Where To Go In Southeast Louisiana (That Isn’t New Orleans) Part One: The Northshore
When many people think of Louisiana, a blurry haze of beads, jazz, laughter, and the strange characters of New Orleans typically come to mind. The city’s awesomeness is well documented on these pages (including a couple of articles by yours truly), and when it comes to my favorite cities in the country, it’s at the top of the list.
As much as I love The Big Easy, the fact remains that Louisiana is much, much more than New Orleans, and on a recent trip there, I learned that I had been selling myself short all these years by not exploring the places around it. After all, this is a state extremely rich with culture, and just beyond the city’s borders, one can find other chapters to the lively Louisiana story through its vibrant swamps teeming with life, fun takes on local traditions like Mardi Gras, the energetic rhythms and melodies of zydeco and swamp blues, and an entire world of Cajun cuisine that is not only some of the best food in the United States, but the entire world.
Coming in just west of New Orleans from Jefferson Parish (Louisiana is one of two states where what are usually called “counties” are referred to as something else), I entered The Northshore beginning with a hypnotic journey across the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, whose meditative 25 miles over open water feels like entering a different world. The long, formless spit of horizon far away gradually took shape, and before long, I found the swaying palms surrounding the sign for Mandeville greeting me in St. Tammany Parish.