Sometimes It’s Not What You See That Really Matters

As I was driving home from another day nursing my mother late Thursday evening, my thoughts turned to our Southern Belleview porch and this week’s conversation.  The other belles have given us a delightful tour of their various hometowns and offered suggestions on the many sights we could see if we were to drop in for a visit. To be totally frank, my sweet hometown doesn’t have that many attractions. 

Not that there aren’t things to see. I would be happy to show off our pride and joy, Lake Providence herself, that great bow shaped body of water our town gathers around. We could have lunch at The Dock, an area restaurant that sits on her banks. (I would probably recommend the shrimp poboy.) During lunch I would tell y’all the story of how our town was named and how it’s traced back to a group of Mississippi River pirates led by a man named Bunch who terrorized the river’s travelers and merchants. Legend has it that if a ship made it by the bend in the River where my town sits today, it was said that surely an act of “Providence” had seen them through. Lake was added to the title of our town in the early 1900’s after it was discovered that our mail was being confused with that of Providence, Rhode Island.

I could take you to our famous Poverty Point archeologicalsite, home to one of the most important prehistoric cultures on the continent. Afterwards, we could visit the Louisiana Cotton Museum where you could learn about White Gold, A.K.A. King Cotton, in our museum complex that includes among other things, a one hundred year-old planter’s house, sharecropper’s cabin, plantation church, and exhibit hall. You could watch videos about the history of King Cotton and the culture that produced it and if you come close to harvest, you might even get to pick a scratch boll of your own right behind the museum.

We could visit the Bylerly House community center and possibly catch a traveling exhibit, but after that, the pickings would get slim in a hurry unless you felt like driving out to our farm. Word of warning, my guys are true southern gentlemen with great manners but if y’all come right now, they’ll have to beg your pardon after the introductions to get back to the all-important harvest.  

Beyond the beauty of Lake Providence, Louisiana, I will always consider her people our greatest treasure. I think we would spend the rest of the day at the coffee shop. Y’all could meet my pastor. He and his wife own the place. We could meet travelers coming and going and pass a good time with the regulars. You know, I’m getting excited just thinking about it. Let me know when you head this way!