After the parade, students throw their beads on the tree hoping for good luck on exams.

Site of a former hidden treehouse in New Orleans.

A serene but haunting memorial to protective wetland lost, the absence of which directly damaged the Lower 9th Ward following Hurricane Katrina.

The only cave in Louisiana has played host to a state's-worth of clandestine activities.

Striking images of New Orleans history, including colonizers, soldiers, Klansmen, scientists, sharecroppers, and more, are depicted in frescoes that line the walls of this transportation hub.

Taxidermied cartoon heads, unseen illustrations, and famous characters all reside in this small gallery space.

Professional and amateur dioramas, taxidermy, and oddities all located in an attic above a gallery.

This New Orleans boutique and nursery specializes in rare flora, with a focus on carnivorous plants.

The ill-fated plan to reroute the Mississippi so that Union ships could bypass Confederate fortifications on the river bend.

This ancient settlement contains some of the largest earthen mounds in North America.

Every year, a Louisiana town remembers a brief Civil War truce inspired by Masonic brotherhood.

An artist weaves "wooden quilts" with scraps salvaged from his Katrina-damaged home in Tremé.

This Louisiana folk art gallery is a gnarled collection of driftwood homonculi.

This creepy, yet oddly beautiful cemetery is home to one of the founding fathers of Lake Charles.

A miscalculation turns a very shallow freshwater lake into a very deep saltwater lake.

This sinkhole was created by a tragic industrial accident and continues to ravage the surrounding landscape.

Religion and personal struggle gave birth to this collection of concrete angels.

Pirates had to be ousted from the land where this now ruined Louisiana fortress was built.

An abandoned underground bunker not far from downtown New Orleans.

A Rodeo for Prisoners.

A swamp and garden tour featuring local wildlife and exotic botanical specimens from around the world.

One of the oldest continuously-operated gay bars in the United States is allegedly haunted by Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams.

A haunting, yet lovingly hand-hewn potters' field full of graves that flood with each heavy rain.

A calm and comfortable place to hang out with cats and kittens up for adoption.