On this gorgeous fall weekend, we took advantage of the weather to revisit two of our favorite hiking trails on the northshore of Lake Pontchartrain. Despite being surrounded by towns and cars and people, the Northlake Nature Center and Big Branch Marsh National...

On an unbelievably hot Louisiana summer day, we set out to cool our toes in the waters on the Bogue Chitto River. The state park by the same name is one of Louisiana's newest state parks, located near Franklinton. Loblolly pine tree The drive there on LA-25 north...

On a whim, we recently decided to take a little drive and check out Tickfaw State Park in Springfield, not far from Ponchatoula and Hammond. It was a scenic journey, north on I-55 through that swampy strip of land sectioning off Lake Maurepas from Lake Pontchartrain....

In a city known for its cemeteries, each one is more unique and beautiful than the last. One of our favorites, though, is Metairie Cemetery, built on the grounds of a former horse racing track. Opened in 1838, it was the premiere race track of the South, competing...

On a coveted three day holiday weekend, t-ball and birthday parties kept us tied to the city, so we used the extra day to explore our hometown. It's so easy to settle into work and school routines during the week, and take off exploring the unique small towns and...

Nearly two years ago, we drove the San Bernardo Scenic Byway through St. Bernard Parish, headed for the Chalmette Battlefield and the Los Islenos Fiesta. This weekend we returned to hit a few spots we had missed on our initial journey, starting with Old Arabi and...

It's not easy to get lost in Plaquemines Parish. There's one main road that runs down the left side of the Mississippi River and one down the right. Once you get on it, you simply drive straight ahead until you reach the end. We chose Highway 23 on the left side and...

On our evening walks around Uptown New Orleans, we've discovered one the best places to take rambunctious kids is Tulane University. We get a little bit of exercise walking there, and they get to jump out as soon as we reach the university and let loose. It's the...

  Although we've explored the trails at Jean Lafitte National Park's Barataria Preserve dozens of times, every trip brings new discoveries. Sunday was the perfect day to visit, with mildly cool weather accented by rust-colored cypress trees and red maples (our...

The tiny town of Madisonville perched its stilted houses and businesses along the banks of the Tchefuncte River, which flows south and widens as it enters Lake Pontchartrain. Countless days of rain had prompted us to visit this historic maritime community, whose past...

French Quarter Fest, the largest free music festival in the South, is four, packed days of more than 800 local musicians playing on 22 stages throughout the Quarter's historic streets and waterfront. Now in its 29th year, the event has ballooned into a massive...

Beyond Lake Pontchartrain and Covington, out past sprawling plant nurseries, lies the Global Wildlife Center in Folsom. We made the trek to the far reaches of the Northshore to see the more than 4,000 exotic animals that reside here at this 900-acre wildlife preserve....

Beyond a line of Vietnamese stores and restaurants, Chef Menteur Highway journeys to the far edges of New Orleans, deep into the nation's largest urban National Wildlife Refuge. Just a short distance from our house, Bayou Sauvage NWR is a flashback to what much of...

During this magical holiday season, we decided to take the kiddos on a tour of some of the "magic" happening around town. At nearly 4 years old, Charles seemed prepared for his debut into the theater scene. A travelzoo offer got us $11 tickets to Cirque Dreams...

Our latest trip took us back to one of our earliest adventure locations - Jean Lafitte National Park. It was Barataria Buccaneers' Day at the Barataria Preserve in Marrero, and Charles was on a mission to become a Junior Ranger/Privateer. Sweetgum seeds in the forest...

Every November on the outskirts of Hammond, men, women and children dust off their swords and corsets and step back in time to the village of Albright. They become the centerpiece of the Louisiana Renaissance Festival, affectionately known as Ren Fest, and they open...

This Halloween weekend, we took advantage of the ghouls and goblins haunting New Orleans. We kicked it off Friday night at Audubon Zoo's "Boo at the Zoo," where hundreds of Jedis, princesses and fairytale characters had replaced the usual wild animals found at the...

When October arrives, those lazy summer months fall to the wayside and festival season kicks into high gear. I had our calendar booked and had mentally prepared the family for a packed weekend. Pony rides at the Children's Book Festival We started off Saturday...

Every Fall, I feel the urge to search the web for u-pick farms and local produce. I'm not much of a gardener myself, shying away from dirty fingernails and mosquito attacks, but the prospect of pumpkin patches and fairytale gourds draws me out to the country—normally....

Boys will be boys. That's the one thing I have discovered to be overwhelmingly true about our three-year-old son, whose favorite color is blue, is obsessed with dinosaurs and thinks the greatest achievement in life is to find every bug that exists on this planet. Put...

Today we hopped in the car and started driving with no destination in mind. Heading toward downtown New Orleans, we made a split second decision to cross the Crescent City Connection when the bridge appeared in the distance. The first exit on the Westbank may not...

One of several Walter Anderson paintings on display at the OgdenThe air conditioning is running nonstop these days. I find as I get older, I have less tolerance for the heat, while the kiddos seem to be oblivious to it. In a desperate effort to keep them inside, I was...

Back from a two week vacation along the coast of California, it was rough stepping off the plane in a fleece jacket into a wall of hot, sticky air. Everything instantly slowed to a crawl -- breathing got harder, walking became an enormous task and carrying luggage...

Main streets across the country have designed themselves into one-stop destinations, luring us in with fancy sidewalks and nice landscaping and then keeping us there with an eclectic mix of shops, restaurants and coffee shops. Uptown New Orleans has several of these...

6:15 a.m. and both kids were up and rearing to go. Charles was pulling on his shoes while asking me in the sweetest toddler voice possible, "Mommy, can we go on an adventure today?" August squealed in agreement. I checked the temperature, and it was already 80 degrees...

I'll admit it, I'm a map junkie. Everyone nowadays has GPS in their cars or on their iphone, but I love the feel of an actual map in my hands. Sometimes when I'm bored, I'll just pick up a map and start looking it over, searching for something I've never seen before....

It was a typical morning, only 7:30 a.m. and Charles' three-foot, stuffed T-Rex had already tried to eat August and had succeeded in eating his yogurt snacks. I had my exercise in for the day after chasing the squealing 3-year-old around the house in my desperate...

Journalist Chris Rose was on the news the other night expounding on how most people don't play tourist in their own city. He, for example, had never been to the World War II Museum or Preservation Hall. While I had both of these covered, there were some places in New...

Every Monday morning, thousands of people wake up at the crack of dawn to leave their homes and drive across the longest bridge in the world to their jobs in the city. A lover of sleep and a hater of traffic, I've always wondered what could possess someone to...

There are some things in life that children have to learn at an early age. Take football, for example. I'm determined to have my toddler, Charles, recite the LSU Fight Song before he can fully sing the alphabet. Likewise, you are never too young to learn to appreciate...

Some days you know from the minute you wake up that today is not a day to go traveling. The piles of laundry are glaring at you, the empty fridge is pleading to be filled and the impending start of the workweek is gnawing at your conscience. But, then again, the...

Stifled from days of cold weather (40 degrees is frigid for New Orleans!), we took advantage of a warm spell and ventured out of the city to Jean Lafitte National Park. The park proved to be an ideal location to take two small children. We started off in the visitor's...