~Natchitoches~ Bet you can't pronounce it?

With the long three day weekend ahead of us, we decided that we wanted to do something extra special. Unfortunately, our family time during the week is very limited. Jason works long hours and the kids are busy with both school and after school activities. By the time we get home from either karate, cheer practice, or girl scouts, we have just enough time to finish up homework, eat dinner, get ready for school the following day, and plop ourselves on the couch to read a couple of books before its time for bed. We do our best to keep our weekends free so that we can have special family nights. You can usually find us playing board games, inventing games outside, or just having a good ol’ fashion family movie night with a popcorn picnic on the living room floor.

Since moving here at the end of June, we haven’t really had a chance to venture outside of the Shreveport/Bossier area. We have done a few things locally (like attending the Captains baseball games :) I think most of you know that we are a baseball family at heart. We are completely out numbered living here in the south. People here eat, live, and breath football. I think at some point I might have to learn the game :) Anyhow, after a couple of hours of doing some research on the computer we decided to plan a trip to Natchitoches. I bet many of you can’t pronounce the name of this cute historical town. It's not "Natch-a-tish" and it surely isn't "Nacogdoches.” So, how exactly is it pronounced? The Louisianan folk pronounce it "Nack-a-tish".

Natchitoches was established in 1714 and is the oldest permanent settlement in the Louisiana Purchase territory. We later found out that one of my favorite movies was filmed there back in the late 80’s. Steel Magnolias put this quaint little town on the map. Bryanna and I actually ended up watching the movie after our visit. It was neat to see all the little places we visited play out on screen (I know I’m a total dork :)

Saturday morning I got up, made some coffee, and tossed together a quick breakfast. The kids were up before the sun (the school schedule has definitely kicked in). Luckily, I didn’t have to hear too much whining or complaining :) Jay and I kept the day’s agenda to ourselves. The kids had no idea what we were doing or where we were going. Everyone got ready and by 9:30 we were on our way. I have to say I was very impressed with my family of 5! We were only 30 minutes behind schedule :) There wasn’t much to look at as we made our way south (trees, trees, and more trees). By 11 am we pulled off the highway and ended up in the beautiful city of Natchitoches. We passed through the historic district and crossed the Cane River. Our first stop was the Melrose Plantation which was about 15 minutes outside of the historical downtown area. The plantation was closed until noon so we decided to take a drive around the river. The river loops around the whole city. A few miles up the road, we found an old church and a cemetery. We decided to stop since we had some time before our plantation tour. It was neat to read some of the headstones. There were a few that were so old that we couldn’t make out exactly what they said. There were family names that dated back to the early 1800’s. We also noticed a lot of military veterans that were buried there. Some of them dated back to WW1. We took a peek inside the church. We were both shocked to find that it was a Catholic Church. Catholicism is not the most practiced religion in the south. The church was beautiful and very old. We walked around and took some pictures. We later found out during our tour that the church was linked with the Melrose Plantation. It is possibly the oldest Catholic Church in the south and the first Catholic Church to serve the African American community. It was also the church that hosted the wedding of Shelby and Jackson in Steel Magnolias.

St. Augustine Catholic Church

The tour of the plantation was amazing. I’m not a huge history buff but I do love to learn about the many things that define our country. I love to be able to stand in the places and look at the things that hold memories and history. We learned a lot, more than I could ever share on here (my bogs are too long as it is :) The kids were able to learn a lot too. Our tour guides really did their best to include the kids throughout the tour. They talked to them and allowed them to try different things. All three of them did exceptionally well on the 2 1/2 hour tour. One of the tour guides actually came up to us at the end and asked if he could give the kids a candy bar. He told the kids that he was very impressed with them. They were the most well behaved children he has ever had the pleasure of meeting. And he meets a lot of children :)

We walked the grounds for a little bit and then headed over to the historical district. This was by far my favorite part. The town is so beautiful. It has an old-world charm about it. One side of the street is lined with old-fashioned French colonial style buildings. Most of the buildings are shops and restaurants. We got to see Louisiana’s first general store. Some of the houses have been turned into family owned Bed and Breakfast sites. The town sits up on a hill and overlooks the Cane River. We enjoyed our walk down the street, browsed through some of the shops, and eventually made it down to catch a glimpse of The Steel Magnolia House (the home of M’Lynn & Drum).

On the way back, we walked along the Cane River. We ended our amazing family outing with a delicious ice cream treat and three tired kids. Needless to say, the drive home was very quiet. We are definitely looking forward to going back soon.