Louisiana’s Big Dig

When I was a kid, I was afraid of quicksand. I don’t think I was the only one in the ‘hood that harbored that fear. I can only attribute this weird preoccupation to old cowboy shows on television. Seems like there was always a cowboy getting sucked down with arms outstretched yelling for help. (Rick…

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Against Their Will

We were driving along this morning somewhere between Hot Springs, Arkansas and Eudora, Arkansas, the catfish capital of the Natural State (that’s Arkansas’ nickname). We saw a small sign advertising the World War II Japanese American Internment Museum just outside of McGehee, Arkansas. We were puzzled because we thought all those interment camps were out…

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Joe and Marilyn Slept Here

  “I’m not staying at a motel!” I have no idea many times I muttered this to myself while looking for places to stay along the way on this road trip. The term “no-tell motel” kept seeping into my consciousness. What kind of sleazy affairs and low rent rendezvous might be going on in the adjacent…

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The Handiest of Accessories

I am old enough to remember the TV game show, “Let’s Make a Deal.” The host, Monty Hall, would run out the clock at the end of the show by asking women in the audience to check their purses for weird items. One day, some random woman opened her handbag and produced a boiled egg…

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Long Story Short

Today we visited the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge. We walked from the hotel and as we approached it, I thought it looked so very ugly. It reminded me of some old World War II era building in Berlin. But the closer we got, the more I could tell that it is actually a…

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Wright’s Ship-Shaped House

Byrd unlocked the gate at Okeeheepkee Road and introduced herself to us after we parked the car. She was about five when her parents built their house next to a spring in Tallahassee and she lives there now. This house is unique in that it is the only home in Florida designed by Frank Lloyd…

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