Lightening Bugs?!?

I'll bet if you're a baby boomer, you like me grew up catching Lightening Bugs in mayonnaise jars with holes punched in the lid. In my neighborhood, all the kids during summer would go out in the yard armed with their jars, grab a handful of grass toss it into the bottom of the jar and wait for it to get dark enough (usually around twilight) to see the Lightening Bugs start flying and blinking. We'd run after them, jars open, laughing and chasing till we caught one or more in our jars. The poor bugs would continue to flash while in the jars and we would sit mesmerized with mouths hanging open watching as they flashed inside the jars. Later after we went in, our parents usually let them go free. And we'd start all over again the next night. It was a badge of honor to see who could catch the most bugs. I never got that award, but I had fun anyway.

My kids never had that pleasure. Apparently, Lightening Bugs need clean air (no smog) to live and most large cities now have too much air pollution to allow them to live within close proximity to the cities. What a shame! I wish my kids could've had the pleasure (simple to be sure) that my husband and I had. But progress brings it's own price, so they were not able to experience that right of passage the way we did.

I've missed the Lightening Bugs. I didn't realize it till we went on our extended weekend getaway recently. For the first time in years, I saw Lightening Bugs. We arrived at our lodging, a Bed and Breakfast in the country around dusk and when I saw them, those little critters flooded me with happy memories. 

So since you're wondering where we went, let me tell you all about our trip. We made arrangements through our travel club with these instructions: we wanted to be in the heart of plantation country, near enough that we could see several of the antebellum homes over the course of a long weekend. We needed a pet friendly place, and one that was handicapped accessible also. Those were all the instructions that we gave. What the travel club gave us was St. Francisville, Louisiana. And the Rosemound (pronounced Rosemund) Bed and Breakfast. 

The entrance

St. Francisville is about an hour south of Natchez, Mississippi, and less than an hour north of Baton Rouge. In the heart of what is called English Louisiana. And just north of the town is Rosemound Bed and Breakfast, boasting a total of four rooms (two are suites) situated on 5 + acres with views of Lake Rosemound from every window of the rooms. This was like a dream with Live Oaks that were close to 150 feet tall and so wide at the bottom that 6 men arms outstretched would be needed to encircle them dripping with Spanish Moss, Gardenias, huge Magnolia trees, Azalea bushes, a beautiful lake, Lightening Bugs and a full delicious country breakfast served every day of your stay. The breakfasts were wonderful, and the menu changed daily with pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit, juice, and coffee as examples of what you might be served.

Rosemound B & B

The rooms were comfortable with queen beds and ennsuite baths, sitting areas in the rooms, T.V. and WiFi. Each room was decorated differently. The suites slept four, had jacuzzi tubs, separate showers, and sitting areas. All of the rooms had access to the other amenities in the house. There was a ping pong table, pool table, "help yourself ice cream bar, and canoes & paddle boats were available for use on the lake. You also had access to a full commercial style kitchen, laundry facilities with supplies, grill and the beach for the lake. There were numerous picnic tables, sitting areas, a pier for fishing or swimming off of and porch swings also available to the guests. 

The pier at Rosemound

While we were there, a film was being shot in the St. Francisville area potentially to be named Beautiful Creatures, but we never saw them. We just saw their signs taped to traffic signs and were informed by our host about the signs and filming. I can understand why they were filming there. Multiple plantations in different styles, an historic town with several historic town homes settled by English, Irish and Scottish families many of whom fled from the east coast to avoid the repercussions of having chosen the wrong side in the Revolutionary war, several historic churches (including former slave churches founded on land that was once part of a plantation), scenery that could take your breath away, and the lure of walking in the same areas as John James Audubon all of which are now bird sanctuaries.

The one minus is the nightmare of old one lane wooden bridges built over a hundred years ago that scared the be jabbers out of me every time we went over one. They didn't seem to bother Dan or the other guests, just me.  So as long as you're not faint of heart or spirit and willing to cross Sara Bayou on a bridge that was so narrow Dan's truck covered its width completely, then you're good.  

In the mornings, I would go out and sit
with the poopies. I got this shot one
morning while just enjoying the peace
and quiet.

One of the views from the sitting area outside of our room.

The drive approaching the B & B

The beach area. With sand volleyball, an actual sand beach,
covered picnic tables and a grill.

One of the flowering plants on the
grounds.