For Christmas this year, we decided to take a road trip and drive back to my home town of New Orleans, Louisiana rather than fly due to COVID. It also allowed us to stop at a few new places that we hadn’t visited before, and Natchitoches was our first stop on our way back to Denver.
We left New Orleans pretty late in the day, and arrived in Natchitoches just after dark. We checked into the Fairfield Inn & Suites, which is the only Marriott property in the city. I was still trying to eek out a few extra nights for the year, but know that this hotel requires a short drive to the historic downtown district, and there are a lot of adorable bed and breakfasts that are much closer if you aren’t obsessed with your Bonvoy points like I am.
We decided to grab some food and spend the next day doing most of our sightseeing, and headed down to the riverfront to check out Maglieaux’s Riverfront Restaurant.
We got downtown and were totally surprised to find that there were MASSIVE crowds, and it seemed like almost everyone in the whole city was at the Riverfront. We learned that Natchitoches has one of the largest Christmas celebrations in the entire state, and tonight, the day after Christmas, was the night of a huge fireworks display, along with live music, and all of the millions of lights.
Since most folks were still outside enjoying the last of the fireworks, we snuck right into the restaurant without a wait. They had a slightly limited menu due to COVID, but still full of a ton of favorites. We went with a po-boy and the crab cake sandwich, and added on a side of fried okra. Everything we ate was SO delicious, and they also had a ton of local Louisiana beers on tap.
After dinner we walked around the riverfront to admire all of the incredible lights. The entire main street is draped in lights, and as you walk along the river you can view all of the light displays on the opposite side, commemorating significant events in Natchitoches history, including what they are well known for, which is being the film location for the movie Sweet Magnolias.
Halfway down the main street, we spotted the Cane River Queen, a boat that can take you on tours up and down the Cane River. They had a special tour that evening to take you around to view all of the lights, and the boat is BYOB so you can bring your to-geaux drinks with you. During the day you can also take tours down the river to view the scenery.
After walking off our dinner, we hopped back in the car to head towards the hotel. Along the way, we noticed a bunch of lights in the woods, and discovered the Dark Woods Adventure Park. This park has various displays throughout the year, whether holiday themed (like Halloween) or fun scavenger tours. We were able to park and walk through a 1/4 mile trail with tons of lights and Christmas displays, including a bayou shack complete with alligators pulling Santa’s sleigh instead of reindeer.
The next morning we got up bright and early to head back to the riverfront and grab coffee at Storybrew Coffee cafe. It’s a quaint little coffee shop, with tons of options and a selection of baked goods. The seating is cozy, and they have tons of board games and books, which during non-COVID would be so fun.
After grabbing coffee, we walked the entire length of Front Street, checking out all of the local shops. Some of our favorites were Georgia’s Gift Shop, and the Local Flavor Gift Shop which was one block off of Front and had a ton of local merchants selling everything from spices and art to soaps and clothing. The Kaffie-Frederick Inc General Mercantile is Louisiana’s oldest general store, and we definitely had that on our list, but unfortunately it was closed on Sundays, so we snapped a quick photo and did some window shopping only.
We also stopped at the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. We wanted to walk through the museum, but unfortunately didn’t have much time, and it wasn’t yet open that morning. It’s definitely on our list for the next time we visit, which after seeing their Christmas celebration, may be once a year!
After shopping and finishing our coffee, we headed a block in to Lasyone’s Meat Pie Kitchen & Restaurant. Natchitoches is known for their meat pies, and Lasyone’s is the spot to get them.
We didn’t really have time to sit inside and dine, so we popped into the takeout corner and grabbed one meat pie and one crawfish pie to go.
The handheld pies are large and SO DELICIOUS. Both are unique, so I highly recommend trying one of each. It was honestly the perfect amount of food to keep us going for the next leg of our trip.
Once we’d grabbed our food, we got back in the car to head to our next destination on our drive back to Denver: Decatur, Texas. Along the way we made a quick stop in Shreveport, Louisiana to stop at Bergeron’s Boudin & Cajun Meats, and grab some frozen meats and their incredible Boudin Eggrolls. If you’re driving through, I highly recommend making this stop!
Being from New Orleans, we definitely plan to spend more time road tripping around the various other Louisiana cities. Have any favorites that we must add to our list? Let us know in the comments!
