March 19: Downtown Natchitoches

Historic downtown Natchitoches was our goal today. We stopped at the visitor's center to get our walking map and headed out. It was about a 2 mile walk but we cut it short about 1/2 mile by not going to Fort St. Jean Batiste. I have determined that Natchitoches is an Indian name so if we go to the local Indian Cultural Center, I'll inquire about how it's pronounced and a story I heard about two Indian brothers that this town was named after and the other was Nacogdoches in Texas.

The whole area was lined with hundreds of pots of tulips of every color - some double tulips too. Lots of hanging baskets of pansies. As you can see, the architecture is the same as at the French Quarter in New Orleans.





The first home I took a photo of was the Prudhomme-Rouquier House. It was about a block from the downtown area. Built about 1790, it was the largest home in town. Tours were by appointment so we didn't go inside.






This home is the famous Steel Magnolia House/Taylor House. It was the primary location of the 1989 movie Steel Magnolias. Today it is a bed and breakfast. It was about two more blocks down from the above home.




The American Cemetery was not very good for driving thru (I felt like we were 4 wheeling in the Crossfire) and there were signs posted that you couldn't park. So I just snapped a photo out the window of the dogwoods with a stone in front. The cemetery was established early in the 18th century. The oldest marker dates to the late 1700's but we didn't find it. Also, this is the cemetery where Shelby from Steel Magnolias was buried.




The Roque House was built around the time of the Louisiana Purchase. It has no nails and was built by a freedman of color. The house was lived in until 1941 and was named after that occupant, Madame Aubert Roque. It was moved here from its' original location.







Another picture of the beautiful Azaleas blooming all over in this state. They grow like wild weeds. I also am seeing Wisteria growing like wild vines--blooming out of cedar trees and pine trees.





As we told you yesterday, we did sit on a hard bench and cheer on WSU and KU. They were up against Northwestern and University of Central Oklahoma. The WSU girls got beaten once by UCO, but that was the only time I saw WSU loose a race. I don't think I saw KU win any. This is a slow sport. We waited about 20 to 30 minutes between heats. Next time I'm taking a book. In this photo, WSU men are in the lead, followed by KU and if you look closely on the left you'll see what looks like a black stick in the side - that's a UCO oar.


I included the video because it had all the KU kids yelling in the background. They'd already lost but the kids cheered them on anyway.



Tomorrow we're heading for the Cane River Road to do the plantation tour. Only three are open so that will cut down on Larry's misery.