From Azaleas to Zydeco: My 4,600-Mile Journey through the South

Crossing the River by Ferryboat

Crossing the River by Ferryboat St. Francisville is on high ground, and the Mississippi River is but a few miles away. Leaving St. Francisville, you immediately descend toward the river. After a couple of curves, the landing for the St. Francisville/New Roads ferryboat comes into view. This boat carries traffic from Louisiana Highway 10 across the Mississippi River. The ferry leaves on the hour and half hour during daylight hours seven days a week. I timed it perfectly. Cars just off the boat heading toward St. Francisville met me. Six cars headed west to get on the boat were lined up. The ferry ride is a great bargain of the Journey: A buck gets you across. And that’s actually the round-trip fare, as there’s no charge for going the other way. The next ferry upriver, the Dorena/Hickman Ferry, is some 500 miles away, transporting travelers between Kentucky and Missouri just south of the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. It charges $14 each way. As you drive onto the ferry, one deckhand extracts the toll from drivers, while another deckhand directs the cars to a spot on the boat. After the cars are loaded, they signal some farm vehicles, which had been parked on the side of the road, to follow the cars on board. Once the combines and tractors are situated, you depart. The lady in the car next to me was obviously a regular; she stayed in her car and talked on her cell phone the whole time. I immediately got 263 out of my car, headed to the side of the boat, and looked up- and downriver as we departed. The river looks just like it does at Helena—a huge river with no visible signs of development on its bluffs and no buildings in sight. The river banks are still wild. The same can’t be said of the river, where traffic is heavy. We moved slowly into the channel so a barge could pass going upriver. We fell in behind it and crossed its wake. The captain timed our crossing, ducking between two barges heading downriver. Even with all that river traffic, we reached the New Roads side of the river in no time. The St. Francisville/New Roads ferry won’t operate much longer. It will be replaced by the John James Audubon Bridge. While the bridge will be a more efficient east-west connector and a boon to economic development, it’s a shame to see the ferry become obsolete. A few miles south of the ferry landing is New Roads, Louisiana, one of the oldest communities in the Mississippi Valley. Today, New Roads has a population of 5,000 people. Founded by the French in the 1720s, Riding a tug boat’s wake 264 it’s the parish seat of Point Coupée Parish. Point Coupée means “the place of the cut-off.” In 1699, the explorer Pierre d’Iberville took a shortcut on his explorations up the river by fording a narrow stream over a neck of land, the “point coupee.” New Roads was founded at the place of the cut-off. St. Francisville is English, but New Roads is French. In St. Francisville, you have the Davises, Bennetts, and Walshes. In downtown New Roads, you shop at Langlois’ grocery or get an insurance quote from the L. Bouanchaud Insurance Agency. The local legislators were Representative Donald Cazayoux Jr. and Senator Robert Marionneaux. New Roads boasts of the oldest Mardi Gras celebration in Louisiana outside of New Orleans. Unlike the one in New Orleans, the New Roads parade is open to citizen participation. People in New Roads are also quick to point out that their celebration is more family-oriented than the Crescent City’s. Acres of sugar cane, cotton, and pecans surround the little town. Point Coupée Parish is the leading pecan-producing parish in the state and home to the H. J. Bergeron Pecan Shelling Plant, the oldest pecanshelling plant in the United States. The Bergerons welcome visitors to tour their facility and view the hundred-year-old pecan trees in their orchard, some of which rise 125 feet. I bought two bags of Elliot pecans, which Mr. Bergeron assured me were the best he had. I munched on pecans while traveling through Louisiana farmland—but for less than twenty miles because the Cajun Highway takes you quickly into...