Blogs from Natchitoches, Louisiana, United States, North America

THE BONNIE BLUE FLAG Chorus: Hurrah! Hurrah! For Southern Rights, Hurrah. Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag, That bears the single star. One of the most intriguing aspects of American history is the cultural clash that arose over the struggle for political and economic sovereignty between Spain, France, Great Britain, Mexico and America along the gulf coast of the United States. The struggle began in 1559 with the Spanish settlement at St Augustine in Florida and culminated in the American triumph of arms over Mexico in 1848. Spanish influence dominated the gulf coast until 1821 when they were driven out of Mexico. The French held claim to the mouth of the Mississippi River and controlled commerce up and down the river to settlements in Canada. Great Britain controlled commerce through Canada with the Hudson Bay Company ... read more

Geo: 31.7278, -93.1531Took a taxi to the airport. Check-in with Avis went easily. We had requested an economy vehicle but they didn't have any so got a free upgrade to a 2013 Ford Escape. You need to take a course on the controls. Like a spaceship. Fully equipped including Sirius satellite radio. We have been through one tank of gas and the economy is pretty good considering we have been running at 70-75 mph most of the time. On the road for about 5 hours except for a Starbucks and bathroom stop.Natchitoches is a very pretty town with a fascinating history. It was founded in 1714 as a French outpost on the Red River to facilitate trade with the Spanish in Mexico. The town is named after the local Native American tribe. There was a log ... read more

This Christmas season we longed for a visit to Natchitoches, Louisiana to see the annual Festival of Lights but due to circumstances, we were unable to pull off the trip as we had originally planned. A couple of weeks after our original plan fell through, one of my closest friend's mom died and we hurriedly made plans to head north to Jonesville, LA for her funeral. The local weather had been predicting sleet/snow for our Baton Rouge area (which rarely materializes) on Thursday and Ms. Nita's service also would be on Thursday so we decided the thing to do would be to throw a few things in the RV and head on to Jonesville on Wednesday afternoon just in case we did receive some rainy or bad weather. So the work began, getting things packed and ... read more