Loozi-ana
In researching New Orleans and surrounding area for my current writing project, I’ve discovered and rediscovered some great trivia about the state:
*The Louisiana Purchase was in 1803, and amounted to less than 3 cents per acre at the time.
*The Louisiana territory covered all or part of 15 current United States as well as two Canadian Provinces.
*Louisiana’s roots include French, Spanish, and British.
*Louisiana was named after French King Louis XIV.
*Jazz music was born at the turn of the 20th century, primarily in New Orleans’ black communities.
*Some of the most famous musicians to come out of New Orleans include Louis Armstrong, Harry Connick, Jr., Branford Marsalis, Louis Prima, and many others.
*Many intriguing authors have claimed New Orleans as their home: Truman Capote (Breakfast at Tiffany’s), William Faulkner (The Sound and the Fury), and Anne Rice (Songs of the Seraphim).
*Destrehan Plantation, along the banks of the Mississippi River, is the oldest plantation house in Louisiana. It was established 1787.
*Myrtles Plantation in St. Francisville is considered one of the most haunted areas in Louisiana.
*Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote “Evangeline”, about the 1755 Acadian mass exile from today’s Nova Scotia area due to their refusal to conform to British demands to renounce their Roman Catholic faith.
*The Acadian migration to Louisiana’s French territory began the formation of Cajun Country.
*Cajun is a derivative of the original French pronunciation of Acadian: “Uh-cay-jahn”.
*Louisiana is sectioned into “parishes” instead of “counties”. This is due to being governed under Napoleonic Code.
*Because New Orleans was built on a swamp, their cemeteries are above ground, resembling small buildings which have earned them the nickname “Cities of the Dead”.
*Louisiana has an intense spiritual mixture of Christianity and Voodoo.
*Mardi Gras (French for “Fat Tuesday”, also known as Shrove Tuesday) originated as a French Catholic celebratory feast of eating richer, fatty foods before the 40-Day Lenten period begins.
*Fat Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday.
*Typical Mardi Gras colors are green, gold, and purple.
That’s a whole lotta trivia and fun facts to work with. I can’t wait to sink my teeth into more and get this story written!
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
