#LAKE CHARLES SERIES#

Walk the Lake Charles promenade or rent a bike and explore the art galleries and boutique shops downtown. Start by exploring the educational exhibits at Adventure Point, then follow the trail to seek out fishing, shelling, crabbing and wildlife watching, or book a kayak or airboat tour. This untamed natural landscape holds creatures great and small (more than 400 species of birds, thousands of alligators, marsh mammals, fish and migrating butterflies), includes four pristine nature preserves and is on two major aviary flyways.

#LAKE CHARLES SERIES#

Enjoy live music including two free concert series held annually in March (Live at the Lakefront) and May/June (Downtown at Sundown).ДЄlong an easy-to-follow network of back roads, the Creole Nature Trail is an adventure into Louisiana's Outback. Stay up late to enjoy Las Vegas-style entertainment and live music, then relax the next day with a spa treatment or some quality time by the pool or on the golf greens. Lake Charles and the surrounding area is also home to four casinos, two of which are resorts: Golden Nugget Lake Charles and LвЂ™Auberge Casino Resort. Wash it down with a cold craft beer from Crying Eagle Brewing or a belly-warming shot of Bayou Rum, made in Southwest Louisiana with all natural, unrefined Louisiana sugarcane and molasses. Other signature dishes to try: poвЂ™ boy sandwiches at DarrellвЂ™s, delicious and filling plate-lunches at B&O Grocery, and boiled crawfish at Seafood Palace or Steamboat BillвЂ™s on the Lake. Lake Charles is home to the Southwest Louisiana Boudin Trail, which highlights mom-and-pop restaurants, butchers and grocers that serve this popular snack. Boudin вЂ“ a pork sausage filled with rice, liver, onion and spices вЂ“ is a regional specialty. Lake Charles loves Mardi Gras in fact, itвЂ™s home to the second-largest celebration in Louisiana.

The beautifully maintained houses make for great photos. See this uniquely Lake Charles architecture in the Historic Charpentier District. During the 19th century, there were many new settlers but no architects or engineers, so industrious carpenters made up the style and plans as they built homes with products from the local sawmills. Step back in time at the DeQuincy Railroad Museum, housed in a 1900s railroad depot, then check out rotating art exhibits and fun events at Henning Cultural Center. A sprawling 375-year-old live oak tree stands at the old home site, and exhibits inside the museum display historical artifacts.

Your Lake Charles history lesson begins at the Imperial Calcasieu Museum where Charles Sallier, one of the first settlers, built his winter home.

Lake charles