SHREVEPORT, La. — If you’ve a yen to take the high road and the back roads, then rev up the engines and meander for 130 miles along Louisiana Highway 2, now also called the Boom or Bust Byway.
But first, stop by Shreveport-Bossier Tourist Bureau and check out a handheld Boom or Bust Byway Scenic GPS Ranger in English, Spanish or French, or download the “N LA Byways” app for your smartphone.
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Either shows where you are on a map while revealing the history and culture of communities along the way. Along with historical tidbits, you get up-to-date information pointing out places to lunch, shop and stretch your legs.
Boom or Bust is part of the Trails & Byways system and one of 17 scenic byways in Louisiana. The program recognizes roads for their archaeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational and scenic qualities, according to byways.org.
Why Boom or Bust? Because it talks about the booms of the area — oil, anyone? — and the busts — oil again?
It is simple to use.
On the road
As the two-laner snakes its way across the roof of Louisiana through small towns such as Mooringsport, Oil City, Gilliam, Shongaloo, Sarepta, the outskirts of Homer to Lake Claiborne, it slips over bayous, past mansions and humble houses, working farms and heavily forested areas.
Stretches are straight as an arrow; others are winding and hilly and curvy.
Although some towns like Homer and Vivian are not directly on Highway 2, the Ranger suggests you veer off to see some of the sights.
Some places must be enjoyed from the road, for they are not open to the public.
The Dan and Rebecca Munn Homestead between Sarepta and Shongaloo is such a spot. It is a horizontal stretch of land with vintage outbuildings and three crosses, bisected by the house of today’s homeowner, who is a Munn.
A sign at the gate states that the Dan and Rebecca Munn Hill Homestead was established July 26, 1900, and the couple had eight children. You can just imagine those children romping across the rolling land.
Between Shongaloo and Homer, be on the alert for a rock wall festooned with a multitude of deer antlers protecting a quaint rock house.
Just a few miles beyond, we were enchanted by a long, narrow piece of land housing a small family cemetery with dirt, rather than grass, underfoot.
A thick grove of sweet gums, pines and oaks and a lone gardenia bush shelter graves, which include a U.S. Army private from Company D, a casualty of World War I and, hand-carved in a shaky cursive, “Frances Thomas. Born 1885. Died 1970.”
The Hornet Drive-In in Sarepta, named for the Sarepta High School Hornets, is a cafe frozen in time.
It has been the place to go for hamburgers, coffee and community news for 47 years. Hungry residents and workers congregate for a meal and check out the notes to see what is going on, such as an upcoming trap shoot.
“Anything they want anybody to know about, they stick it in here,” said staffer Stacy Wayt, who points out that country star Trace Adkins, whose family lives just up the road, has probably had a Hornet hamburger or two, and so has the Grammy-winning Cox Family.
So has Billy Edwards. “I done drank coffee here all morning. I’ll probably eat lunch here,” he said.
1860 courthouse
In Homer, we marveled at the classic Claiborne Parish Courthouse, constructed in 1860 and the only pre-Civil War courthouse in Louisiana serving its original purpose, according to the Ranger.
The Herbert S. Ford Memorial Museum in Homer holds a collection of frocks by the renowned late fashion designer Geoffrey Beene, whose roots are in nearby Haynesville. But look also for the trophy, chapel and general store rooms.
In the 130 official Boom or Bust Highway miles, the prettiest section is between Homer and Lake Claiborne State Park.
It is where the road winds and curves in the hills of the piney woods and where there are few houses and no commercial establishments, so at times you feel you are alone in the world, that there is just you and Boom or Bust.
And the last stop, Lake Claiborne State Park, is first class. We recommend an overnight stay in one of the two-bedroom cabins nestled among the pines at the park. If you want peace and quiet among natural beauty, this is it.
Maggie Martin, The Shreveport Times
When you go
Find out more about the Boom or Bust Byway at louisianatravel.com.
For information about Lake Claiborne State Park, go to crt.state.la.us/parks /ilakeclai.aspx
318.459.9312
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