Key West, Florida

February 6, 2026Florida, TravelButterfly garden, Conch Republic, Ernest Hemingway House, Fort Zachery Taylor, Key Westkarenfranza

January 19, 2026 – We had the opportunity to spend a few days in Key West in January, so we jumped at the chance for a new experience and some warmer weather. Here is some of what we saw:

Lots of chicken imagery – there are roosters and chickens roaming free on the streets and lots of tourists stop to take photos of them.

…including one with original sketches by…

A Turkish store that reminded us of Istanbul

Lots of cigar stores – we are just 90 miles from Cuba

We enjoyed conch fritters, frozen margaritas, and Cubano sandwiches. Also some shrimp and fish tacos that were so heavenly, we inhaled them before we could snap a pic!

We visited the Ernest Hemingway house / museum – a popular attraction with a line of folks waiting to get in

Some of the typewriters he used to tell his famous tales

Right next door was the Tennessee Williams house – no one waiting to get in. Sorry Tennessee!

Key West bills itself as the Conch Republic – it seceded from the US for a day back in 1982 to protest government anti-drug and immigration policies that were causing traffic backups on the only highway

The pretty beach where tourists queue up to watch the sunset

The line of folks waiting to have their pictures taken in front of…

Right on the beach was Fort Zachery Taylor…

…with lots of old cannons, ammo, and a moat!

Two versions of Sponge Bob – which do you prefer?

We visited a Butterfly Conservatory with flamingos…

How often do you get to see a manatee mailbox?

Although it really wasn’t beach weather, our motel had a heated pool so we sunned and swam every day. A great short trip – stay tuned for our next adventure!

Covington, Louisiana

December 6, 2025Louisiana, TravelAbita Mystery House / UCM Museum, Bigfoot, Covington, Lake Ponchartrain Bridgekarenfranza

Dec 3 – Our last day in Louisiana is in Covington. Why? Because Covington completes our circle and gets us back near New Orleans. It also puts us in position to cross Lake Ponchartrain on the world’s longest continuous bridge for cars over water – 25 miles. (It used to just be the world’s longest bridge, but newer bridges in China necessitated the addition of some qualifiers.)

Covington is also home to the Abita Mystery House / UCM Museum, a dusty little roadside attraction that is not to be missed (spoken with tongue firmly in cheek).

A building covered with a mosaic of broken pottery

And last but not least, how about a Bigfoot sighting?

**Dec 4 –** Driving across Lake Ponchartrain in the rain

Back to the airport, and home. Thanks for traveling with us!

St. Francisville, Louisiana

December 5, 2025Louisiana, Travelhaunted house, Myrtles Plantation, St. Francisvillekarenfranza

Dec 2 – Today we came to stay at The Myrtles, a plantation built in 1796 by General David Bradford, leader of the Whiskey Rebellion. After the Revolution, our young republic needed income, so put a tax on whiskey. Those who rose up to protest were vanquished and had to leave the country. So General Bradford came here – Louisiana did not become part of the US until 1810.

The property passed through many hands, including use as a hospital during the Civil War. Over the years, many stories of murder and haunting were attributed to this place.

The most popular concerns a 14 year old enslaved girl named Chloe, who had her ear cut off as punishment for eavesdropping. In revenge, she poisoned the children of the house, and then was killed.

Both Chloe and the children are said to haunt the premises.

The stately Myrtles Plantation, the most haunted house in Louisiana, and 7th most haunted in the USA

The crepe mrytles that give the plantation its name

General Bradford, in portrait and Wanted poster. Rani is our enthusiastic tour guide

An image of Chloe to the left of the shutter. Do you see her? This is a postcard in the gift shop.

This mirror is the most haunted piece of furniture in America. Although it has been reglazed several times, images of a face and fingerprints keep reappearing. See the face in the middle of the doorway?

Chloe’s treasure chest – many tourists report losing an earring in this building, which the staff subsequently find hidden in the house. Chloe only steals one earring, as she only has one ear.

Rani shared her personal sightings, captured on her phone. See the little boy behind the tourist’s leg?

How about the ghostly child on the right?

A portrait of Kate Winter, beloved child of the house who died of yellow fever at the age of three. Is hers the ghostly face you see above?

This is a photo of the outside of the house, showing a ghostly figure…

…and two ghostly children sitting on the roof. This photo has been examined by experts to prove it is not photoshopped

This old piano only plays if you pump the pedals with both feet and work the bellows with both knees – except when it is heard to play by itself at night

The 17th step where a former owner of the house may have been murdered. Happy to say we made it out alive!

More from Lafayette, Louisiana

December 4, 2025Louisiana, TravelCathedral of St. John the Evangelist, Lafayette, shrimp creole, wall artkarenfranza

Dec 1 – So this morning we sauntered around beautiful downtown Lafayette to see what there is to see.

We saw the beautiful Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, built by a Dutch architect out of red brick in 1916.

A stroll downtown revealed my very favorite sight – wall art! Enjoy!

For lunch, how about some shrimp creole? Bon appetit!

Lafayette, Louisiana

December 3, 2025Louisiana, TravelCajun gumbo, Charlene Richard, crawfish étouffée, Lafayette, Little Cajun Saint, Vermilionville Historic Villagekarenfranza

Nov 29 – Today’s adventure was a visit to Vermilionville Historic Village to learn about early Cajun culture. Vermilionville was the named of this area before it became Lafayette. The word Cajun is a corruption of the word Acadian, the French people who were forced to flee here from Nova Scotia in the mid 1700s to get away from the British. All the signage here is in French first, then English.

I like the primitive religious paintings

An old cabin with part of the wall removed to show the Spanish moss mixed with mud used for insulation

Several of the houses contained folksy re-enactors with stories to tell. This gentleman in the schoolhouse told how children were punished for speaking their native French dialects

The poster showed different expressions in Cajun, Creole, French and English

This lady has been hand stitching quilts here for 12 years

The quilt-in-progress is stretched on a frame that can be raised up to the ceiling so that the room can be used as a bedroom after the day’s work is done

Here’s the petit bayou ferry – just pick up the center rope and pull yourself across!

Product placement? How did that Tabasco barrel get here?

The restaurant at Vermilionville offered great Cajun gumbo…

…and a baked potato filled with an excellent crawfish étouffée

After lunch we walked over to a performance hall where local musicians gathered for an afternoon jam session. They chatted together for a few minutes, somebody started a song, then everyone else joined in.

Guitars, fiddles, an accordion and a washtub bass

**Nov 30** – A rainy gray morning, somehow befitting that we are visiting a cemetery today to see the Little Cajun Saint. Jim is interested in stories of miracles.

In 1959, 12 year old Charlene Richard died of leukemia. Her priest was impressed that she did not fear death, and used her name to raise funds for a new church.

Over the next 20 years, people prayed to Charlene, visited her grave and reported miracles of healing.

Charlene has been nominated for sainthood, a long process that requires the Church to verify at least two miracles. Hundreds of people visit her grave every week.

There is a box of index cards here where people write down their petitions and leave them for Charlene. So far, Charlene has been named a Servant of God.

Avery Island, Louisiana

December 2, 2025Louisiana, TravelAvery Island, snowy egret, Tabasco plantationkarenfranza

Nov 28 – No trip to Louisiana can be considered complete without a visit to Avery Island, the ancestral home of the McIllhenny family, creators of Tabasco sauce.

Jim is holding the tiny Army Tabasco bottle that was provided in C rations in his Vietnam days. He said for some meals, it made all the difference!

We walked through the greenhouses where the peppers are grown. Tabasco peppers face upward, toward the sun.

The vats where the pepper mash is processed

The warehouse where the mash is aged for up to three years

The gift shop featured many interesting Tabasco products

There are 12 different Tabasco sauces offered, from mild to super hot. I particularly liked the garlic sauce.

Jim, of course, tried the Scorpion Sauce, the hottest one. It immediately made his nose run, and he pronounced it mighty fine.

Here’s a big alligator that menaced the McIllhenny family, back in the day. As the weather has turned chilly, I’m afraid it is the only gator we will see on this trip.

We took the three mile walk around the island called the Jungle Gardens – the other tourists took their cars

The island is a sanctuary for the snowy egret

At the top of a hill is a pagoda containing a Buddha that was gifted to the McIllhenny family in 1936. They are not sure how old it is or where it came from.

New Iberia, Louisiana

December 1, 2025Louisiana, TravelAlbania Mansion, Jeanerette, Lake Fausse Pointe, New Iberia, Patterson, Wedell-Williams Aviation and Cypress Sawmill Museumkarenfranza

Nov 26 – Now here’s a place I bet you haven’t been! In the town of Patterson on the road to New Iberia sits the Wedell-Williams Aviation and Cypress Sawmill Museum.

Inside are racing aircraft from the 1930s and 1940s

We watched a fun video about the barnstorming aviation era, featuring Mary Hazelip, who held the women’s speed record for 7 years starting in 1932

Wedell and Williams both manufactured and piloted their aircrafts. They both died young in plane crashes.

In the same building we learned about the logging off of the cypress forests of this area from the late 1800s up until the Great Depression

Cypress trees grow right in the water, and are excellent rot-resistant soft woods for making boats, paneling and flooring

People also harvested Spanish moss in great quantities to use as furniture and mattress stuffing, and also wall insulation. Who knew?

We stopped for lunch in Jeanerette, but arrived too late for the Cajun special. The fried shrimp were tasty, but we’ve really had enough fried food.

We walked around the grounds of Albania Mansion, built in 1842

It’s right on the water, and is used for weddings and parties

The back of the house looks just like the front! I wonder where we’ll go next?

**Nov 27 –** Today dawned clear but cold. We are going to see what there is to see around Lake Fausse Point. Lots of palmetto

Morgan City, Louisiana

November 29, 2025Louisiana, TravelAtchafalaya River basin, flying alligators, Lake Palourde, Morgan City, Mr Charlie Rig Museum, Rita Mae’s Kitchenkarenfranza

Nov 24 – Now that Jim’s conference is over, we’re going to see a little more of Louisiana. We jumped on a bus this morning to ride back to the airport, and pick up our rental car. We never rent cars when we travel internationally, so this was unusual. From this point onward, I’ll try share some things that you may not have in your neck of the woods.

We drove to the Bayou Savauge, which wasn’t far from the city.

The hiking area was a bit too civilized, so we moved on.

If you’re ever in Morgan City, you absolutely must visit the Mr. Charlie Rig Museum. It just might be your only chance to walk around an actual oil rig!

We had a private tour of the rig. Built in 1954, it now serves as a crew training facility.

Virgil was our guide, knowledgeable about many aspects of the oil drilling business. You may be interested to learn that calling oil a “fossil fuel” is only a theory, as the Good Lord put it in the ground for us to use, and no one really knows how it got there. Okayyyy…

We got to see the crew quarters where the rig crew live for up to four weeks at a time. A work schedule might be two or four weeks on, followed by the same number of weeks off. Shifts are usually 12 hours.

The all-important galley, where the crews are fed four meals a day

The robot arms that robotically assemble and place the drills

Grab on and get hoisted out over the water – no seat belts here!

Morgan City is getting ready for the holidays…

…with flying alligators pulling Santa’s boat!

Lake Palourde, part of the Atchafalaya River basin. Lots of birds…

For lunch we sought out Rita Mae’s Kitchen for some authentic Cajun cuisine

The Cajun gumbo (shrimp, sausage, chicken and rice) was mighty fine. The potato salad was mashed and really creamy. Quite the day!

The Mississippi and Mardi Gras

November 27, 2025Louisiana, TravelMardi Gras World, Marie Laveau, Mississippi River, Port of Call, wall artkarenfranza

Nov 22 – Although we’ve been in New Orleans for almost a week, we have yet to see the Mississippi River. It’s only a block from the heart of town on Canal Street, so we sauntered over to have a look.

This riverboat has a mighty horn and blasted it repeatedly for all to enjoy

It is Saturday, and there is a New Orleans Saints game today. The crowds were phenomenal, and we’re not sure if all the extra people are here for the game, or just because it’s the weekend.

Today is Jim’s conference presentation, so we didn’t get to do much sightseeing. The presentation was a great success.

To celebrate, we went out to dinner with Jim’s colleagues, to the fancy French restaurant Galatoires. We started with turtle soup, which was a first for me. Very good! I had the shrimp étouffée in brown roux, and it was delicious.

Jim ordered the seafood bouillabaisse in a saffron stock, and pronounced it equally excellent. A fine day.

**Nov 23 –** We checked out Marie Laveau’s Voodoo Shop.

Marie, a midwife, healer and hairdresser, was the most famous of the voodoo practitioners of the 1800s.

No pix were permitted inside, so here is what you can see from the door. Incantations for every purpose, and tarot readings upon request.

Mother River statue in front of the Port of New Orleans

Right on the river is Mardi Gras World, a huge warehouse where figures for Mardi Gras parade floats are made and stored.

Most figures are sculpted in styrofoam, covered in papier-mâché, then painted

The figures are reconfigured and repainted as needed

Here is one of the parade floats. Our tour guide was a hoot. He told us that each float contained a porta-potty so the crewe could “oui oui” if necessary.

This is the same company that made all the cows on billboards for Chik Fila’s “Eat Mor Chiken” campaign. We didn’t see any cows today.

So much to see and so colorful! Thank you, Mary, for this recommendation!

On friend Tom’s suggestion, we stopped in at Port of Call for a hamburger and baked potato lunch. We thought we could avoid the crowds by showing up at 3pm, but still had to wait half an hour for a seat. They make a signature rum drink called The Monsoon, and we enjoyed watching people trying to walk after finishing one!

The Garden District

November 25, 2025Louisiana, TravelGarden District, Lafayette Cemetery #1, Magazine St, raised cemetery, St. Charles Avenue, St. Charles streetcar, Tulane Universitykarenfranza

Nov 21 – This is our day to head south to explore the Garden District, where the New Orleans rich moved in the 1800s to get away from the crowded French Quarter. It is here that Ann Rice lived and placed many of her Vampire stories, and here that Peyton and Eli Manning grew up.

Some of these historical mansions have plaques indicating their age and the style in which they were built. Many contain more than one style, and are considered ‘transitional’.