Morganza encourages local visitors

• By ROY PITCHFORD
• Advocate Westside bureau
• Published: Jun 15, 2008 - Page: 3B - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

• Print
• Email
• Save
• Reprints
• Twitter
• Share

• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• Facebook
• Reddit
• 

MORGANZA — Area residents who use RV’s for their vacation transportation face unprecedented high gasoline prices this summer.
People in Morganza are encouraging those people to stay close to home and visit them.

Morganza is a village with a population of less than 700, and its greatest claim to fame may be scenes shot there 40 years ago for the cult-classic movie,  “Easy Rider.”

But it does have much to offer, and, since December, there is an RV park for overnight stays. Until Maxey Care RV Park opened, there was a 33-mile stretch between New Roads and Simmesport with no lodging available.

Waterways define Morganza. It is bordered by the Mississippi River on the east, the Atchafalaya River to the north, and good fishing is a short drive away on Old River and False River. The Morganza Spillway helps to provide flood control.

Birdwatchers can usually find pelicans, egrets, hawks and ducks to view and sometimes eagles.

Civil War devotees often visit an area of military activity just outside Morganza, and sometimes search for overlooked relics.
LeBlanc’s Farm in Morganza is an outstanding example of what sugar cane farming used to be like. The farm cuts its cane by hand, grinds it and boils it into syrup.

Visitors can buy cane syrup, honey or gumbo filé.

In an area where sugar cane farms and cotton farms are only a few miles apart, Morganza is the home of the Tri-Parish Gin.

Those adventurous enough to plan a crawfish boil can buy “restaurant-quality” mudbugs at Four Oaks Farm in Morganza. For those who like to barbecue, meat is available at LeBlanc’s Grocery.

Hungry travelers who want to be waited on can visit Not Your Mama’s Restaurant.

Antique shopping is available in and just outside of town, as well as a short drive away in New Roads, with more available just a ferryboat ride away in St. Francisville.

Morganza and the nearby communities of Innis, Batchelor and Lettsworth, along with New Roads, have many distinctive, old plantation homes and churches.

Morganza resident Vicki Frey says that in tough economic times, places need to “help themselves,” and she has become a promoter of what Morganza has to offer.