The Local Park

We have a local park here in Jennings.  It is at the junction of I-10 and LA Highway 26 and is called the Louisiana Oil & Gas Park, commemorating the discovery of oil in Louisiana here nearby in a little town called Evangeline.  There is an old wooden oil derrick and there is a lake that is stocked with catfish and in the spring, believe it or not, rainbow trout.  Around this lake is a walking trail and Tricia and I frequently walk briskly for 30 minutes around the lake taking in the sights.  There are numerous ducks and tourists flock in (pardon the pun) and purchase feed to feed them.  The fat ducks waddle up and poop all over the sidewalk that makes up the walking trail, making messy obstacles to maneuver around.

But the real attraction at this park is the Gator Chateau.  You can go inside the visitor center and enjoy free coffee and a gift shop and listen to locals playing french music while they pick up tourist information that gives where to get boudin and cracklins in town, among other things.  It's called the Gator Chateau because it is home to a number of alligators that lounge about in their nice habitat.

It's clean - much cleaner than where we normally see them in muddy bayous.  They pose for pictures and probably feel quite fortunate that they aren't someone's cowboy boots, purse are belt.  At least not yet, anyway.

The main attraction in the Gator Chateau is that you can actually get to hold a baby gator.  They have their nails painted and that's how you can pick out the one you want to hold.  The one below with the pink toenails is named Chloe.

I enjoyed my free cup of coffee and looked at Chloe for a bit while finishing up being a tourist in my own town.  If you're ever in our neck of the woods, stop off at the Oil and Gas Park, sit for a spell, and enjoy yourself.

A Downtown Excursion

I'm not much on traveling.  It's been at least two decades since I've flown on an airplane.  I guess I'm just a home body.  It's not that I don't enjoy seeing new sights.  I do.  I just like being home, and I like sleeping in my own bed.  I'm happy there.  I can be myself there.  We like to explore things around in our own backyard.

One day last week I came in for lunch and asked the wife if she'd like to go to town for dessert and coffee.  Has anyone in the history of the world ever turned down dessert and coffee?  I didn't think so.  Main Street in Jennings has been seeing a resurgence of sorts.  We went to a little bakery called Southern Crumbs and ordered two coffees with some half and half and split a slice of Chantilly Cheesecake.

Instead of eating outside on the patio chair like we did the last time we were here, we walked down Main Street in a southerly direction until we came to the corner of Main and Market Streets.  On that corner is a building that is 103 years old called the Heywood Building.  It is interesting architecturally and the city's Industrial Development Board recently used a grant to restore the building into an outdoor meeting place.  The building has housed a lot of different enterprises over the years and was the local campaign headquarters for the JFK presidential race in 1960.

They restored the façade of the building, interesting brick work and black glass and added umbrellas and tables.  It was the perfect place to enjoy our coffee and dessert.  Tricia begged me "not to put her in the blog, so I obliged (sort of).  If you look through the fountain, you can see her enjoying her coffee in the background.

Jennings is a long way away from New York City, but I think there's a building there called the Flatiron Building that has this same shape.  I think it is kind of cool looking.

While we tried to make the Chantilly Cheesecake last as we sipped on our coffee, we watched some kids walk across the street from an Art Camp.  We continued our conversation under a lazy June summer sun.  The umbrella on the table made it nice.  Hat tip to the community leaders who saved an old piece of history.  

In a mere six minutes, we were back home.  Not bad for an adventurous excursion for someone who likes to stay close to home.  More adventures await!