The New York Times takes a look at us

The New York Times has been nosying around Northwest Louisiana.

Thanks to Natchitoches pal Tommy Whitehead, who sent it via e-mail, I found out about it.


The lead photo is of of Oakland Planation house in Natchitoches, part of the Cane River Creole National Historical Park.

"Louisiana’s Creole Country Colorfully Preserved" is about the beauty of Kisatchie National Forest. "Deep in the Kisatchie National forest, wild azaleas blaze trails with pinkish-white clusters, sassafras trees glow brilliant green and hikers stride through glades dotted with the lavender blossoms of blazing star," is the lead. (Now doesn’t that make you want to wonder down there and hike around.)

Here are some other things the newspaper found out about us and told the world:

1. Mama D’s Country Kitchen in Winnfield, where you can sample fried catfish filet, beets and okra and pickled green tomatoes. (I’ve been there doing a travel story; the food is fab and so are those Winnfield shops.)

2. Briarwood, home of Caroline Dormon, and now called Caroline Dormon Nature Preserve. (If you haven’t visited, Briarwood, shame on you. It is wonderful. You will be fascinated with Richard and Jessie Johnson, who care for and love this wild place.)

Note: In the April Nature Preserve newsletter, Johnson wrote that the travel writer Keith Mulvihill of The New York Times called at the last minute and asked for 30 minutes because a friend told him not to leave Louisiana without seeing Briarwood.
"...but stayed over three hours until it was getting dark and promised to return another year," wrote Richard.

3. Cane River National Heritage Area, the heart of which is a 35 mile swath that starts in Natchitoches and runs southeast along both sides of Cane River Lake.

4. Oakland and Magnolia Plantations which make up the Cane River Creole National Historical Park. (If you haven’t visited this park that is so new it is still under development, why you have missed something.)

5. Melrose Planation, which we all know was the home of John and Cammie Henry and artist Clementine Hunter.

6. And, there is mention of the Filling Station, a drive-through liquor store housed in a purple barn, which serves such frozen drinks as "Electric Slide" and "Oumpa."

For a more complete read, check out the The New York Times Web site, www.nytimes.com.