Bus to Bunkie
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Day 6: April 24, 2024 Bus to Bunkie Comment via blog |
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The 2013 movie 12 Years a Slave brought attention to this area of
Louisiana because this is where Solomon Northup spent most of those twelve
years. That attention has led to the creation of the 83-mile-long, roughly
U-shaped,
"Northup Trail" connecting many sites involved in
the story. This was our bus tour day, and our path was generally along
that trail from Alexandria to Bunkie at the bottom of the U. Several Trail
sites were pointed out along the way but our only stop was at the Epps
House on the campus of LSU Alexandria.
The greatly abbreviated version of the story is that Northup was kidnapped in Washington, DC, became a slave on the farm of Edwin Epps, and was eventually freed with the help of attorney John P. Waddill and others. The Epps house has been relocated here from its original location on Bayou Bouef. Volunteers help tell the story through portrayals of Waddill and Northup. I did a post on 12 Years a Slave in 2014 shortly after seeing the movie. |
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Tour buses are hardly conducive to the taking of photos but I did snag
shots of a couple of marked sites as the bus drove around Bunkie.
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Lunch was in historic Haas Auditorium at what was was called a
mini-festival. Representatives of local businesses and organization lined
the walls offering food, information, and friendly conversation. And there
was Cajun music too. Eatables I sampled included jambalaya, sweet potato
crunch, crawfish cornbread, a candy-like sweet potato pudding whose name I
forgot, and cookies. This was a really nice way to eat lunch and learn
about the community.
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Following lunch, the buses took us to downtown Bunkie and turned us loose.
Griffins
Antiques, with lots of independent booths, food, and ice cream, seemed
to be the big draw. But there were many other stores including
Hoover's 5 & 10 offering old fashioned candy and
toys -- and dry cleaning, and the
Palace Farmers Market selling boudin and cracklins.
There was also ample evidence that we were expected and welcome.
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At the appointed time, we all gathered at the former Merchants and
Planters Bank for a sign dedication. JHA President Roger Bell says there
are now approximately 120 of these signs in Louisiana and they are doing a
great job of making people aware of the Jefferson Highway along with some
local history.
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We then walked across the street to the
Bunkie Depot Museum for cheese, wine, history, and a
passing train.
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The day ended with the Annual Awards Banquet back at the Bentley.
Highlights included an attention grabbing keynote speech from Lynette
Tanner, another mingling of waters ceremony, and numerous awards and
announcements but the only thing I tried to photograph was the Parade of
Flags. An interior setting with columns is not well suited for
photographing this sort of thing
(Last year's inaugural event
was much easier.) but I did stitch together a panorama of columns, people,
and flags.
Despite numerous attempts to pry it loose, the location of next year's conference was a fairly well kept secret until being announced tonight. McAlester, OK, -- the home of Choc Beer -- will host the next JHA Conference June 4-7, 2025. |
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