Q. How the heck did you figure out where it was?

A. One problem with finding True Blood locations is that I could never be sure if they were filmed in Louisiana or Southern California (at least not those in the early episodes). An added problem with this gas station scene was that it was shot at night, so there aren't many visible details.

Fortunately, a small sign is barely visible above the station.  Looking closely, I thought it read "Powell's Grocery", although I couldn't be sure.  (And, of course, given Hollywood tricks, I couldn't even be sure that it was even a real sign.) So I Googled "Powell's Grocery".

I could only find two Powell's Groceries in the U.S. One was in Michigan, and the other was about 20 miles east of Shreveport.

Now normally, I'd just take a look at Google StreetView or Bing's "Birds-Eye View" aerial photos to confirm it. But when I mapped it on Google StreetView, I couldn't see a gas station! (Turns out that both maps get it wrong, and even if you go to the right location manually, StreetView isn't available for that part of Highway 164).

Bing's aerial photos were useless, because they don't offer "Birds-Eye View" for that part of the world, and their standard aerial photos were blurry, showing little detail.

To check a bit more, I Googled for "Powell's Grocery" and "gas", and sure enough, I popped up a listing that read: "Powell's Grocery - a country store with a little of everything, Gas and diesel. 2156 Hwy 164 Doyline, Louisiana 71023". So my hunch was that it was probably the right place.

Around that time, I happened to be separately contacted by two different "True Blood" fans, Jen & Michele, both of whom were planning trips to Louisiana to take a tour of the "True Blood" locations.  I had posted on a fan site that I was building a list of locations, but hadn't yet made it public. Both of them asked me if I could share my location info with them in advance, so they would know where to go. I told them yes, and sent them all the info I had, and in return, both promised to share photos from their trips.

Later, I got an email from one of them, Jen Bark first, who sent me the two photos of the gas station which you see above, and helped me pinpoint the exact location.  As you can see, this Powell's Grocery matches perfectly with the gas station seen on the show. Thanks, Jen!

My other pair of "True Blood" vacationers, Michele & Ellie also returned from their tour with a lot of good photos of "True Blood" locations, and you can see one good example (of the grocery) above. Thanks, Michele & Ellie!