fact that Kenny Hill was a bricklayer, little is known about his life. One day in 1990, on a rented piece of…
Mardi Gras Museum 809 Kirby Street Lake Charles, LA (337) 430-0043 Website Costumes This hidden gem, and I mean hidden in an old school-turned-art-center-with-no-signage, is a hoot to visit. The Mardi Gras Museum is a feathered extravaganza with jaw dropping costumes and freaky animated mannequins…
Dr. Charles Smith’s Folk Art Emporium 1940 — 800 E. Illinois Ave Hammond, LA 70403 Environment Built: 1986 – 2001 (Aurora, IL) , 2002 – Current (Hammond, LA) In 1986, in the yard of his small home on the east side of Aurora, Dr. Charles…
UCM Museum & Abita Mystery House – John Preble 22275 Hwy 36 Abita Springs, LA 985-892-2624 Website Collection and environment And if you have four or more, it’s a foremost collection, at least according to John Preble. And he ought to know; he’s the curator…
This hidden gem, and I mean hidden in an old school-turned-art-center-with-no-signage, is a hoot to visit. The Mardi Gras Museum is a feathered extravaganza with jaw dropping costumes and freaky animated mannequins is a must see. It is the largest collection of Mardi Gras costumes…
Driving between Lafayette and Lake Charles, I took a detour to see if I could find Istre Cemetery, an old graveyard that still had “cemetery houses.” Once numbering in the hundreds, only three grave houses remain. 200 years ago, Acadian settlers in southwest…
So, I thought I would stop by the Melrose Plantation “real quick” on my journey south. I had read a bit about it, and wanted to see the murals of Clementine Hunter. Little did I realize that I would stay the better part of the…