Moms & Dads will appreciate the relaxed pace, great food,
and plenty of affordable accommodations. Our website at www.louisianatravel.com
is a helpful "know before you go" resource that lets the
kids take an active role in planning their vacation. Louisiana
has so much to offer that families can customize their
vacation around various themes.
Using the theme of "Watch it Made in Louisiana," a
family might choose the eye watering experience of watching a hot
pepper sauce cook in giant vats. Or, get a taste for Mardi Gras
touring the New Orleans facility that designs and makes the
colorful floats and props. Kids of all ages will also enjoy
touring a real offshore oil drilling rig or the oldest operating
rice mill in the U.S.
If you say "history" to a child you'd be guaranteed
to get an "UGH," but call it "Time Traveler,"
and children would jump at the chance to crawl around the
decks of a restored WWII naval destroyer, or participate in the
reenactment of the War between the States. Costumed guides,
craftspeople and live music help create a sense of life long ago
at many plantations and folk life centers.
Swamps, jungle gardens, zoos, aquariums, and marshes where John
James Audubon painted his famous "Birds of America" are
great places to explore "All Creatures Great and
Small". Louisiana has one of the top five aquariums and
zoos in the U.S., plus one of-a-kind swamp and ecotours tours led
by experienced naturalists.
Louisiana offers plenty of opportunities for down time at
perennial "Kid Picks" attractions - Jazzland
Theme Park, water parks, hands-on science centers and IMAX
theaters, and even "One of America's Most Haunted
Houses".
Some examples of sites and attractions that comprise a
customized Louisiana family theme vacation.
"WATCH IT MADE" IN LOUISIANA
Conrad Rice Mill - tour the oldest operating rice mill in
the U.S.
New lbeiia (800) 551-3245
Crystal Rice Plantation - rice and crawfish farm tours.
Crowley (337) 783-6417
Panola Pepper Corporation - visitors can watch the bottling
of over eight varieties of hot sauces plus production of other
spices and food products.
Lake Providence (318) 559-1774
Tabasco Factory and Visitors Center - see how the world
famous Louisiana hot sauce is made. Interactive games and
displays, free recipes.
Avery Island (337) 373-6129
Tony Chachere's Creole Foods - makers of famous
Cajun/Creole seasonings. Complimentary tours and free samples.
Opelousas (800) 551-9066
Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World - Come see where Mardi Gras
is made. Artists and sculptors create props and floats used in
carnival parades. Families can try on costumes, climb on floats,
and feel like part of a Louisiana Krewe.
New Orleans (504) 361-7821
International Petroleum Museum & Exposition - walk
aboard an authentic offshore drilling rig turned museum, the
historic "Mr. Charlie," grandfather of all transportable
drilling rigs.
Morgan City (504) 384-3744
Center for Traditional Louisiana Boat Building - located on
the grounds of Nicholls
State University. Displays of small craft, videos, photographs,
oral history tapes, etc.
Boat building demonstrations occur at various times during the
year.
Thibodaux (504) 448-4626
Frogmore Plantation and Cotton Gins - 1,800-acre working
cotton plantation both historical and modem. Antique and modem
computerized cotton gins, slave buildings. Frogmore (318) 757-3333
Feliciana Cellars Winery - free tours and tastings.
Jackson (225) 634-7982
TIME TRAVELER
Chalmette Battlefield Unit, Jean Lafitte National Historic Park
& Preserve - site of 1815 Battle of New Orleans where
Americans defeated the British.
Chalmette (504) 589-4430.
Vermilionville - 23 acres devoted to re-creating historical
Acadian and Creole life. French spoken on site, bilingual costumed
tour guides, craftspeople, live music, and coking schools.
Lafayette (800) 99-BAYOU (22968)
Frogmore Plantation and Cotton Gins - 1,800-acre working
cotton plantation both historical and modem. Antique and modem
computerized cotton gins, slave buildings. Frogmore (318) 757-3333
Fort Jackson - Built in 1822 under General Andrew Jackson.
Annual War between the States reenactment and encampment, walking
tours.
Buras (504) 657-7083
Arna Bontemps African-American Museum and Cultural Center - explore
the history and culture of African-Americans.
Alexandria (318) 473-4692
Acadian Village - this folklife museum provides a vision of
Acadian society in South Louisiana in the 18 Ih century.
Lafayette (800) 962-9133
Poverty Point State Historic Site - main trading and
ceremonial center of 3,000-year old pre-historic Indian culture.
Epps (318) 926-5492
Port Hudson State Historic Site - scene of prominent Civil
War campaign. Museum, original earthwork fortifications, trails,
outdoor exhibits and tours.
Zachary (225) 654-3775
U.S.S. KIDD - restored WWII destroyer, nautical museum.
Baton Rouge (225) 342-1942.,
Laura Plantation - "Best history tour in the United
States", says Dean Palmer of Lonely Planet guidebooks,
Creole plantation where Br'er Rabbit Tales recorded.
Vacherie (225) 265-7690
ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL
Jungle Gardens - 200 acres of gardens and wildlife from
alligators to the thousands of birds in Bird City, a bird
sanctuary built by noted naturalist and explorer E.A. McIlhenny.
Avery Island (318) 369-6243
A Cajun Man's Swamp Cruise - view birds, alligators and
other wildlife on tour with Capt. Guidry, a bilingual Cajun singer
and songwriter.
Houma (504) 868-4625
Bayou Pierre Alligator Park - see hundreds of alligators on
a real working farm. Natchitoches (877) 354-7001
Audubon State Commemorative Area - birding tours every
Saturday in April and October, the peak migration periods through
this 100-acre woodland.
St. Francisville (888) 677-2838
Audubon State Historic Site - contains Oakley House, where
John James Audubon painted 32 of his famous "Birds of
America".
St. Francisville (225) 635-3739
Fishing - Louisiana offers world-class fresh and saltwater
fishing experiences. Redfish, speckled trout, snapper, marlin,
tuna are 'ust some of the varieties in "Sportsman's
Paradise". Many local tour operators and charter companies
provide experiences for all ages.
The Atchafalaya Experience - world-class nature trip by
boat into the Atchafalaya swamp, the second largest swamp in the
U.S. Tours conducted by educated and insured naturalists.
Lafayette (318) 233-7816
Alexandria Zoological Park - 22 acres that are home to over
500 animals, 20 endangered species. A special Louisiana Habitat
Exhibit features alligator and otter enclosures, a Cajun cabin and
dogtrot house, a native snake display and black bears. Alexandria
(318) 473-1143
Louisiana Purchase Gardens & Zoo - 86-acres of natural
habitat featuring a variety of exotic animals. Train and boat
rides for viewing large mammals.
Monroe (318) 329-2400
BREC's Baton Rouge Zoo - 1400 animals in a garden-like
setting, and a new aquarium featuring Louisiana fish and reptiles.
Baton Rouge (225) 775-3877
Aquarium of the Americas - a Top 5 aquarium with Southern
sea otters, the largest collection of sharks and jellyfish in the
U.S., a 10ft. Louisiana native white alligator, and 400,000 gallon
Gulf of Mexico exhibit.
New Orleans (504) 581-4629
Audubon Zoo - One of the top 5 zoos in the U.S. Over 1500
animals in their natural habitat settings. Two white tigers, along
with the authentic Louisiana swamp. New Orleans (504) 581-4629.
Lake Martin Swamp Eco Tour -photographer and birder
paradise, Louisiana's largest wadina bird rookery, huge gators and
beautiful old growth cypress tupelo swamp. Breaux Bridge (337)
332-6365
KID PICKS
Sci-Port Discovery Center - 67,000 sq.-ft. hands on
children's science museum and IMAX Dome Theater.
Shreveport (318) 424-3466
Louisiana Shrimp & PetroIeum Festival - Labor Day
weekend. A Southern Tourism
Society Top 20 event. Cajun food, Blessing of the Fleet,
children's village and more.
Morgan City (504) 385-0703
Blue Bayou Water Park - Louisiana's largest water theme
park.
Baton Rouge (225) 753-3333.
Myrtles Plantation Bed & Breakfast - "One of
Amen'ca's Most Haunted Houses", built in 1796, listed on the
National Historic Register, guided tours.
St. Francisville (225) 635-6277
Jazzland Theme Park - 140-acre family theme park with 31
spectacular aides, food and entertainment.
New Orleans (504) 253-8100
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