Stories You Loved in 2016

From the tantalizing idea that you—yes, you—could own your own bridge to the legacy of the Italians in the French Quarter, from oddball Airbnbs to the man who saw LBJ sworn in ... we've determined the year's most popular Country Roads stories by rounding up each and every 2016 print magazine and asking our undercaffeinated interns to count the dog-ears. (Just kidding, we used a computer.)

Here's what struck your fancy:

Arts & Culture

It Takes Two to Two-Step: Partner dancing in Acadiana.

These aren’t professional dancers. They’re passionate practitioners of traditional two-step, zydeco, waltz, and swing-style dancing. The older members of the crowd likely learned to dance at the knees of French-speaking parents and grandparents while the younger ones might have picked it up from family members or local instructors. 

—Maggie Heyn Richardson

Red Stick Reincarnated: Finding a second, third, or thirtieth purpose for salvaged objects.

Salvaged cypress board in hand, Duncan not only offered an impromptu lesson in identifying the miller’s marks and tightened wood grain that characterize the well-worn wood he uses; but with a trained eye and a willing hand, he invited a glimpse into the history and purpose of these materials that salvage art so carefully perpetuates. —Anne Monk

Heaven's Helpers: The Poor Clare nuns' handmade gifts put Santa's elves to shame.

But as the holidays draw near, those in the know seek out the convent for its hidden gem—a small gift shop filled with lovingly crafted items made by the sisters. The shop is a treasure trove of delights, from Sister Rita Hickey’s ceramic nativities and statues to Sister Laurie DiMarco’s photographs. Sister Charlene Toups molds beeswax into Christmas tree-shaped candles, and Sister Julie Glaeser crochets a range of gifts. —Kristy Christiansen

Blue Dog Teaching New Tricks: Louisiana A+ Schools are putting an "A" in "STEM."

A deep believer in the importance of the arts in education and distressed by ongoing cuts to arts programs in Louisiana schools, [George] Rodrigue began to leverage his fame and talents to establish independent art courses and art supplies projects, which he took into Louisiana schools to teach to kids directly. —James Fox-Smith

Smoot’s Grocery: Bringing the blues back to Natchez.

Smoot’s sits on Natchez’ famous bluff, directly across from the old train station with the river rolling by two hundred feet below. Barges and steamboats chug slowly past, carrying America’s cargo and tourists. Looking across the river at the flat Louisiana Delta, the past reverberates with the gospel music and slave songs from which the blues ultimately sprang. —Elodie Pritchartt

Cuisine

Kicking Mule Rum: A bold new spirit for River Road.

The idea for River Road Distillery came about the way many epiphanies do: during rum-soaked conversations with rum-soaked friends. Surrounded by sugarcane fields in his ancestral home of Paulina, Louisiana, it didn’t take much for Tom Kliebert to imagine a new purpose for the barn: namely, a rum distillery. —Sydney Blanchard

Waitr, Waitr, Everywhere: Waitr App turns tables in Louisiana restaurants.

Well, flatware, plateware, formalwear: meet software. Waitr App has arrived, and with it the ultimate in convenient and seamless hospitality. Download the app and you’re granted touch-screen access to local restaurants, their menus, and an ordering system through which the food on your screen can be made tangible. —Lucie Monk Carter

Chef Tanner and Carlee Purdum: The Magpie chef and his sociologist wife adopt Baton Rouge as home.

Baton Rouge has been such a wonderful place for us, and we care about it. People form attachments to their environments, and that community is what makes a place flourish. You’re more satisfied with your life when you’re connected to the people around you. There are things I read about in books, but with Tanner, I get to see it really happening and be a part of it. —Carlee Purdum

Chef George Krause: On cocktail roulette and the complete culinary experience.

I’ve made you one or two that you really like, so the next one I might make with one of the spirits you can tolerate but don’t necessarily like. Later’s when I hit you with the gin, the tequila. You make something similar to what you’ve already made, but now you’ve made it with gin. It’s like, “Oh, this is great.” So you do like gin, you just don’t know how to drink it. —George Krause

By the Book: The legacy of South Louisiana's community cookbooks.

I had to wonder (even balk) at the strict necessity of a decades-old local-recipe collection on my shelf. I can whisk, I can debone, I can even tell that it’s not a smart idea to add four slices of Velveeta to that chicken. 

My sister Anne, a degreed cultural anthropologist, could help untangle this riddle. And so I reached out, using a question we’re familiar with asking each other and our three siblings: What was Mom thinking?!  —Lucie Monk Carter and Anne Monk

Outdoors

From Thirty Feet to Eternity: William Guion documents Louisiana's live oaks.

On the old land maps, oaks mark where one property line ended and another began. They were a point on the horizon at which to aim the blade of a plow or the nose of a tractor. They mark the intersections of crossroads where back roads cross and provide a shady spot for neighbors to park their pickups, pass a plastic thermos cup of chicory coffee, and discuss the weather. Duels were fought and honor won or lost under their bowed limbs. —William Guion

Own Your Own Bridge: The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development is selling historic bridges.

If you have some extra money lying around, a large piece of property or warehouse, and a passion for historic preservation, then you can invest that money in a bridge. Yes, a bridge. An old one. —Nalini Raghavan

A Sustainable Louisiana?: How our state must change to survive.

Comparing themselves to the folks who ignored the obvious risks by building in flood-prone areas of this flood-prone state, Day said, “We were smug about it—even arrogant.” But as he and tens of thousands of South Louisiana residents discovered, even hundred-year flood zone maps and an abundance of feet-above-the-flood-plain caution does not guarantee that you will stay high and dry. “Now, I am a recovering arrogant person,” Day added. “I thought we’d made the rational decision. But we hadn’t.” —Nalini Raghavan

Atchafalaya Basin Wilderness Bike Trail: Gravel grinding with unfettered skies and a sometimes bumpy ride.

We arrive in the early morning at our starting point, the Bayou Benoit Boat Landing near mile twenty of the trail. As I wait for my riding companions to complete the shuttling of vehicles, I hear egrets squawk overhead as a fisherman pulls again and again on his outboard with no luck. It roars to life just as the three of us head up the levee bank to begin our ride southward. —Catherine Schoeffler Comeaux

Fiber Farm: At A Stroka-Genus Alpacas, the owners have figured out how to make these cold-weather creatures commercially viable … and of course there’s a festival.

As you might have surmised from the absence of a large class of alpaca millionaires, the bottom fell out of the alpaca bubble when speculators realized that all the people willing to pay over $10,000 for a sweet and useful, but not particularly rare, animal had already done so. But this boom did capture the attention of a smaller, but better-equipped, number of farmers who now cultivate alpacas for their warm, soft hair and their company. —Chris Turner-Neal

History

When the French Quarter Was Italian: A skeptic finds her family's roots in an old macaroni factory.

Terrell grew up on the other side of Lake Pontchartrain and had always figured the older woman’s increasing dementia distorted the stories that her own grandfather, Jacob (Giacomo) Cusimano, was a wealthy leader in New Orleans’ turn-of-the-century Italian community. She doubted, too, her grandmother’s claims that Cusimano had built the nation’s largest, most modern macaroni factory in 1902. After all, family stories have a way of inflating the facts over time. How grand could the factory really have been? —Donna Shrum

Doyle Whitehead: Memories of serving three U.S. presidents as a steward on Air Force One.

Confusion reigned as Kennedy’s staff tried to absorb the shocking news. “We didn’t know what was going to happen,” Whitehead said in a recent interview. “We thought we might be under attack. Everything was in such chaos—you can just imagine.” —Ruth Laney

The Jewel of Downtown: At the new Watermark Hotel, a series of panels by Angela Gregory highlight a history of industry and artistry.

Now in its third iteration, the elegant building has been transformed into a posh boutique hotel known as Watermark, a Marriott Autograph Series property. It’s difficult to imagine the travails of state bureaucracy being conducted amid the grandeur of its lovely Classical interior: marble-clad mosaic floors and walls; massive fluted plaster columns; coffered ceilings; a monumental staircase; and the pièce de resistance, eight stunning polychrome bas-relief sculptures on the frieze above the former bank lobby.  —Caroline Alberstadt

A Cracker Jack Collection: Delighting children—and one River Ridge collectory—since at least 1912.

There were pot-metal rocking horses, steins, and tiny pipes with celluloid inserts. “Some of the most wonderful prizes came out during that time and especially throughout the Depression; something I’ve always admired about the brothers,” Davis said of the early years. “It seems as if they made an extra effort to create prizes during that time when those might be the only toys kids would get.” —Cheré Coen

1933 LSU Track Team Stuns Nation: Vaulting to glory at one historic meet.

Gordy paused for a moment. A breeze off Lake Michigan ruffled his dark hair, and he shivered slightly in his purple wool uniform.

It was Saturday, June 17, 1933, the first time in its twelve-year history that the NCAA track meet had been held at night. Chicago’s immense stadium was illuminated by new arc lights. It was nearly midnight, but few of the seven thousand spectators had left. The hottest battle ever fought for collegiate track honors was about to be decided. —Ruth Laney

Escapes

36 Hours in Thibodaux: Thibodaux delivers a small-town getaway with a decidedly Cajun accent.

Gratis canoe paddles are offered regularly on Grand Bayou north of town, but you can also take yourself on a stroll along the banks of Bayou Lafourche behind the center, where you might surprise a long-legged heron or a gaggle of turtles sunning themselves on a gnarly cypress knob. —Beth D'Addono

Sharing Space: How Airbnb is changing travel in Louisiana.

Sure, you can still find an air mattress to rent—or a couch, bunk, houseboat, or mansion if that’s what you want—but you can also rent a room from locals who will help you see South Louisiana with new eyes: these are people who run community events, artists who’ve sculpted their homes up out of the bayou, transplants who were drawn to the magic of Louisiana themselves. —Kathryn Casna

Reasons to Get Back to Lake Charles: Golden days in Southwest Louisiana. 

Ryan Street’s the main drag you’ll want to follow. With a quick jaunt north for the scotch eggs and brawny sandwiches of the tucked-away MacFarlane’s Celtic Pub, you’ll then take Ryan south to 1910 Restaurant & Wine Bar. The interior and menu (favorites include gumbo croquettes and marinated rack of lamb) are both lovely and spare; the only danger is taking a wrong turn from the bathroom and stumbling into the (also lovely) cathedral next door—though both will serve you wine. —Lucie Monk Carter

Tracing the Old Railroad: The unique charms of the Tammany Trace towns.

But not so fast … Abita Springs isn’t just a brew pub, a little museum, a water pad for children, a nineteenth-century bandstand, and a little collection of stores. People live here.

Torri Rodriguez, 19, minding the shop one morning at the Abita Mystery House, grew up in Mandeville. She’s called Abita Springs home the last two years. “I like Abita Springs because of the people,” she said. “I like Mandeville, too, but everything’s so close it doesn’t matter. I feel safe on the Northshore.” —Ed Cullen

Bedding Down Bayouside: At this highly-rated Breaux Bridge Airbnb, you can lounge next to a gleaming saltwater pool or make cultural outings along Bayou Teche.

We didn’t get the chance to meet our hosts, but that’s a shame to be rectified upon our next visit. Their knowledge of the area, starting with that binder of maps, pamphlets, and restaurant menus, guided a weekend that ran to and from Breaux Bridge in short scenic jaunts. I liked looking at the illustrated Teche on each return to the room to trace our latest outing and re-orient. That’s where we went, and here’s where we’re headed next. —Lucie Monk Carter

Happy new year, and thanks for being a part of Country Roads! We're looking forward to 2017.