theStearns

Louisiana Blueberries (photo by Kenn Stearns)

Botanists believe blueberries have been growing in North America for 13,000 years. Colonists found two varieties of blueberries growing wild. The sweetest blueberries I’ve ever had were from the Poconos Mountains, a favorite Northeastern Pennsylvania playground, where they grow wild. I’ve never had a cultivated blueberry that was as sweet as those all tiny natural beauties – seems like it took all day to fill a jar.

But when you live in the south it’s not always easy to hit mountains in the Northeast so we did the next best thing: we went to Louisiana and visited a self-pick place my parents knew about. The kids had a blast and the next morning we shared a fine stack of blueberry pancakes.

Scene from Guys and Dolls, a musical fable of Broadway, at the Iberia Performing Arts League (photo by Kenn Stearns)

Last weekend I journeyed to New Iberia, Louisiana to enjoy Guys and Dolls, a musical staged by the Iberia Performing Arts League (IPAL). The photo above is from one of the most popular scenes when Sit Down; You’re Rocking the Boat is performed.

IPAL exemplifies “community theater.” For this production there are 52 cast members in addition to the behind-the-scenes volunteers that include my mother’s expertise with props. My sister designed the program and marketing materials. My uncle helped with the HVAC systems. My father directs, acts, and revels in it all. The least I could do was photograph and applaud.

My father has been involved with IPAL since he “retired” to New Iberia years ago. His entry among the four pages of cast biographies: “Mac Stearns (Big Jule) is just plain doing what he loves. What a great way to celebrate seven decades of theater participation!” Over the years I’ve always enjoyed IPAL musicals. But this time I’m not sure which I enjoyed more; the great play or watching my father having so damn much fun.

Iberia Sugar Cooperative, Inc. near New Iberia, Louisiana (photo by Kenn Stearns)

Built in 1937, the Iberia Sugar Cooperative factory was closed in December 2004. The factory and its 180-acre site was sold in 2007. The plant we toured in 2003 produced 8,000 tons of sugar cane daily, up from 2,000/day when the plant opened. I’ll never forget the taste of the sugar, still warm from processing.

The Iberia Sugar Cooperative factory (photo by Kenn Stearns)

The E.J. “Lionel” Grizzaffi Bridge (Highway 90) on the left and the Long–Allen Bridge (Highway 182) on the right in Morgan City, LA (photo by Kenn Stearns)

Two passenger vehicle bridges span the Atchafalaya River to connect Morgan City, Louisiana with Berwick. The E.J. “Lionel” Grizzaffi Bridge (Highway 90) is a cantilever bridge named for a member of the Louisiana state house of representatives from 1948 to 1952. The Long–Allen Bridge (Highway 182) is a truss bridge named for Louisiana governors Huey Pierce Long, Jr. and Oscar Kelly (“O.K.”) Allen, Sr.

O.K. Allen, the 42nd governor of Louisiana from 1932 to 1964, earned his nickname for saying “okay” to Huey “Kingfish” Long who was the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and a U.S. senator from 1932 to 1935. At the peak of his popularity, Long was shot at the Louisiana State Capitol and died of internal bleeding two days later on September 10, 1935. Some believe Carl Austin Weiss, a young physician, assassinated Long. Others believe Weiss punched Long in the mouth and a stray bullet from bodyguards struck Long. Weiss was shot 61 times by Long’s bodyguards.

During his four-year term as governor, Long built more than 100 bridges and increased the mileage of paved highways in Louisiana to 2,301 from 331.

A window at Shadows-on-the-Teche in New Iberia, Louisiana reflected in a pond on the grounds (photo by Kenn Stearns)

Shadows-on-the-Teche in New Iberia, Louisiana is an antebellum historic house museum property of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The home was built between 1831 and 1834. The mansion is surrounded by extensive gardens with bamboo, camellias, aspidistras, and azaleas scattered beneath moss-draped live oaks.

Crayfish, crawfish, mudbugs, crawdads, crawdaddies, freshwater lobsters (photo by Kenn Stearns)

In North America there are more than 500 species of the crawfish, close relatives of the lobster. They also live in other areas of the globe including Europe, New Zealand, East Asia and the Tristan da Cunha Islands. Nearly all live in freshwater, although a few survive in salt water. Many in Louisiana refer to their state as the “crawfish capital of the world.”

Louisiana is responsible for generating 98% of the U.S. crawfish. Pocambarus clarkii (named by Charles Frédéric Girard in honor of John H. Clark, who surveyed the US-Mexican border in 1851 according to Wikipedia) or “red swamp crawfish” or “Louisiana crawfish” is an important component of Cajun cuisine. It is considered invasive in Europe because it disrupts the ecosystem of local species by spreading a fungus.

The oldest fossil records of crawfish are 115 million years old.

Cabin 9 at Lake Fausse Pointe State Park (photo by Kenn Stearns)

Lake Fausse Pointe State Park is in the middle of nowhere. Which is exactly why it’s worth the trek to this 6,000-acre site. From canoeing and biking to the Atchafalaya Basin and nearby historic areas, this is the epitome of South Louisiana diversity.