Top 10 Things I Love About Louisiana

I went "home for the holidays" to Baton Rouge, Louisiana and spent a week reconnecting with family and friends. Back in Florida now, my sing-songy southern drawl is a dead giveaway that I've been to Louisiana. A few days on hometown soil and my twang returns with a vengeance. I can't help it-Louisiana seeps into your soul with all its chaos, character, culture, and cuisine.
I love Louisiana and miss it terribly and though it might not be the most sophisticated state, it has personality and a real history-a story-an identity and it doesn't give a damn what anyone else thinks.

Being there, with my no-nonsense, fun-loving friends and family, visiting the favorite places of my past, I got to thinking about all the other things that I Love About Louisiana so here it goes:

1.LSU Tiger Stadium a.k.a the Death Dome -home of all-day tailgating-the only place where drinking beer kegs in a steamy asphalt parking lot at 10 am sounds fun-where the roar of the crowd is so loud that it registers on the Richter scale.
2.Seafood with real flavor-Louisiana is just about the only place on earth that really knows how to cook good seafood. We owe a debt of gratitude to our Cajun and Creole heritage, which lays the spices on heavy. My ancestors were ingenious at turning a pot full of random ingredients into a culinary masterpiece.-Gumbo- and let's not forget our other culinary achievements-Crawfish Etouffee, Fried Seafood Platters, Boiled Crawfish, BBQ Shrimp, Oysters Rockefeller, Crabmeat Augratin and the list goes on....
3.Southern Manners/Tradition-cotillion dance classes and debutante balls. Growing up in the Deep South meant every little girl's momma made her daughter, at the age of ten, attend Sunday afternoon cotillion classes, where us southern-ladies-in-training learned civilized dance moves such as the Fox Trot, Waltz and other ballroom staples in preparation for debutante balls in high school and the Mardi Gras ball season in February and March.
4. Cafe Au Lait and Beniegts-the Louisiana version of donuts. On Saturday and Sunday mornings we don't do bagels, we do beniegts- puffy squares of lightly fried dough sprinkled with powdered sugar and complimented with a large mug of coffee milk. I grew up on this breakfast of champions and now my kids love it too. Everytime I go home, I am sure to bring beniegt mix back in my suitcase.
5.New Orleans French Quarter-history, architecture, bars and debauchery all mixed together in several square blocks where you can get the cultural experience along with a daiquiri or hurricane in a to-go cup so you can walk the Quarter, sans open container laws.
6. Abita Amber Beer-my fav beer made from the spring waters of Abita Springs, Louisiana. Unfortunately, distribution of this beer stops short at the Florida panhandle so we in Central Florida are missing out. There's also Abita Purple Haze, Abita Turbo Dog, and the seasonal brews. I'm not much of a beer drinker but here I make an exception.
7. Louisiana Politics-we call it a spectator sport back home. I used to cover the Louisiana Legislature while working in TV News and was privileged to have open access to lawmakers and the political process. Our storied political past includes such illustrious leaders at Huey Long Earl Long, current jailbird Edwin Edwards and now our claim to fame-the first ever Indian-American Governor-Bobby Jindal, who incidentally is a childhood friend. He grew up in my neighborhood, one block over. Govenor Jindal brings high hopes to Louisiana as an Ivy League educated progressive thinker.
8. Tubing and water skiing down the Tickfaw river-Louisiana doesn't have a beach of its own unless you count Grand Isle, which is a fishing community. So, we spent our weekends in the stagnant waters of the Tickfaw river and the bayous. I learned to water ski in Bayou Petit Prairie -my maw maw's waterfront property ( a 200-acre farm in Melville, Louisiana). I didn't have to worry about sharks but I did encounter a few snakes.
9.Crawfish Boils-our version of a social soiree- just about every household has a huge boiler pot and propane burner to boil crawfish, corn and potatoes. It's the best way to throw a dinner party-no worries about coordinating flatware and table settings-just spread newspaper over your picnic tables, set out a few rolls of paper towels and kegs of beer and voila-instant party and completely socially acceptable.
10. Southern baby style- little boys in John-John suits (one piece overalls with smocked designs) and little girls in smocked cotton dresses and big bows (huge bows that rival the size of their heads) my daughter had a bow collection all colors of the rainbow and for the first three years of her natural born life I made her wear those bows daily to preschool where my friends teased me merciless about my sense of style. By the end of the school year, their little girls were wearing bows too!
So there you have it, just a few of the reasons why I Love Louisiana. (Don't get me wrong, I love living in Florida-the state has its charms too but it's not the deep south in the dixie sense of the word-I'll save that for another blog )

See Y'all later.