Support for LA 64 is provided by: Office of the Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser, Keep Louisiana Beautiful and the Louisiana Office of Tourism.

In this episode of LA 64, hit the road with me to explore Saint Mary Parish.

I follow the Atchafalaya River from the lamppost lined Main Street of Franklin to the ancestral home of the Chitimacha tribe.

Head deep into the Atchafalaya Basin, where swamp legends live.

Then cross into Morgan City to climb aboard a towering oil rig and end along a sandy shoreline.

One of the best spots in Louisiana to watch sunsets.

I'm Karen LeBlanc, a travel journalist and Louisiana native.

Join me on LA 64, a journey through all 64 parishes, exploring Louisiana's less traveled paths.

Saint Mary Parish sits along Louisiana's Gulf coast, where water shapes the land.

Livelihood and culture.

The Atchafalaya River flows through the parish, emptying into Atchafalaya Bay near Morgan City.

I begin in Franklin, the parish seat, and then on to Charenton where the Chitimacha tribe of Louisiana keeps tradition alive.

Next I head to Patterson and into the basin, then on to Berwick, where a lighthouse watches the river.

I cross into Morgan City, a working waterfront, before ending at the sandy shoreline of Cypremort Point State Park.

Let's go.

As I arrive to this city of Franklin, a line of lamp post greets me, leading into the historic heart, flanked by antebellum mansions.

And as I stand underneath, I begin to understand why locals like to say it's all under the lamp post.

We're going to explore why this is not just a slogan.

It's a way of living, preserving the past while reimagining the future.

Franklin, helped lead Louisiana's preservation movement as one of the original four cities in the state's Main Street program.

I've always said, as Main Street goes, so goes the rest of the community because in order for us to do different projects throughout Franklin with our match dollars that we need, we need that tax base.

We stroll through Pocket Park in downtown Franklin, a community space anchored by a mural from Robert Dafford that brings the story of Bayou Teche to life.

The next day, downtown Franklin is alive with music and vendors lining the street selling everything from homemade lemonade to cracklins and Cajun jerky.

The Franklin Merchant Association hosts the events and invites locals to set up outside their storefronts.

I step in for a coffee break at a local favorite named for those iconic lamp post, and it starts to click, around here, it really is all under the lamp post.

Good morning.

So I'm told to order the specialty, which is the Lampiccuino and the Beignets.

Because locals say they're, like, the best around.

Oh, yeah.

I gotta come up with a plan of attack.

Look at this.

Oh, yeah.

Oh Owners Diane and Gary Wiltz aren't just running a coffee shop.

They're restoring pieces of Franklin, one building at a time.

My vision then is let's make it as touristy as we possibly can, so that when people come to want to see what small town America looks like, Franklin is going to be on their list.

I wander into the shop of woodworker Peter Soprano, who rescues and repurposes sinkers cypress pulled from old logging canals and the Atchafalaya Basin.

This is a collection of lumber that I'm selling for the public.

Because I have too much.

I have three warehouses.

I've been milling logs for 50 years.

I'll go into basins in the long canals and retrieve them, Peter gives those submerged logs a second life and shows me how it starts.

Tracing the shape of his spoon and then polishing the wood by hand to highlight its natural grain.

The color in the wood.

Yeah.

In nature is art is, as Henry David Thoreau said, right?

We can't copy it.

No matter what we do.

We can't copy it.

This is so beautiful.

Today in Franklin, more than 400 properties are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Grevemberg House.

It now serves as the official Saint Mary Parish Museum.

Next I had a few miles south to Charenton, home of the Chitimacha tribe of Louisiana.

The only tribe in the state still living on part of their original homeland.

It's one of four federally recognized tribes in Louisiana.

I stop at the Chitimacha Museum to learn all about their story.

The Chitimacha tribe was actually known as the most powerful tribe in the Gulf Coast, between Texas and Florida.

Prior to the war with the French, we had 15 villages that spread across what is now 23 parishes of South Louisiana.

What is the tribal population today?

Currently we have just under 1800 enrolled members, who live across the nation.

Currently, we have roughly 340 tribal members who actually reside on trust lands.

So that is our official greeting.

The Chitimacha language was actually said to be extinct as our last native speaker died in 1940.

And that changed in 1986, when the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana recovered recordings of two elders speaking the language.

They launched a revitalization effort and became the first tribe to partner with Rosetta Stone to bring their language into modern learning tools.

We have a little recording if you'd like to hear some of it.

It said that unless you're Chitimacha, you can't speak the language because only we have the nasal capacity for it.

Today, the Chitimacha language is taught at the Chitimacha Tribal School, the only Native American school in the state where students learn not just lessons but identity.

The tribe's cultural crown jewel is the river cane basket.

It's double woven, watertight, and deeply prized.

That craft once helped save their tribal lands when taxes threatened their homeland.

it was through the efforts of Sarah Avery McIlhenny, the heiress to the Tabasco plantation.

She used her influence to, assist us, allowing women of the tribe to weave baskets and sell through her, paying the taxes, ultimately saving the land.

Which is why we still have a portion of our Aboriginal lands.

John Paul and his wife, Scarlette Darden, are two of just seven remaining basket weavers in the Chitimacha tribe of Louisiana.

They invite me into their home where the tradition lives on passed down to their granddaughter.

it's important because it's part of our history, part of our heritage, it's always is that feeling that, you know, it's you made that and it's a part of you, but it's also the same connection with our ancestors that have been making these since the beginning of time.

River Cane is split three times to produce a thin, durable, and flexible fiber for weaving.

It's dyed in the tribe's four traditional colors red, black, yellow, and green.

The Chitimacha weave their baskets from 50 tribal patterns.

Depending on what basket I'm making, it can take me from a couple days to a couple of weeks to a month, you know, depending on what I'm doing and which pattern.

So that's called perch a little fish pattern.

So if you see it.

And the patterns don't change the same patterns that have been handed down, they've been handed down generation to generation.

Next, I head to Patterson to explore the Atchafalaya Basin with Captain Caviar on one of his swamp tours.

We launch from his childhood home, Idlewild Plantation, built in 1850 and used as a Civil War hospital.

We cruise this stretch of the Atchafalaya River, once part of a larger channel that split into upper and lower routes.

Behind Patterson to Berwick, it was known as the Lower Valley River until levee construction in the 1930s cut it off from the main flow.

Today, that waterway feeds into Bayou Teche along the west side of town.

Captain Caviar Swamp Tour unfolds like a living storybook with legend and lore from the Atchafayla Basin.

From Pirate's Island, where an episode of Naked and Afraid was filmed, to Tarzan Island, the site of the first Tarzan film, in 1917.

Every stop comes with a story.

This cannon came off of a Confederate gunboat named the cotton.

So back during the Civil War, they had gunboat battles right here where we are.

And one of the Yankee ships shot the cotton with exploding cannonballs.

We end the day at his home with a caviar tasting, proof that even a so-called trash fish can become a culinary delicacy.

This is called Bon V The Good Life.

And this is a special spicy version.

So since you are a Cajun.

Oh, I can then you can handle a little spice.

Cheers.

Patterson once carried two bold titles.

The Cyprus Capital and a hub of aviation innovation.

You see both stories unfold under one roof at the Wedell-Williams Aviation and Cyprus Sawmill Museum.

The story starts on the ground rooted in Cyprus.

The F.B.

Williams Lumber Company that was right here in Patterson.

It was one of the largest lumber companies.

They made a lot of money and one of F.B.

Williams's sons, Harry Williams, was really into airplanes.

The F.B.

Williams Cypress Lumber Company Mill in Patterson operated from the early 1900s until its closure in 1929.

Its story mirrors the rise of the cypress lumber boom in Saint Mary Parish, where old growth trees, many harvested from the Atchafalaya Basin powered the local economy.

Patterson became a major lumber hub before the cypress trees were depleted.

These are labels from all the different lumber mills that were operating in Louisiana at one time during the golden age of lumber.

And a lot of people don't realize that lumber was Louisiana's first industry long before oil and gas.

The other side of the building houses the Wedell-Williams Aviation Museum.

It's filled with replicas of planes built by the Wedell-Williams Air Service.

Harry P. Williams is the son of F.B.

Williams, who we talked about on the Cyress Sawmill side.

He loved adventure.

And one of those adventures was flying fast planes.

And that's how he met Jimmie Wedell.

Jimmie wanted to sell him a plane, and Harry was like, okay, but you have to teach me how to fly it.

Harry Williams recognized Jimmie Wedell█s gift for designing and building aircraft, and he invested $2 million to launch the Wedell-Williams Air Service.

Inside the museum, that vision comes into focus.

One display features Wedell█s 1928 aviator certificate, signed by Orville Wright, linking the small Louisiana town to the very beginnings of powered flight.

Nearby, a multi-screen exhibit captures the high speed world of early air racing.

Here at the 1932 National Air Races.

The very first event is a clean sweep Both Harry Williams and Jimmie Wedell died two years apart in plane crashes.

Harry's wife, Marguerite Williams, sold the company's assets, including its fleet of planes, to Eastern Airlines, and in 1937 she donated the Harry P. Williams Memorial Airport in Patterson to the state of Louisiana.

Turning loss into a lasting legacy.

I head into downtown Paterson for a coffee break at Arcade Brocato, where a simple cup turns into a conversation.

Behind the counter, Angelina and Lyle Brocato share their story.

Patterson raised them, but their dreams carry them to Los Angeles to work as actors.

Now they're back home, pouring that creative spirit into this coffee house meets art space.

Cheers, love.

What you're done to the place.

I mean, this is.

This is pretty edgy stuff for Patterson, right?

Yeah.

Tell him about the concept.

So.

Well, when we bought it seven and a half years ago, it was, you know, historically, a theater and an opera house.

And so we wanted to honor what it was.

So we created Los Angeles here for ourselves.

We created a little New York City library vibe, a conservatory greenhouse space through the arcade where you walk through, and then you get to the courtyard where you have a little destination vacation built in back there.

Okay.

Cheers to the barista.

Really good cappuccino.

Thank you, thank you.

The Mayor of Patterson popped in to say hello, and we moved the conversation into the coffee house library.

Paterson is somewhere where the midpoint of the parish for Saint Mary Parish and so you past going east or past going west.

We always laugh about the fact we don't have red lights and so forth.

So you just pass on through.

But at one point, you have to stop simply because of all the, historical buildings.

We still have cypress trees and so forth, but just the beauty along the on the Atchafalaya.

A lot of people call it the Bayou Teche.

And we had to proclaim there was no there is not The Bayou Dash.

Indian mounds separates the Teche from the lower Atchafalya.

Side note the mayor is known around town as Little Luther Vandross for his velvety voice.

So you know what?

I was going to ask?

All right.

Little Luther Vandross, you want to sing us out of this interview?

If only for one night.

Wow.

Okay.

I see, a second calling after you retire from mayor.

Patterson tees up as a stand out spot on the golf circuit, drawing players from near and far to a course where the fairway comes with a view and a challenge.

You probably don't expect to find a championship golf course rising right out of a swamp.

But here at the Atchafayla golf course at Idlewild in Patterson, you're playing on the edge of the Atchafayla Basin.

This golf course is part of the Louisiana Audubon Golf Trail.

It's consistently ranked among Louisiana's top public golf courses for its championship level design, and it draws tournaments and golfers from across the region who come to play a course that feels distinctly Louisiana.

Wild, beautiful and a little unpredictable.

Whoa.

Next, I head to the oldest settlement in Saint Mary parish, the town of Berwick, recognizable for its red lighthouse.

Standing watch over the Atchafalaya River.

Which begs the question, why is a lighthouse overlooking a river instead of an ocean?

The Berwick Heritage Museum holds the answer.

The Southwest Reef Lighthouse was one of four lighthouses that were built offshore, not on land like most people think, which caused special problems.

It was either going to be demolished or whatever.

And there was an effort at the time by the Save the Coast Foundation.

And Berwick got interested in that.

And so the attempt was made to save the lighthouse.

It was given to us, or we purchased it for free from the state.

Today it defines the Berwick skyline at Lighthouse Park.

The museum holds a detailed timeline of its restoration and a rare Fresnel lighthouse lens on loan from the U.S.

Coast Guard.

Next, we're in Morgan City, home of the Shrimp and Petroleum Festival.

And for good reason.

Both industries are closely tied to the city's history and economy.

I'm standing here on top of the Mr.

Charlie rig, and in just a moment, I am going to take you on a tour.

But first, I'm going to send you out for a bird's eye view of one of the nation's busiest river intersections, where a lot of traffic passes through the Mississippi River valley system.

Off you go.

Mr.

Charlie is a National Historic Landmark and the only place in the world where the public can walk aboard an authentic offshore drilling rig.

The actual offshore oil and gas industry started in 1947.

And that's when a crew went from Morgan City out into the Gulf.

Built a platform, erected a land drilling rig on the platform, drilled a well.

Then in the early 1950s, a man working here in Morgan City named Alton Doc Laborde came up with the idea of a portable, self-contained drilling rig.

And this is the rig that he built.

So it floats.

Mr.

Charlie was in operation from 1954 to 1986, until offshore drilling pushed into deeper waters that this rig couldn't reach.

My guide, Virgil Allen, is a civil engineer who helped rescue it from the scrapheap, transforming it into both a museum and a liveaboard training facility.

We walked through the lower level where the sleeping quarters, a rec room and a kitchen, and then on up to the working decks.

Karen, this is our personal basket.

So if we're working up here and we want to get down to the deck of a boat, the crane can pick us up in this basket and drop us down to the boat.

That's bouncing in the three foot seas.

I think about how you can't be scared of heights or claustrophobic to work on an offshore oil rig.

It takes stamina to live and work here for weeks at a time, way out at sea.

We're looking at all this hand-operated equipment, and it is all hand-operated.

Today, this is all robotics.

So now the men and women are sitting in an air conditioned cabin with joysticks, working robotic arms, doing almost all this work.

This was one of the top ten most dangerous jobs in America.

I believe it Today is one of the safest jobs in America.

From the deck of Mr.

Charlie, I can see the Morgan City seawall that stretches along the edge of the Atchafalaya River, running beside Front Street in the historic district.

It's one of the best views in town, and it gives you a clear sense of how the river, the city and that protective barrier all connect.

Morgan City has evolved through a lot.

All the major shipyards are here right.

So they're converting oilfield vessels to catch space rockets, right?

Or they converting them to put up windmills or they convert them for the military or they build them for the military.

So reinventing ourself is now basically getting away from the shrimp on a massive scale, getting it going to the shipyard businesses, thousands of people that that work in the shipyard buildings here.

So it's a huge economy driver.

From Front Street in Morgan City, I wonder over to Lake End Park for a stroll along the beach on Lake Palourde.

This city run spot is a local go to with a fishing pier, boat launch, Marina, and cozy cabins.

It feels like a beach getaway just minutes from downtown.

Ask locals, where to go for plate lunches, and they'll send you to Rita Mae's Kitchen here in Morgan City.

She cooks up soul food as she says, home cooking away from home.

This is the real deal.

So let's go check out what today's specials are.

I ordered Cajun style gumbo with a piece of fried catfish and a side of potato salad.

Got to put a dollop of potato salad in my gumbo because that's the way I eat it.

As I travel around the state, I'm always looking for makers creating Louisiana heritage crafts.

Works rooted in place.

That search led me to Kayla Matherne, a self-described psychic spiritual artist who transforms reclaimed wood from the Atchafalaya Basin into pieces she says, carry a spirit all their own.

I think I want the energy of the nature spirit and of that's how important and sacred wood is, and that it emanates this energy into your home and could be even a healing.

Again, is bringing importance to trees and, that everything is alive.

Everything has a spirit.

I also met up with Gloria Causey, who makes a unique Louisiana heritage craft out of garfish scales.

She makes jewelry and objects of beauty.

And you're thinking what?

Garfish is art?

We'll take a look.

I don't have a pattern to none of this.

So it comes in, it goes.

Every piece is unique.

Even after us doing this for 40 years, we still have customers that hadn't seen it before.

Out back in her barn in Paterson, Gloria works alongside her husband, Jeff.

He catches and cleans the garfish and then she transforms it into delicate creations, including her signature poinsettia ornaments.

Her work is rooted in resourcefulness and a talent for turning the humblest materials into unexpected beauty.

After a day of filming the culture and characters of Saint Mary Parish, I returned to Cypremort Point State Park for a stroll along the nature boardwalk leading into the marshland and reflect on the day and also think about the way this land was formed by meandering arm of the Mississippi River.

I stayed in a cabin on stilts overlooking Vermilion Bay with all the creature comforts of home.

I greet each morning with a cup of coffee on my back porch.

In the evenings, I stroll along the sandy shoreline, admiring one of the most spectacular sunsets in Louisiana.

We're going to wrap up our travels throughout Saint Mary Parish with a sendoff serenade by country musician, Louisiana native and American Idol winner Laine Hardy.

Before the concert, I catch up with Laine Hardy to talk about where it all began.

The songs that are written and the lyrics that go with them.

And the way the music's played all has influence in the way it makes the listener feel.

100% I take that with a lot of weight on me.

I would like to help people.

That's the main thing I want to do through my music.

People turn to it.

Not just man, but music.

When they want to feel better and, you know, if I have the ability to do that, that would be great.

Might look like nothin█ but gravel roads And tractors rollin█ over them fields And prayin█ that we get a little rain soon And cuttin█ loose in hand me down wheels And knockin█ them Friday night beers back By the train tracks and thinkin█ that I'd never miss this place when I got gone But that█s the ground I grew up on Yeah, that█s the ground I grew up on Girl, don█t blink You might miss it all It█s where I could fix anything I broke but the law It was hard to leave Girl, that█s the truth But you know if I█d stuck around This little town, I█d have never found you Might look like nothin█ but gravel roads And tractors rollin█ over them fields And prayin█ that we get a little rain soon And cuttin█ loose in hand me down wheels Support for LA 64 is provided by: Office of the Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser, Keep Louisiana Beautiful and the Louisiana Office of Tourism, and by the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area, the St.

Landry Parish Tourist Commission, Northwestern State University, and by the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

And viewers like you.

Thank you.