Monroe: Delta music on the Ouachita River

On the Ouachita River in rural northern Louisiana, Monroe holds the ancient musical tradition of the Delta together with the recent television fame of the Robertson family.

The downtown, animated by Delta music on the Ouachita River, requires a car to navigate between distant neighborhoods.

The Delta Music Museum tells the long history of country, blues and gospel music born in the Mississippi Delta region near Monroe.

A few minutes away, the Biedenharn Gardens, well-maintained botanical gardens overlooking the river, also house the museum of the world's first Coca-Cola bottler.

Walking along the river, you stroll on the Ouachita Riverfront, with beautiful views of the historic bridges connecting Monroe to nearby West Monroe.

In the evening, numerous local restaurants serve traditional Cajun and Creole dishes typical of rural northern Louisiana.

The Biedenharn Gardens house the museum dedicated to Joseph Biedenharn, who in 1894 was the first entrepreneur to bottle Coca-Cola on a commercial scale in Monroe, revolutionizing the beverage's distribution forever.

The nearby town of West Monroe became famous worldwide thanks to the television series 'Duck Dynasty', set in the duck call manufacturing business of the Robertson family.