I got my vacation approved
And I think I've actually decided on the distant 3rd option as what I'm going to do. I've always wanted to see Poverty Point but it's way up in the northeast corner of the state, so it's definitely not a day trip. It's about a 4 1/2 hour drive, which is actually about how long it takes to drive to the condo in Alabama. Poverty Point is the largest surviving prehistoric earthworks in North America, and that's nice for us because Louisiana's superlatives are usually all terrible and tend to be things like "most firearms-related violence of any state".
The nearest town is Delhi, which has a population of about 2,600, so there aren't a lot of Airbnb listings (although I could also stay in larger towns that are close by). But the upside of that is they aren't very expensive, and the two I'm considering are both renovated vintage campers. I like listings that are different like that; my two favorites I've stayed in throughout the years I've used Airbnb* were a converted Methodist church in St. Martinville, and a converted carriage house in New Orleans.
The deciding factor was remembering that Poverty Point is in Richland Parish, and I've had a couple of things on my photography bucket list that are up that way: the ghost town of Holly Ridge, and an old rural school for Black children that's been abandoned since desegregation and is basically just a shell now. And that will be a good time of year to photograph those things, because in spring or summer abandoned buildings in Louisiana are often totally obscured by vines and stuff.
Anyway, like I said the listings are pretty cheap, so I'll probably stay 3 nights, doing Poverty Point one day and the abandoned stuff the other. I hope I can find the school; from photos I've seen it kind of looks like it's out in the woods a bit.
*I know all about Airbnb's contribution to the housing crisis so please do not lecture me about it. There's a difference between staying in someone's camper on their property, and staying in an entire house owned by some hedge fund operating out of another state. That's capitalism ruining what was supposed to be an affordable/more interesting alternative to hotels for guests and a creative source of extra income for hosts.
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I have some scraps of 18-count aida left from my last cross stitch, so I'm back on the miniature fine art cross stitches. Previously I've used 14-count for those, so these are even tinier than the last round I did.
Joan Miró's Dancer, 1925.
Eventually I figure my eyes will get to the point where working on 18-count just isn't possible; it's already noticeably harder than it used to be. But I'll just keep going until I can't.
The nearest town is Delhi, which has a population of about 2,600, so there aren't a lot of Airbnb listings (although I could also stay in larger towns that are close by). But the upside of that is they aren't very expensive, and the two I'm considering are both renovated vintage campers. I like listings that are different like that; my two favorites I've stayed in throughout the years I've used Airbnb* were a converted Methodist church in St. Martinville, and a converted carriage house in New Orleans.
The deciding factor was remembering that Poverty Point is in Richland Parish, and I've had a couple of things on my photography bucket list that are up that way: the ghost town of Holly Ridge, and an old rural school for Black children that's been abandoned since desegregation and is basically just a shell now. And that will be a good time of year to photograph those things, because in spring or summer abandoned buildings in Louisiana are often totally obscured by vines and stuff.
Anyway, like I said the listings are pretty cheap, so I'll probably stay 3 nights, doing Poverty Point one day and the abandoned stuff the other. I hope I can find the school; from photos I've seen it kind of looks like it's out in the woods a bit.
*I know all about Airbnb's contribution to the housing crisis so please do not lecture me about it. There's a difference between staying in someone's camper on their property, and staying in an entire house owned by some hedge fund operating out of another state. That's capitalism ruining what was supposed to be an affordable/more interesting alternative to hotels for guests and a creative source of extra income for hosts.
~~~~~~~~~~
I have some scraps of 18-count aida left from my last cross stitch, so I'm back on the miniature fine art cross stitches. Previously I've used 14-count for those, so these are even tinier than the last round I did.
Joan Miró's Dancer, 1925.
Eventually I figure my eyes will get to the point where working on 18-count just isn't possible; it's already noticeably harder than it used to be. But I'll just keep going until I can't.