After a kerfuffle with Budget car rental, I finally got a Rav4 and headed out of NOLA. I had a very specific destination in mind, the Abita Mystery House.
I had visited it in 2001, when it was called the UCM museum, I loved the ingenuity, sense of humor and especially its’ creator, John Preble. He and I had a long chat then and he put me onto several other amazing environments. He also introduced me to the concept “three of anything is a collection, three or more collections are a museum.” My home is definitely a museum.
This time, I drove over the 28-mile causeway that crosses Lake Pontchartrain. I loved being in the middle of the lake with only the water in sight. I had on an oldies station and found myself smiling and singing along as the miles zipped by.
The Abita Mystery House (in Abita Springs, a quaint little town) has been expanded in the 20+ years since my previous visit. It’s even more outrageous than before. John calls it “a hobby out of control.” There are dioramas, signs, a bottle wall, mosaics, collections of everything from hoses to paint-by-number paintings, buttons, old computer parts and so much more than I can list here.
There’s also a “UFO” and the 12-foot bassagator and models of other strange creatures that exist only in the mind of John Preble. There’s so much more you simply must see it for yourself. A sense of humor is definitely required to appreciate this folksy, funny, totally out-of-the-box environment.
When I’d finished my tour, John and I again had a long conversation. We know several of the same artists and he told me about some others, who are now on my list to visit.
Then back across the causeway to Destrehan Plantation, where I spent the night in a gorgeous cottage (far larger than my own apartment).