Explore St. Tammany

Explore louisiana northshore

St. Tammany Parish Tourist & Convention Commission Fall/Winter 2021-22

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Lake Pontchartrain

contents

on the cover Marianne Angeli Rodriguez's art studio and gallery in Covington.

Photography by Rock Whittington

FALL/WINTER 2021-22

Artist Christina Pappion has celebrated the most special occasions with live event painting and is a favorite commemorator for the New Orleans Saints.

Inside PHOTOS KATHRYN SHEA DUNCAN; KEVIN GARRETT; CHAD CHENIER; ELIZABETH THERESA

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celebrate

indulge

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34

cover story

explore

adventure

We revel in Northshore culture, art, music and cuisine through fêtes big and small.

Meet celebrated members of St. Tammany’s vibrant artists’ community: Marianne Angeli Rodgriguez, Christina Pappion and Lori Anselmo.

“Let the fresh air of the Northshore’s piney woods rejuvenate your mind, body and spirit.”

Experience the Tammany Taste culinary scene with some of the chefs, restaurants, and artisans we love.

State parks, fine art, gators, and giraffes…oh my!

Swamp tours, glamping, paddling, biking and fishing await the adventurous.

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town trips

connect

Get to know some of St. Tammany’s charming towns with these day itineraries.

46 splurge

Shop St. Tammany for treasures to take home.

Small museums, historic sites and trails give perspective on the area’s past.

LOUISIANANORTHSHORE.COM | 1

from the editor

Life is Sweet in St. Tammany

Explore the northshore

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really, really love autumn on the Northshore. October has to be one of my favorite months in St. Tammany Parish, where we start to have crisp days and can actually don the jackets in our closets. I love when those lovely cups of tea from the English Tea Room are not only restorative, but actually warm you up, because you need it.

This October, while I sip my Covington Blend with a hint of Bergamot, I can’t help but reflect on what we’ve overcome; some of the people and places that we’ve lost during the time since COVID-19 changed our world and St. Tammany Parish. Whether or not they can be directly blamed on COVID-19, the losses loom large, and there’s no better scapegoat in my mind.

The struggle was real, with real consequences. I’ve cried on the phone with restaurant owners (including Ms. Jan from the English Tea Room), and felt literally gutted when Rieger’s on the Trace closed.

That sweet little family restaurant on the Tammany Trace was a part of my personal COVID-19 journey. I remember touring Jeffrey Hansell’s restaurant, Oxlot 9, when it was being built inside the Southern Hotel, and now it’s gone.

Our family lost the Prince of the Pontchartrain, and the pelicans on the next page are for him. You can buy one of Deadly Dudley Vandenborre’s “Slammin’ Sammy” fishing lures, named after Captain Sam, at Marsh and Bayou Outfitters in Mandeville.

Maybe you’ll catch your own monster trout in Lake Pontchartrain. That would make Sam smile.

Which brings me to my next reflection: Despite all of the casualties, and against all odds, there have been many things to celebrate on the Northshore. The intrepid and indefatigable spirit of our community, of small business owners and entrepreneurs and our hospitality industry, can be seen all over the Louisiana Northshore.

For instance, you can buy those lures because Marsh and Bayou Outfitters opened 2 | LOUISIANANORTHSHORE.COM

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Christina Cooper CONTRIBUTORS

Jyl Benson, Beth D'Addono, Kevin Garrett, Sarah Hill, Roberta Carrow-Jackson, Renée Kientz, Rae Shipley, Anna Strider

LouisianaNorthshore.com PRESIDENT AND CEO

Donna O'Daniels

a successful new Northshore shop in Mandeville after New Orleans tourism plummeted. New restaurants opened in spite of COVID-19 challenges, too: Eight60 Wine Whiskey and Bites, Tchefuncte’s, The Anchor, Pat’s Rest Awhile and The Greyhound.

At press time, Pyre Provisions is planning on opening a new location in the Rieger’s On the Trace building. Tchefuncte River Charters began offering tours of the scenic river, and Dances with Sails Sailing Charters of Lake Pontchartrain started sailing off into the sunset. Glamping came to Fontainebleau State Park, and you can now bring your pup to stay in some of its cabins overlooking Lake Pontchartrain.

There have been plenty of ups and downs, for sure, but we know one thing: We’re ready to welcome you in St. Tammany Parish.

We’ve got a lot of memorable experiences to move you, and a visit to the Louisiana Northshore is guaranteed to rejuvenate and revitalize your mind, body and soul.

We’re waiting to show you that all things are possible, and life, well, life is still sweet.

Christina Cooper

editor - in - chief

St. Tammany Parish Tourist & Convention Commission 68099 Highway 59 Mandeville, LA 70471 (985) 892-0520 www.LouisianaNorthshore.com

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Explore the Northshore is a biannual publication of the St. Tammany Parish Tourist & Convention Commission. The STPTCC provides visitor information and assistance to leisure and business travelers in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana. Find comprehensive listings for accommodations, attractions, dining and events at the STPTCC’s official website: www.LouisianaNorthshore.com

Follow us on Facebook at ExploreLouisianaNorthshore and on Instagram @lanorthshore

Brown Pelican at Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge

PHOTO BILL LANG

celebrate

There’s always something fun afoot on the Northshore. We celebrate the blues, the food, antiques and art—and just about anything else that brings joy our way.

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PHOTO RENEE KIENTZ

join the party

Mande Milkshaker cutie

The Northshore planner

Head to

louisiananorthshore.com/events

to explore more

*all events are subject to rescheduling, canceling or postponing due to covid-19 considerations.* october 9

Bluesberry Festival Blues music & art on the Bogue Falaya PHOTOS LOUISIANA NORTHSHORE(3);ANNA STRIDER (2); GEORGE LONG; CHRISTINE RAGUSA; ABBY SANDS; ALEX CAROLLO

october 10

november 6

Abita Fall Fest Two stages of live music, interactive fun november 13-14

Northshore Half Marathon & 10 Miler Run or walk through idyllic scenery

Three Rivers Art Festival Juried outdoor art in Covington

november 5-7

Louisiana Bicycle Festival Art bikes in Abita Springs

Ozone Songwriter Festival Four stages, two days, 100+ songwriters

november 27

december 4

Louisiana Food Truck Festival Food trucks galore at the Harbor Center december 5

Slidell Community Christmas Parade Santa, Toys for Tots, and Christmas Under the Stars january 6-march 6

Mardi Gras Boats, floats and pups on parade

family-friendly mardi gras in st. tammany parish

Looking for a tamer version of The Big Easy? The Northshore’s Mardi Gras celebrations are quirky, unforgettable and full of positive energy. If small-town family celebrations are what you’re after, St. Tammany Parish will definitely fill your bag. check out louisiananorthshore.com/mardigras (see related story p. 7) LOUISIANANORTHSHORE.COM | 5

PHOTOS RENEE KIENTZ; CHRISTINA COOPER, ABITA FALL FEST

Abita Fall Fest

Grab your sweater and pack a picnic

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he Annual Abita Fall Fest hums with activity and more than eight hours of live music on two music stages on November 6, 2021. This creative explosion of talent and art comes together in the quaint and quirky Town of Abita Springs. The Abita Springs Trailhead is where you want to be—in addition to live music featuring acts like Imagination Movers, Sweet Crude and Lynn Drury, there’s also a Pumpkin stage for the kids

with magic shows, princess parties and jugglers; an Interactive Circle with caricatures, virtual experiences and a photo booth; not to mention a Kids Zone with a petting zoo, rock wall, face painting and more. New this year is After Dark, a prefest party the night of Friday, November 5 with the Rayo Brothers and Big Sam’s Funky Nation. General Admission tickets available online, at the Abita Brew Pub and at the gate (limited VIP tickets).

Playing the Blues

Don't miss the return of the St. Tammany Bluesberry Festival

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he hottest new fest in St. Tammany cools off with some blues—berries, that is. With the lush, towering cypress trees in Bogue Falaya Park as a stunning backdrop and blues music with a little jazz and rock thrown in (featuring legends like Cedric Burnside), the all-day ode to the Northshore’s plump, sweet berries also features the Abita Beer Garden, a stellar collection of artisan booths, live art demos, a food truck alley and children’s activity village.

Standard and VIP tickets available in advance and at the gate. The fest runs 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on October 9 in Covington along the banks of the Bogue Falaya River.

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Slidell Antique Street Fairs shops beckon year-round in slidell’s

Olde Towne District but the treasure hunt spills into the surrounding area for one weekend each fall and spring with antique street fairs selling everything vintage, cool and collectible. There is also lots of food and music. Free parking, no admission charge, but plenty of temptation. Oct. 3031, 2021, and March 26-27, 2022, Slidell

visit louisiananorthshore.com/ mardigras for a complete 2022 PHOTOS CHRISTINE REGUSA; ROBERTA CARROW JACKSON; CHERYL GERBER

parade schedule.

Northshore Mardi Gras Poodles, boats and floats on parade Carnival January 6 - March 6

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he Northshore’s Mardi Gras celebrations are quirky, unforgettable and full of positive energy. And if G-rated, small-town, family celebrations are what you’re after, St. Tammany Parish will definitely fill your bag with beads, stuffed animals and all kinds of fun Mardi Gras trinkets.

Mardi Gras means Fat Tuesday in French and falls every year on the Tuesday before the start of Lent. So what is the rest of the parade season, which lasts about three weeks,

called? Carnival. As in, “It’s Carnival time!

Throw me somethin’, mister (or sister)!”

Carnival season kicks off on January 6, 2022, the Christian holiday of Epiphany, also known as Twelfth Night. In just about every city, town or village in St. Tammany Parish, there are traditionally parades for Carnival.

There are boat parades, dog parades, walking parades and float parades, day parades and night parades, and lots of revelry and festivities on March 1, Fat Tuesday.

Arts Alive!

At the annual outdoor art market in November downtown covington is home to galleries

representing some of the South’s best artists.

So it’s no surprise that the town’s annual Three Rivers Art Festival is a juried event showcasing worthy works by artists from almost 30 states. Each second weekend in November (this year, it’s Nov. 13-14), the free outdoor arts fest takes over five city blocks of historic Columbia Street downtown. Visitors enjoy the art-filled stroll and live demonstrations while perusing works in every medium, from ceramics and photography to fiber art, woodworking, metal work, sculpture, paintings, jewelry and more.

for more ways to make merry, visit

Holiday Happenings in St. Tammany

louisiananorthshore.com/holiday.

All throughout the Parish, the Christmas spirit is alive and well

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anta can be found all around the Northshore this holiday season: in Mandeville for the Winter on the Water parade and at A Christmas Past Festival; at Merry Madisonville in Madisonville; Deck the Rails at the Covington Trailhead; in Slidell for the Slidell Community Christmas Parade; Christmas Under the Stars and Slidell’s Bayou Christmas.

Expect shimmering twinkle lights, show stopping musical performances and plenty to rejoice about. Special shopping ops including Sips of the Season in Mandeville, Christmas in the Country in Covington and festive holiday markets at the trailheads.

LOUISIANANORTHSHORE.COM | 7

Christina Papppion

Art Lover

Christina Papppion ‘s work inside Redoux Market

Northshore artists flourish because of a rich history of local support by jyl benson

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sports teams. She was hired to immortalize the late Tom Benson on the wall of the corner office in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and enlivened the Champions Club in the Smoothie King Center with a 25-foot, gold leaf-flecked mural of the front grille of a Cadillac. She is particularly proud of the New Orleans Pelicans having commissioned her to design the tickets for their 2019 basketball season. “It was a great way to highlight Zion, the new addition to the Pelicans team,” Pappion says.

Pappion also has a passion for adorning shoes and has raised thousands of dollars for various charities by custom painting Saints team members’ cleats to be auctioned off for the “My Cause, My Cleats” campaign.

Over the years, she has grown to develop a signature soft-focus, Impressionist-inspired painting style that is immediately identifiable as her own. She is fearless with her use of color and its interplay with light to create dimension and a sense of movement. Her specialties remain live weddings, custom portraiture (including pets), illustrations and the adornment of shoes.

Pappion is available for custom work and ready-for-purchase paintings are available at Redoux Market in Mandeville, 2983 U.S. Hwy 190, Mandeville, redouxhomemarket.com. Her website is christinapappion.com.

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nsatiably creative, Lori Anselmo fuels her passion for creating objects of art with other people’s discards—broken holiday decorations, discarded strands of Mardi Gras beads, bowling pins from a shuttered alley. Anselmo’s Lori’s Art Depot & Community Center for the Arts is located in an old railroad depot in Olde Towne Slidell. To create the environment, she transformed a cavernous room into a bright, inspiring space where she can share her gift for creativity with others via a series of workshops for adults and children’s summer camps. The collections on hand, most of

PHOTO KEVIN GARRETT; ELIZABETH THERESA

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t. Tammany Parish has long served as a beacon to artists working in all mediums. An abundance of natural beauty, coupled with a relaxed lifestyle, allows for the growth and exploration of creativity as well as a supportive Parish-wide art association (St. Tammany Art Association). Collectively, they have allowed for the evolution of a thriving creative class that spans the Parish’s history.

A proliferation of art galleries and cultural events make it possible for artists to prosper, often on an international scale.

Take, for example, local artist Christina Pappion.

Though an introvert, Pappion found her true calling in 2013, when she was invited to attend an event where an artist would be observing and painting the event live. A high-pressure assignment, the artist was expected to observe and then paint the scene on the spot with the expectation that the work would be delivered at the culmination of the event. The creativity-on-the spot concept appealed immensely to Pappion and reinvigorated the creative passion that had abandoned her years before as her art had become increasingly seen as a commodity. She immediately offered her services as a live event painter to a popular event planning company. With a Fine Arts degree, she had plenty of experience as an artist but none as a live painter. The company hired her anyway.

Today, the New Orleans native and Northshore resident is sought after across the country as a premier event painter with a specialty in weddings. The role of documenting a couple’s life-altering day is one she takes very seriously.

“This is an honor for me,” Pappion says. “It is important to me to make the subject feel special. I want them to feel that I have touched their heart every time they look at the painting I have done for them. I want this to be eternal.”

Through her company, Pappion Artistry, she has created murals and artwork for the New Orleans Saints and Pelicans professional

which are for sale, include portraits of both local and international musicians (Anselmo is a serious Beatles fan), stained glass window hangings, bowling pins re-imagined as be-feathered Mardi Gras Indians, and “paintings” rendered in Mardi Gras beads.

“I’ve been here for over 30 years, and the rewards you get back are more than you give when you become involved in things,” Anselmo says of her Slidell community. Her art can be found all over Slidell: Two of her murals are part of the Slidell Mural Project community installation; one of Mardi Gras float on 220 Front Street; and a fencepost mural of flowers, butterflies and a hummingbird dedicated to healthcare heros at Slidell Fitness Park at the Slidell Memorial Hospital. Anselmo has renovated and refurbished the City of Slidell’s life-sized Christmas Cottages on display at the annual Christmas Under the Stars in Griffith Park, as well as created the city’s life-sized Nativity scene, “as a reminder of what is important” at Christmas.

Devoted to helping and uplifting veterans, one of Anselmo’s most noted projects is a piano she restored and painted with a Beatles theme for Habitat for Humanity’s Veteran’s Build program.

The piano was signed by Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr and was auctioned for $98,000. This enabled the non-profit to build a home for a veteran.

Anselmo’s latest project is to make her fence murals accessible all over the country. After she posted a photo on her private Facebook page of poppies she painted on her fence at home, it went viral, and she knew she had the opportunity to spread joy. Visit her website and you can pick from a variety of images she has painted; pelicans, blue herons, hummingbirds and flowers to form a collection of prints on corrugated plastic or metal you can screw onto your fence at home. 1827 Front St., Slidell, lorianselmoart.com

Marianne Angeli Rodriguez

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Lori Anselmo

warm welcome beckons from the sidewalk by way of vibrant bright pink-peach-colored double doors and planters painted with an abstract design on the approach to Marianne Angeli Rodriguez’s art gallery and studio in historic Downtown Covington. To step inside is to enter a word filled with color, whimsy, beauty and joy overseen by Rodriguez and her spouse and business partner, Rock Whittington, a native of Covington.

The couple spent months restoring the 1909 building that houses the collection of brilliant acrylic paintings, pottery and giclee prints, which are offset by glowing white walls matched to the original pressed tin ceiling.

Rodriguez, of Filipino-American heritage, spent her youth traveling the world with her parents, both of whom worked for the United Nations. The influences of West Africa, Central America, Europe and Asia are evident in her large-scale contemporary abstract paintings. She obtained a bachelor’s in media studies and anthropology from the City University of New York at Hunter College, and a degree in fashion design from the Fashion Institute of Technology. She taught herself to paint and says she is inspired by cultural tradition, symbolism, language and the ever-changing symbiosis of communities and nature.

“I am inspired by the warm color palettes you see when you go on a vacation somewhere warm,” she says. “There are a lot of tropical undertones in my work. I want it to be happy, uplifting.”

Her work has garnered national recognition with collectors throughout the U.S. She has collaborated on projects with Anthropologie, Framebridge, AllModern, The Jungalow and Kit & Ace and her work is on permanent display in numerous public installations, including the Sloan Kettering Cancer Centers in New York, St. Tammany Parish Hospital, the Southern Hotel Covington, the Magnolia Hotel New Orleans, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab Chicago, Nolé restaurant New Orleans and the New Orleans Louis Armstrong International Airport.

With regard to accessibility, Rodriguez and Whittington have striven to ensure there is something for everyone in the gallery with prices for prints beginning at $35 and elevating to $5,000 for an original acrylic painting on canvas. 323 N. Columbia St., Covington, rodriguez.art LOUISIANANORTHSHORE.COM | 9

a day in...

Splendid Slidell O

lde Towne Slidell is a blast from the past, a small-town gem that channels the Northshore’s version of Mayberry, where TV sheriff Andy doled out homespun wisdom like bags of penny candy. Here in Olde Towne, a 10-square-block district of historic buildings, specialty shops, restaurants and museums just steps from Bayou Bonfouca makes it possible to stroll and soak in the kind of Main Street hospitality that does a body good.

— Beth D’Addono.

But there’s more to Slidell than Olde Towne; there are charter fishing trips that depart from the Rigolets Marina, flat-bottomed tours of the pristine Honey Island Swamp ecosystem and up close encounters with alligators in the wild (see related story p. 39), as well as glorious spots for nature walks and seafood straight off of the boat. More than 20 hotels are located in the Slidell area, so you’re sure to find comfortable and convenient accommodations at louisiananorthshore.com/hotels.

break the fast beignet au lait

Beignets and Café au Lait 1071 robert blvd.

(985) 643-4949 creole bagelry

Cochon Benedict

1337 gause blvd., ste. 102 (985) 649-6151 la pines café

Soft Shell Crab Benedict

s&h good eats café

Scrambled Mess

1830 hwy. 190 west (985) 726-4900 terry lynn’s café

French Quarter Toast 1960 first street (985) 641-3500 10 | LOUISIANANORTHSHORE.COM

PHOTOS CHRISTINA COOPER; MIDDENDORF’S

1061 robert blvd.

(985) 641-6196

enjoy heritage park

Heritage Park is the newly renovated centerpiece of Slidell, and you can launch a kayak or boat into beautiful Bayou Bonfouca. There are also paved walking paths and a grassy meadow. And the kids love the smartly outfitted playground.

Free concerts and movie nights sponsored by the City of Slidell take place at the amphitheater overlooking Bayou Bonfouca.

New public art murals have been installed throughout Olde Towne Slidell.

olde towne stroll comfort food at its finest middendorf’s slidell

Thin Fried Catfish

1951 oak harbor blvd.

(985) 771-7777 ky’s olde towne bicycle shop

Oyster Bordelaise Pasta

Take some time to meander around Olde Towne, and take some pics in front of the new mural installations spread throughout town. Admire rows of herbs from Green Oaks Apothecary. Get your fashion on at Stella and Grace. Search a smattering of antiques shops. Peruse art at the City of Slidell Cultural Center and make your own creation at Lori’s Art Depot. Experience Slidell’s history through the Slidell Museum.

contemporary louisiana cuisine restaurant coté

2267 carey street (985) 641-1911

Prosciutto wrapped Scallops, Shrimp and Oyster Rustica, Bananas Foster Bread Pudding

peck’s seafood

2219 carey street (985) 288-5440

Crab Cake Pasta

2315 gause blvd. e (985) 781-7272

phil’s marina café

minnie’s daughter

Fried Bowtie Pasta with Lump Crab Dip, Tuna Zachary, Key Lime Pie

PHOTOS DAVID GALLENT; ERIC LINDBERG (2); ANNA STRIDER

catering & café

Fried Chicken Plate

1194 harbor drive (985) 641-0464

3991 pontchartrain drive (985) 326-8189

nathan’s

southside café

Coconut Shrimp, Trout Amandine, and Sweet Potato Hash

Peacemaker Poboy 3154 pontchartrain drive (985) 643-6133

36440 old bayou liberty road (985) 643-0443 palmettos on the bayou

Seafood Platter

Boudin Eggroll, Catch Pontchartrain, Creole Bread Pudding

400 pontchartrain drive (985) 643-2717

1901 bayou lane (985) 643-0050

kenney’s seafood

LOUISIANANORTHSHORE.COM | 11

aMandeville daybyin... the Lake

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ernard de Marigny de Mandeville founded the town of Mandeville in 1834 as a resort community for wealthy New Orleanians, a place of respite from the city in the summers. History still hangs in the air along the lakefront community, where ancient oaks dripping with Spanish moss and historic homes line glittering Lake Pontchartrain. Marigny designated public green space between the street and the lake, and at any time of day, you’ll find residents and visitors luxuriating in a leisurely seawall stroll, bike ride or jog with a view. There are

numerous bed and breakfasts in Old Mandeville located a short walk from the lake, including Blue Heron, de la Bleau, About Trace, MarVilla, Pontchartrain Winds and Cressy House. A bike ride east of the Mandeville Trailhead via the 31-mile Tammany Trace hike-and-bike path, you’ll find Fontainebleau State Park, Bernard de Marigny de Mandeville’s former sugar plantation and historic site. For a complete listing of accommodations, visit louisiananorthshore.com/hotels.

rise and shine

Sure as the sun rises over Lake Pontchartrain, breakfast spots beckon to start your day off right with a strong cup of coffee and a smile. liz’s where y’at diner

Banana Foster Waffles

la lou

Soft Shell Crab Benedict 200 girod street (985) 231-7125 crazy pig southern kitchen

Booya Biscuit 4700 la-22 ste. 1 (985) 792-7900 12 | LOUISIANANORTHSHORE.COM

PHOTOS ERIC LINDBERG; DAVID GALLENT

2500 florida street (985) 626-8477

take a ride

Cruise around Old Mandeville with ease with a bike rental from Brooks’ Bike Co-op.

There are plenty of shopping ops—you’ll find ladies clothing, antiques, art and gifts galore in the quaint shops all along Girod Street.

Score designer finds for a song from Gran’s Attic Thrift Shoppe, boutique clothing from Cameo, unique gifts and art at Wild Osprey Gallery, antiques from Mae’s and Tallulah’s Vintage Market; and lovely Louisiana gifts from Das Schulerhaus: A Christmas & Gift Gallery.

Wild Osprey

explore mandeville’s heritage

contemporary louisiana cuisine old rail brewing company

Brewpub has outdoor seating right on the Tammany Trace, as well as Crawfish YAYA Pasta, Alligator Tempura and Chicken Andouille Gumbo.

639 girod street (985) 612-1828

For a glimpse into 19th century Mandeville, tour the lovingly restored Jean Baptiste Lang Creole House and Museum, one of the few “Anglo-Creole” structures still standing in Old Mandeville. Immerse yourself in Mandeville’s resort history and see unique architectural elements such as a subterranean cave (believed to be used for storing wine), mortise and tenon construction and faux bois. Also, pick up a map here to begin the Mandeville Historic Walking tour. Just scan the QR code and go! (See related story p. 44.)

sit a spell

Rest up and get your second wind with a sweet treat, cup of joe, snack or an ice cold beer. the book & the bean coffee shop

Flamjeaux Coffee and Pastries the lakehouse

Indoor/outdoor dining, spectacular sunsets from the elegant former summer home of Bernard de Marigny.

2025 lakeshore drive (985) 626-3006 pat’s rest awhile

PHOTOS BOBBY TALLEY; KEVIN GARRETT (3)

Renowned Chef Pat Gallagher’s much-anticipated new restaurant is casual with plenty of indoor/outdoor seating and a raw bar.

2129 lakeshore drive (985) 951-2173

235 girod street unit a (985) 237-3655 beach house and kona coffee

Espresso or Cold Brew Iced Coffee 124 girod street (985) 624-9331 candy bank

Cappuccino, ice cream sodas and house-made fudge 201 carroll street (985) 778-2750 the barley oak –

hambone

Chef Luke Hidalgo takes an upscale approach to Gulf South comfort foods in the middle of Girod Street shopping.

544 girod street (985) 778-0531

old world draught house

Soft-baked pretzel basket, Gator Sausage and Chafunkta Brews on tap 2101 lakeshore drive (985) 727-7420

LOUISIANANORTHSHORE.COM | 13

a Quirky day in...

Abita Springs

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bita was originally inhabited by the Choctaw, who believed in the healing powers of its springs. The tiny town is nestled near the scenic Abita River in a lovely little hamlet among longleaf pines and artesian waters. In 1887, a Covington doctor tested water from the springs and declared it positively medicinal, which led to scores of summer tourists from New Orleans vacationing in Abita Springs at the turn of the century. They arrived by train and stayed in grand hotels and boarding houses to escape the heat and

yellow fever prevalent in New Orleans. Today, Abita Springs has a fun and funky personality like the artists, scholars and painters who have flocked here for its feel-good vibe. Visitors to Abita find themselves breathing fresh air as they take a relaxing ride along the Tammany Trace—and taking a large sip when they sidle up to the bar at the birthplace of Abita Beer. The chic and charming Abita Springs Hotel is right in the heart of town. For more accommodations, visit louisiananorthshore.com/hotels.

The eccentric and off-color John Preble is just as likely to throw you an insult as a compliment, and his UCM Museum attracts the curious from far and wide. His Abita Mystery House is a wildly wacky collection of found items, tongue-and-cheek displays and outsider art, and Abita has John’s brilliant mind to thank for some of its best events, including the Louisiana Bicycle Festival, the Busker Festival and the Krewe of Push-Mow Mardi Gras Parade.

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PHOTO ERIC LINDBERG (2)

it’s a mystery

ride a bike

Rent bikes via mobile device at the Brooks’ Bike Shop rental stand (or bring your own) and ride a section of the 31-mile Tammany Trace to the Abita Brewery, the first and largest craft brewery in Louisiana. The packed-with-personality Abita Springs Trailhead Museum is worth a wander inside if a volunteer is onsite.

abita springs trailhead park

Stroll around and admire the Abita Springs Pavilion, on the National Register of Historic Places and built in 1888. Back then, there were four drinking fountains under the pavilion, enabling tourists access to the artesian springs. Today, a bronze statue of the Choctaw Princess Abita tells the legend of her recovery thanks to the healing waters. There’s a cheerful playground and a path leading to a bridge over the Abita River.

welcome morning

Locally roasted coffee, fresh pastries and beignets will help you get a fresh start to a memorable morning.

gourmet (but not fancy) fare

There are several spots a stone’s throw away where you can dine-in or pick-up a picnic and soak up the sunshine.

abita springs café

Visit this cozy café offering breakfast, lunch and dinner. Be sure to grab a cup of coffee, produced locally by the Abita Roasting Company.

22132 level street (985) 400-5025 dragonfly café

This mobile café serves coffee, smoothies, cream sodas and tea.

PHOTO ERIC LINDBERG; BOBBY TALLEY

maple street bakery

Muffins, cinnamon rolls, pastries.

72066 maple street (985) 327-5554

abita brew pub

Killer burgers, live music on weekends, growlers and outdoor games in the birthplace of Abita Beer.

72011 holly street (985) 892-5837 mama d’s pizza

Hand tossed artisan pizzas and pastas.

22054 la-59 (985) 809-0308 artigue’s abita market

Satisfying hot plate specials and two words: Thunder Cheese.

22069 la-59 (985) 892-7300 LOUISIANANORTHSHORE.COM | 15

a Charming day Covington in...

O

n the National Register of Historic Places, the quaint and welcoming Division of St. John in Covington is thoughtfully laid out in a grid pattern, with free parking areas called Ox Lots centrally located throughout the town. This hearkens back to days when schooners came down the Bogue Falaya River to trade goods from Covington and surrounding Northshore areas with New Orleans. Traders brought their wares and parked their oxen in the squares.

There are shops, galleries, little museums, nightspots and more than 25 restaurants in this walkable district, many of which are located in historic cottages. The town is nestled at the convergence of three scenic rivers, the Bogue Falaya, the Abita and the Tchefuncte. The elegantly restored boutique Southern Hotel has been welcoming guests since 1907, and the Blue Willow B&B and Camellia House B&B offer visitors comfortable accommodations in the walking district.

For a complete list, visit louisiananorthshore.com/hotels.

this is a good morning

Begin your day sunny side up in Covington at any number of delightful breakfast spots, where you’ll find heavenly benedicts, crêpes, creamy grits, artisan roasts, beignets and more. abita roasting co.

Buttermilk Beignets and Princess Abita Coffee

english tea room

Windsor High Tea 734 east rutland street (985) 898-3988 mattina bella

Blue Crab Benedict 421 e. gibson street (985) 892-0708

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PHOTOS KEVIN GARRETT; CHRISTINA COOPER

1011 village walk (985) 246-3345

stroll the shops

Grab your girlfriend and shop the boutiques, antiques and art galleries along Lee Lane, E. Rutland and Columbia Street. This little stretch is home to a variety of shops in cuteas-can-be cottages and offering all kinds of shopping temptations. There’s custom jewelry, boutique clothing and vintage finds.

Don’t miss H.J. Smith and Sons.

Canoeing the Bogue Falaya with Canoe and Trail Adventures

be artsy

Check out Covington’s art community at galleries around downtown, including Marianne Angeli Rodriguez, SALADINO, Rutland Street Gallery, Armbruster Artworks and the St. Tammany Art Association (see related story p. 31).

Explore your own creative side and inquire in advance about making your own masterpiece at Hammer & Stain.

linger for lunch

Captivating cafes beckon for a respite after some serious shopping. Enjoy cheerful eateries with healthy options for a light lunch. lola

Chicken Salad

517 n. new hampshire street (985) 892-4992

get outside

Rent bikes, paddleboards or kayaks at Brooks Bike Shop, and pedal around downtown or along the 31-mile Tammany Trace (see related story p. 37) or launch from the paddler’s launch at Bogue Falaya Park. Canoe and Trail Adventures (see related story p. 35) offers canoe and kayak rentals from The Chimes restaurant. The Bogue Falaya’s scenic waterway offers many sandy banks to pull up and splash around on, and clear water to spot schooling fish.

decadent dinners

Enjoy an evening out worth remembering, with elegant surroundings, craft cocktails and impeccable service from some of Covington’s charismatic chef/owners. gallagher’s grill chef pat gallagher

Smoked Old Fashioned, Eggplant Orleans, Filet with Jumbo Lump Crabmeat, and White Chocolate Bread Pudding.

509 s. tyler st.

(985) 892-9992

coffee rani PHOTOS BOBBY TALLEY; KEVIN GARRETT; DAVID GALLENT

Cobb Club Salad 234 lee lane (985) 893-6158 toad hollow

Vegetable Curry

207 n. new hampshire street (985) 893-8711 cured. on columbia

Black Bean & Beet Burger 415 n. columbia street (985) 893-0355

del porto ristorante chefs david and torre solazzo

Seasonal Fresh Fruit Martini, Yellowfin Tuna Crudo, Tagliatelle, Tiramisu 501 e. boston street (985) 875-1006 meribo chef gavin jobe

Bee Sting Mule, Whipped Ricotta, Meridionale Pizza, Chocolate Chip Cookies 326 lee lane (985) 302-5533 LOUISIANANORTHSHORE.COM | 17

aMaritime dayMadisonville in...

T

he Tchefuncte River runs through the picturesque Town of Madisonville’s waterfront community, where maritime heritage is celebrated year-round on the water, at the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum, and reveled in annually at the Wooden Boat Festival, the largest congregation of wooden boats on the Gulf Coast. Numerous marinas stretch into the river, and several restaurants grace the riverfront, ideal places to while away the afternoon and watch the watercraft cruising by. Fairview-

Riverside State Park is located in Madisonville on the Tchefuncte River, with opportunities for launching your own boat, exploring the historic Otis House Museum, camping, wildlife spotting, birding and fishing. The scenic Tchefuncte River system empties into Lake Pontchartrain, where the historic Tchefuncte River Lighthouse, built in 1837, stands sentinel and symbolizes the town. The best place to view the lighthouse (not open for tours) is by boat, but it can also be sighted by driving south on Main Street from Hwy. 22.

start the day with sunshine

Grab a seat outdside at a café table and watch the world go by. Madisonville may be small, but it’s big on charm. abita roasting co.

Cajun Praline Chicken & Waffles and Black and Tan Coffee 504 water street (985) 246-3340 morgan street bakery PHOTO BOBBY TALLEY

Pain au Chocolate 101 morgan street (985) 206-5316

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= riverside dining

tchefuncte river cruise

Captain Mike Jones is the charming, sunkissed host of Louisiana Tours & Adventures, and he’s eager to introduce guests to the waterways he grew up on. His private pontoon tours with a tailor-made itinerary offer 3-and 5-hour cruises of the scenic Tchefuncte River. Experience Madisonville like a local and motor by the stately mansions on the river, spot alligators, bald eagles, great blue herons, and venture out into Lake Pontchartrain to admire the Tchefuncte River Lighthouse, especially beautiful at sunset.

Captain Rob Rouyer with Tchefuncte River Charters is not only a captain, but also a DJ by trade, and his 26-foot pontoon party barge can accommodate 12 passengers and is equipped with a sweet setup that includes a bar, LED lighting system, sound system with Bluetooth and onboard restroom.

Both Captain Mike and Captain Rob know all the great spots to stop, like T-Rivers Bar and Grill, a local’s hangout with live music on the weekends and a killer waterfront view. Bring your own spread for noshing or moor up for one of Madisonville’s waterfront restaurants.

Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum

lake pontchartrain basin maritime museum

It’s hard not to imagine the nearby Tchefuncte River filled with schooners, war ships and steamers when you visit the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum. Located on the site of the former Jahncke Shipyard, the LPBMM tells the story of the Northshore’s seaport roots through well-done exhibits, artifacts (have you ever climbed inside a Civil War submarine?), detailed dioramas, video and replicas of everything from bateaux to pirogues.

louisiana tours and adventures

(985) 789-9602 tchefuncte river charters

(504) 237-1029

midday meal

Louisiana seafood is a specialty on each of these menus. the anchor

Louisiana Fish & Chips

407 st. tammany street (985) 323-4800 5 girls deli

Shrimp Poboy 305 highway 21 (985) 845-2348 PHOTO BOBBY TALLEY; CHERYL GERBER

morton’s seafood & bar

Soft Shell Crab Seafood Boat 702 water street (985) 845-4970 orlando’s seafood restaurant

Stuffed Flounder Platter 304 hwy. 22 west (985) 845-4446

elegant evening

Live a little, you’re in Louisiana and the food is fabulous. Don your best dress and pamper yourself with a night out on the town. We see a craft cocktail or an excellent vintage in your future. impastato cellars

Seafood Cannelloni, Redfish Marcello, Limoncello Cake 240 la-22 (985) 845-4445 keith young’s steakhouse

Seared Sea Scallops, House Cut Filet with Potato au Gratin, Bread Pudding 165 la-21 (985) 845-9940 tchefuncte’s

Turtle Soup, Roasted Gulf Grouper, Warm Sticky Praline Cake 702 water street (985) 845-4970 LOUISIANANORTHSHORE.COM | 19

indulge

Life’s a feast on the Northshore, where the culinary perspective has been shaped by the area’s diverse cultures as well as the bounty of the bayou. Whether you choose poboys from a mom-and-pop or Gulfinspired fare from talented chefs, there’s a great meal waiting for you.

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Sesame Seared Yellowfin Gulf Tuna with Lemongrass Vinaigrette from The Anchor in Madisonville

PHOTO MICHAEL GOTTLEIB

take a bite

Margot Brignac

Local Roast

Find Flamjeaux Coffee at The Book & The Bean and Kona Coffee inside The Beach House.

Margot Brignac’s Flamjeaux Coffee Roasting in Old Mandeville perfumes the neighborhood by jyl benson

A

fter years of doing every job associated with running a coffee business, Margot Brignac knew how to do everything except roast coffee.

So 2016, the New Orleans native acquired an air popcorn popper and set about the business of roasting coffee in a shared space of the boatyard where she worked. The inspiration to employ the popper came from The World Atlas of Coffee: From Beans to Brewing by James Hoffman, the book she used to teach herself what ultimately became her obsession and her livelihood.

Thousands of pounds later, the popcorn popper, replaced by a proper Ambex roaster, is enshrined in a place of honor at Flamjeaux Coffee, a small but rapidly growing wholesale operation with a big footprint in Old Mandeville. What was once a passion project now employs Brignac and three rotating and seasonal others, including Sari D’Aunoy, a childhood friend who takes turns with Brignac in manning the coffee roaster that perfumes the neighborhood through the shop’s ventilation system. The toasty fragrance of roasting beans will soon intensify as the operation grows yet again with the addition of a roaster capable of evolving 20 pounds of pale green beans to a rich, glossy brown in about 13 minutes. The beans themselves arrive from throughout the world: Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia, Guatemala, India, Mexico and Sumatra.

Brignac named her business Flamjeaux as a twist on the word “flambeaux,” people who have historically carried flaming torches to light the way for New Orleans’ night parades.

“As coffee is typically roasted over flame, it seemed fitting to incorporate that tradition into the name,” she says.

Brignac delights in offering like-minded coffee enthusiasts by-appointment-only tours of her operation.

Guests who indulge in interactive tours of her coffee lab learn about the origins and projected future of coffee, the importance of terroir (soil and place of growth) on the beverage’s flavor and potency, and the difference between arabica and robusta varieties. They share a “cupping” experience used by professionals in judging one coffee against another and, most importantly, each will leave with a pound of freshly roasted Flamjeaux coffee beans. flamjeaux coffee company, flamjeaux.com

2012 jefferson street, mandeville

You'll Eat Our Words Confused by some of the items on the menu?

Here’s a Louisiana lexicon to interpret for you

O

ne glance at a menu and you know you’re in Louisiana, even if you aren’t familiar with the dishes. Here’s a brief primer to help you decipher local menus and speak like us.

PHOTOS RENEE KIENTZ; CHRISTINA COOPER

andouille:

This flavorful, spicy sausage is a favorite in chicken and sausage gumbo.

(Pron. AHN-doo-ee)

bbq shrimp:

Not what you think. It means shrimp left in the shell and served almost submerged in a garlicky, peppery butter sauce. Crisp French bread helps you lap up the butter. It’s messy. It’s fattening. It’s okay; live a little.

boudin:

Another sausage. Though there’s boudin in France, the Louisiana version is a regional specialty made with pork, rice and seasonings. It’s often found in restaurants in the form of fried boudin balls.

(Pron. Boo-DAN) gumbo :

You’ve heard this term, probably tasted this Louisiana dish. Though it’s popped up on menus across the U.S., you’re not likely to get the real thing outside of south Louisiana unless it was cooked for you by a transplanted native. A dark, flavorful soup, real gumbo takes a long time to cook and requires a little voodoo to do properly. Most gumbos are variations on two themes: seafood or chicken and sausage. Served with rice, it can be light brown or dark as swamp water.

poboy: A long sandwich on crusty French

bread, a poboy really isn’t the same as a sub marine or a hoagie. It can be ordered with a variety of fillings, including the most popular: fried shrimp or oysters or long-simmered roast beef slathered in gravy. pralines:

A simple candy that’s nevertheless hard to make well. Most pralines are made with sugar, butter, vanilla (or other flavoring like rum) and nuts. (Pron. PRAW-leen) LOUISIANANORTHSHORE.COM | 21

Tammany Taste

The Northshore’s deep and diverse restaurant scene feeds your hunger for authentic culinary experiences

the anchor & tchefuncte’s 407 saint tammany street, madisonville

Award-winning Chef Michael Gottlieb is making waves in Madisonville with his dual-concept restaurant on the Tchefuncte River. The Anchor is casual, rooted in classic Louisiana cooking but with a creative flair. It’s popular for its waterfront and open-air seating under roof and adjacent kid’s playground. Tchefuncte’s is decidedly decadent, with an elegant atmosphere and dry aged meats and roasted Gulf grouper on the menu.

del porto ristorante and the greyhound

501 e. boston street and 705 e. boston street, covington

forks & corks

141 terra bella blvd., covington

Chef Robert Vasquez, the 2020 King of Louisiana Seafood, recently revitalized the menu at this chic restaurant in Terra Bella. You’ll find plenty of seafood (Gulf shrimp, American red snapper, jumbo lump crabmeat, even lobster) on his progressive menu, influenced by classic Louisiana ingredients like andouille and boudin. Traditional menu items like BBQ shrimp, crab cakes and crab claws are served with a twist from Chef Vasquez.

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restaurant côté

2219 carey street, slidell

The restaurant’s name is taken from the Creole word meaning “at the home of,” and Chef Jeremy Reilly’s food definitely offers comfort made from scratch. Fried green tomatoes, shrimp and oyster rustica, the Cote burger and blackened shrimp are made with ingredients that originate from within 60 miles of the restaurant (and many vegetables are grown in the garden out back).

PHOTOS KEVIN GARRETT; ANNA ROCKHOLD; NIBA PHOTOGRAPHY

The husband-wife chef team David and Torre Solazzo are three-time semifinalists for the James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef South award, and their contemporary Italian fare at Del Porto has an emphasis on locally sourced ingredients. (Most Saturdays, you’ll see David shopping for his restaurants at the Covington Farmers Market.) In the Summer of 2021, the talented chefs opened The Greyhound, a casual gastropub with a wood-burning oven serving pizza, burgers, small plates and specials, German sausages and Reuben sandwiches with house-made pastrami. On tap: prosecco.

lola

517 n new hampshire street, covington

Talented husband-wife chef team Keith and Nealy Frentz make magic in a caboose kitchen attached to Covington’s old train depot.

The pair met when both were chefs at worldfamous Brennan’s in New Orleans. Housemade everything pleases LOLA’s lunch crowds with blue plate specials, great salads and desserts. Dinner is more upscale but fresh, smart and creative–and especially fun in LOLA’s darling vintage dining car.

palmettos on the bayou 1901 bayou lane, slidell

The name describes the place: A large Acadian cabin on the banks of historic Bayou Bonfouca, lush with palmettos and iconic Louisiana greenery enjoyed from the decks. Enjoy gumbo, shrimp and grits, crawfish beignets, trout amandine, and on the weekend, live Cajun and jazz brunches.. café lynn

2600 florida street, mandeville

sal & judy’s

27491 highway 190, lacombe

Chef Sal Impastato’s Lacombe institution is where Italy meets Louisiana. There’s pasta, veal cannelloni and lasagna, and even Bruciolini and Cappelletti (pasta stuffed with chicken and mortadella). But also trout Meuniere and crabmeat au gratin.

the lakehouse

2025 lakeshore drive, mandeville

Chef Joey Najolia’s French and Creole cuisine has been satisfying his loyal Northshore following since he and his wife, Brandi, opened their restaurant in 2007. Savor classic French dishes cooked to a consistent perfection in a casual yet refined setting– escargot au garlic, filet au poivre and crispy duck confit.

Spectacular sunsets over Lake Pontchartrain are on the menu at Cayman Sinclair’s restaurant in the historic Bechac building in Mandeville, as are the melt-in-your-mouth pan seared scallops with seaweed salad, wasabi aioli and Tamari sauce. Fresh Louisiana seafood fished from nearby waters is impeccably presented in the form of Gulf fish Meunière, fried shrimp tacos or seafood gnocchi.

gallagher’s

PHOTOS KEVIN GARRETT; BOBBY TALLEY; CHERYL GERBER (2); LAURAGRIER.COM

locations in covington, mandeville and slidell

Longtime local favorite chef Pat Gallagher knows his way around a steak. You may never have a better filet served in sizzling butter. Expect divine crab cakes and the perfect preparation of Louisiana seafood like pompano and redfish, as well as Colorado rack of lamb and chargrilled quail. pyre provisions

hambone

544 girod street, mandeville

Chef Luke Hidalgo takes an upscale approach to Gulf Coast comfort foods, taking them to new heights. Think fried boudin with crab boil mozzarella, decadent charbroiled oysters, a rockin’ gumbo—all served in a cute-as-can-be cottage.

70437 la-21 #100, covington

Veteran Chef Jeff Mattia’s woodfire restaurant brings the heat. Southern-inspired fare with global influences makes the menu pop at Pyre Provisions. Pass around shareable portions of crispy Brussels sprouts, artisanal cheese grits, USDA prime smoked brisket and pulled pork shoulder, key to Mattia’s family-style concept.

LOUISIANANORTHSHORE.COM | 23

Abita Brewery

FIVE SPOTS ... to have a drink

st. ann wine and whiskey

Boasts 60 wines by the glass and 60 whiskeys, small plates and a wine bar as well as outdoor seating.

22 st. ann drive #2, mandeville cypress bar

The swanky bar in the Southern Hotel has Walker Percy Wednesdays, Hersday Thursdays and a large local following.

428 e. boston st., covington maple room

Sample Liquid Louisiana Northshore breweries give you something to cheers about

L

ouisiana’s first and largest craft brewery, Abita Brewing Company, started in 1986 as a tiny operation in a little pub in Abita Springs. In 1994, it officially outgrew its humble beginnings and moved up the road to a new stateof-the-art green facility, which produces more than 125,000 barrels of Abita beer a year. Along the way, it’s also become one of the Northshore’s most popular tourist attractions. Abita beer is now found in all 50 states and beyond, expanding its fan base and attracting visitors from across the planet.

Imbibers come by car and by tour bus (and sometimes by bike, arriving via the nearby Tammany Trace bike path) to taste favorites like Purple Haze and Turbodog at the source. Loyal fans can help determine the fate of the craft brewery’s next releases — all new concoctions by Abita’s brewmaster Mark Wilson are first tested for popularity in the tap room.

Self-guided tours are free; guided tours with tastings are $8. Check abita.com/ visit for availability and for the visitor center and gift shop hours. The welcoming taproom makes it easy for anyone to belly up and taste what master brewers, Artesian water and three decades of experience can produce. Craft soda tours are also available seasonally for sampling Abita Root Beer, Vanilla Cream Soda and King Cake Soda. Be sure and try The Boot while you’re in Abita’s tap room. This Louisiana-exclusive beer is one you won’t find outside of the Pelican State.

Over in Mandeville, nano brewery Chafunkta Brewing Company is turning out beer with names like Old 504 porter and Voo Kay Ra IPA. Though they are on the opposite ends of the spectrum, both breweries boast loyal followings and fun events like trivia nights and regular visits from food trucks.

Old Rail Brewing Company’s micro-

The Maple Room is a fun, laidback bar offering flavorful food and delectable mixed drinks.

2219 carey st., slidell

eight60 wine, whiskey & bites

Full bar, extensive wine list, daily specials and happy hour.

Impressive menu of small bites and shareables.

860 oak harbor blvd., slidell ape cave a’ vin

Specialty cocktail bar also offering wines by the glass/bottle and beer, assorted meat and cheese plates and food pop-ups on the weekend.

2013 jefferson st., mandeville

brewery, adjacent to Mandeville’s Tammany Trace Trailhead, has a stout and smooth Cow Catcher Chocolate Milk Stout, Hobo Helles lager and others on tap. The family-friendly restaurant also offers a full menu of savory Louisiana specialties like shrimp and grits and chicken and alligator sauce piquant.

The Barley Oak Biergarten on Lakeshore drive serves up many of these St. Tammany brews all in the same spot, along with terrific sunsets over Lake Pontchartrain and a convivial vibe.

Pontchartrain Vineyards adjacent to acres of vines. For $5 per person, sample a flight of wines made right there, including zinfandel, cab/syrah and blanc du bois. Founded in 1991, PV produces about 2,500 cases of wine a year.

Wine, music and warm starry nights make for magical moments at Pontchartrain Vineyards’ popular Jazz’n the Vines concerts. Performers like Don Vappie, Charmaine Neville and local girldone-good Amanda Shaw take the small stage outside the tasting room and play for the audience before them on blankets and in lawn chairs. The greening vines form the backdrop as afternoon turns to a starry evening. 80158 la 1082 , bush 24 | LOUISIANANORTHSHORE.COM

PHOTO LAURAGRIER.COM

experience some of pontchartrain vineyard’s award-winning wines in its classic tasting room

Sondra with the Madisonville Market

FIVE SPOTS ... for Farmers Markets

abita springs art and farmers market

Sundays 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Artisans, vegetables, wild caught seafood

22049 main st., abita springs mandeville trailhead community market

Saturdays 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Arts and crafts, prepared foodstuffs, fresh produce

675 lafitte st., mandeville

Taste makers create treats for the weekly Madisonville Market

S

PHOTO BETH D’ADDONO

ondra Sercovich is passionate about supporting local, small business owners. She’s one herself, the baking talent behind Lizzie’s Bakehouse, a business she named after her Belgian great grandmother. “I knew there were so many local folks creating beautiful and delicious products—what better time than now to give them a platform to sell their products?”

What better time, indeed. Heading into its second year, the Madisonville Market is a colorful potpourri of artisans, makers and chefs that take over the Madisonville Park and Playground at 1007 Pine Street every Sunday. With a revolving pool of talent, some 150 artists bring their creations to market, a dizzying array of options that include homemade food and desserts, spice blends, organic produce, wooden toys, handcrafted soaps, purses stitched by hand with love and artisanal jewelry. Most Sundays, there are local musicians keeping the beat

by beth d’addono

as shoppers eat, stroll and wander through the dog-friendly marketplace.

Linda McNeely is one of the artists with a pop-up shop at the market. For the past five years, she’s created stylish purses using vintage materials, cork and upcycled clasps and jeweled accents under the moniker Pursenality. “I make everything by hand, each piece is one of a kind,” says the Covington native.

Lew’s Home Décor from woodworker Lucien Heller showcases his talents in an array of hand carved and inlaid jewelry boxes, cutting boards and votive holders. He uses an eye-popping array of woods from black walnut and rosewood to Chinese elm and maple.

Craig Bond may be the most experienced artist onsite, a woodworker with some 65 years at the hammer, mallet and drill. He fashions pine, black walnut and sinker cypress into ingenious puzzles and toys for

covington farmers market

Saturdays 8:00 a.m. – Noon and Wednesdays 10.a.m. – 2 p.m.

Creole cream cheese, Kombucha, organic meats & produce and live music 609 n. columbia st., covington

(on saturdays)

419 n. new hampshire st., covington

(wednesdays)

camellia city market

Saturdays 8 a.m. – Noon Prepared foods, tons of fresh produce, live music 333 erlanger st., slidell

folsom farmers market at giddy up

Mondays 10 a.m. – Noon Vendors vary, and bring veggies, mushrooms, breads, jam and plants 82292 la-25, folsom

kiddos, including any name you can imagine in wood, custom ordered.

The mix is different every weekend.

Prices are reasonable and the makers are thrilled to chat about their wares. Just come hungry—there’s everything from barbecue shrimp to fruitcake. If you’ve never been a fruitcake fan, Sercovich and her grandmother’s recipe soaked in bourbon will change your mind, guaranteed.

LOUISIANANORTHSHORE.COM | 25

Come Tilt a Chair

Rest A While has been restored to a beacon of hospitality on the Mandeville lakefront by beth d’addono

C

hef Pat Gallagher might just be ready to take his own advice.

“I need to rest a while,” says the Northshore’s busiest–and most ubiquitous–chef, whose latest (massive) project was the opening of Pat’s Rest Awhile restaurant on the Mandeville lakefront, located in the Rest A While historic property (notice the different spellings). “It’s big,” he says of the project, which is a 270-seat restaurant when the weather is good and a 120-seat restaurant when it’s squalling.

The weather factor is thanks to the Rest Awhile’s calling card–the raised complex of 19th Century buildings is smack dab on the lakefront, bars and porches and decks akimbo, all with terrific water views.

The Rest A While has a storied past. The two-acre parcel of land on the Mandeville lakefront originally served as a hotel in the 1880s and then was donated to the International Order of the King’s Daughters and Sons (IOKDS), an interdenominational Christian philanthropic organization, to serve as a retreat.

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina heavily damaged Rest A While, leaving it to decay.

26 | LOUISIANANORTHSHORE.COM

It remained a ghostly structure on the city’s picturesque lakefront for nearly a decade.

When Barrett and Jill McGuire purchased the property in 2014, the only structures remaining were the Frapart Hotel (1880s), the Sophie Wright Cottage (1916) and the Hadden Cottage (1850s). Previous cottages on the property had either been moved offsite or demolished, damaging the historic integrity of the site.

After seven years of painstaking restoration, Chef Pat Gallagher came to the table as a partner for the restaurant complex, and Barrett and Jill’s vision became a reality, bringing a new energy and verve to the storied Mandeville lakefront.

From the start, Gallagher intended the menu to be approachable for families– there’s even a kid’s menu–with options including poboys and salads and burgers.

There’s an outside raw bar where chargrilled oysters are always available. He credits company chef Mark Mcinnis for helping to make it all happen. “We wanted the feel of the old West End, with fried oysters and shrimp platters, but we knew there’d be expectations from the other

restaurants, so we featured more elevated dishes, too.”

Dishes like cedar-plank redfish, a ’90s throwback that gives the firm fish a smoky goodness enhanced with citrus horseradish crust and lemon butter sauce. The Gulf fish almondine is one of the best versions around; meaty fish smothered with lump crabmeat, slices of almonds and a spoton brown butter sauce. Steak lovers can choose a well-marbled ribeye or a marinated hanger steak with fries and garlic aioli.

There’s a super wedge salad, a trademark oyster Rockefeller soup and killer thin-cut onion rings marinated in crystal hot sauce.

This is the latest from the Covington native, who’s known for his creative steakhouse cuisine at restaurants including Gallagher’s Grill in Covington and Pat Gallagher’s 527 Restaurant + Bar in Mandeville, and Gallagher’s on Front Street in Slidell.

For something on the lighter side, there’s Band’s Grocery, a vintage market turned sandwich shop located in the old bus depot in Old Mandeville. 2129 lakeshore drive, mandeville

FIVE SPOTS

... to dine on the waterfront

tchefuncte’s & the anchor

Sweeping waterfront views at this dual-concept restaurant on the Tchefuncte River.

407 saint tammany st., madisonville palmettos on the bayou

Louisiana regional specialties; romantic setting on Bayou Bonfouca surrounded by lush landscaping.

1901 bayou lane, slidell the lakehouse

Locals love celebrating at this iconic and upscale restaurant on Lake Pontchartrain.

2025 lakeshore drive, mandeville the blind tiger

It’s hard to tell what’s better; the Royal Reds (lobster-y tasting shrimp) or the view.

37330 lakeshore marina drive, slidell morton’s seafood restaurant

The Seafood Boats are legendary at this casual spot on the Tchefuncte River.

702 water st., madisonville

PHOTO KATHRYN SHEA DUNCAN

Pat’s Rest Awhile

Randazzo’s Camellia City Bakery kingcakes.com

Nonna Randazzo’s Bakery nonnaskingcakes.com

FIVE SPOTS ... dine with the kids middendorf’s slidell

The new Slidell location of Middendorf’s is grand and outfitted with whimsy. Known for their thin fried catfish and outstanding seafood, Middendorf’s has a wrap-around dining porch overlooking an expansive sandy beach, fenced and ideal for playing among tiki huts, palm trees and fountains.

1951 oak harbor blvd., slidell

Mardi Gras’ Sweetest Symbol

Zach and Tricia at Randazzo’s Camellia City

King cake is king on the Northshore

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f Mardi Gras has a smell, it’s got to be the seductive cinnamon-y aroma of freshbaked king cake. Topped with icing and sprinkles in Mardi Gras colors of purple, green and gold, its arrival in bakeries and supermarkets is cause for celebration.

Over the years, variations have come to include praline icing, fruit and cream cheese fillings. Inside, you’ll find a plastic or bisque baby hidden in the cake. Tradition holds that the person who gets the baby brings a king cake to the next party.

Two of the best king cakes on the Northshore come from different branches of the same family tree, using the original Randazzo family recipe created back in 1965.

Randazzo’s Camellia City Bakery in Slidell and Nonna Randazzo’s Bakery in Covington and Mandeville bake tens of thousands of king cakes each season, selling to locals who walk in to their bakeries and to aficionados all over the country.

If you’re in the area during Carnival season, stop into Camellia City or Nonna’s for a king cake to go. Or get one shipped to you. Both bakeries offer shipping and the chance to experience a little bit of Mardi Gras wherever you are.

Quick Bites

Poppy Tooker’s Tammany Taste Interviews

P PHOTO SARAH HILL

oppy Tooker, a native New Orleanian, lights up a room with her beatific smile. You know you’re in the presence of greatness by the way she instantly infuses a room with positive energy and commands attention. The vivacious, quick-witted and larger-than-life author, radio and television host (and Louisiana cultural ambassador) has made it her mission to preserve our culinary culture and history and share it with the world.

“It has been my lifelong dream to bring my great-grandmother’s favorite saying to life: ‘Poppy, eat it to save it!’”

the shack

Colorful and Caribbean point to both the cuisine – which is fabulous and flavorful – and the décor.

Open-air patio for al fresco dining with a tin roof, brightly painted picnic tables and twinkling lights with an enclosed ShackYard for the ultimate in kid’s play (think hula hoops, play houses, basketball).

1204 w. 21st ave., covington the chimes

This lively spot serving Louisiana specialties has outdoor seating on large decks and a series of boardwalks leading around massive cypress trees down to the Bogue Falaya River. Kids love to spot the resident goats (some servers will graciously bring cut up carrots to the table), and big fish swimming in the clear water below.

19130 rogers lane, covington bruiser’s

Decorated with a patriotic theme, Bruiser’s has indoor and outdoor seating, Giant Jenga and all manner of gourmet hot dogs – and we all know how kids love hot dogs.

They even serve them with tater tots. The cheddar bacon ranch tots are an indulgence that feels like a necessity.

1904 front st., slidell abita brew pub

Poppy’s award-winning, NPR-affiliated radio show and podcast, Louisiana Eats! features Tammany Taste: Quick Bites. Get to know some of the Northshore’s dynamic chefs, bakers, brewers and ice cream makers that comprise the Northshore’s deep and delicious culinary scene through Poppy’s engaging mini-interviews.

Go to louisiananorthshore . com / poppy and have a listen.

The original home of Abita Beer, the Abita Brew Pub serves catfish etouffee, killer burgers, Brewer’s BBQ crab claws and much more in addition to Abita seasonal and flagship beers for the parents.

Kids love the happening patio with outdoor checkers, Giant Jenga, corn hole, horseshoes and more, adjacent to the Abita Springs Trailhead Plaza.

72011 holly st., abita springs

LOUISIANANORTHSHORE.COM | 27

come on in Wander our waterfront State Parks, hold a baby gator, tour a mystery house, visit the Honey Island Swamp or peruse local art. There’s a lot to discover.

Fairview-Riverside State Park

PHOTO COURTESY LOUISIANA OFFICE OF TOURISM AND THE ST. TAMMANY PARISH TOURIST COMMISSION (2)

explore

fontainebleau state park

62883 hwy. 1089, mandeville (985) 624-4443

Fun at Fontainebleau and Fairview-Riverside

fairview- riverside state park 119 fairview dr., madisonville

(985) 845-3318

reserve at reserveamerica.com

Two waterfront Northshore State Parks inspire campers to get out by beth d’addono

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n days when Susan Pearson gets run ragged at her hospital human resources job, she closes her eyes and pictures the ancient live oaks and great blue herons she sees when camping with her family at Fontainebleau State Park. “What I love most about camping in the park is that it takes me away from my busy life,” she says. “Being there helps me regroup, slow down and enjoy life with my family.”

Pearson, who camps regularly with her husband, Louis, and their 10 grandkids isn’t alone. Camping is hot and getting hotter.

According to the 2021 edition of the North American Camping Report, the proportion of first-time campers grew five-fold since 2019, and the number of households that now own an RV grew by 2.6 million. Ideal for families as well as young professionals eager to de-stress, camping delivers quality time with friends and family, a natural context for physical activity and a real world reset for overall well-being and health. On the beautiful Northshore, Fontainebleau and Fairview-Riverside State Parks deliver all kinds of options. discover fontainebleau

At Fontainebleau in Mandeville, Louisiana’s most-visited state park, accommodations for campers of all tastes abound. Don’t want to rough it? Reserve one of 12 deluxe cabins that stretch out over the shore of Lake Pontchartrain. Sunsets from the front porch are stunning. Cabins may sound rustic, but these beautiful cottages (three recently designated pet-friendly), equipped with amenities like AC, Wi-Fi, cable TV and barbecue grills, are ideal for friends and family reunions who seek a cushy getaway. Sit a spell on the back porch overlooking the lake, and life is good. Bring bikes to ride on the nearby Tammany Trace and keep your eyes peeled for wildlife–birdlife abounds; you’ll most likely see deer and yes, there are gators in the park’s bayous.

For the adventurous who want to camp with a bit of an easy button, Fontainebleau offers ten glamping sites in cooperation with Tentrr, offering amenities like canvas tents, queen-sized beds, fire pits and more (see related story p. 38).

Fontainebleau State Park is bordered by Cane Bayou and Bayou Castine, and nearby outfitter Bayou Adventure can rent you bicycles or kayaks for your use.

Get even closer to nature at one of the park’s campsites, 106 improved with water, electricity, grills and picnic tables, situated close to a bathhouse and dump station for RVers. Pearson and her family park their camper in this section of the grounds. “We bought it three years ago when my husband retired and it’s opened up a new world for us. Everybody is so friendly–it’s really like a big family.”

The rest of the park’s sites are more primitive, ideal for getting away from it all. Camping groups from 25 to 150 can meet up at the

park’s two primitive group camping areas and enjoy park amenities like beachfront access and fishing piers. Set up for socializing and ideal for reunion groups, Group Camp I and Group Camp III feature dormitory sleeping areas, fully equipped kitchens and AC. Just across U.S. Highway 190 from the main section of the park is the Fontainebleau State Park Lodge, equipped with a full kitchen, two bathrooms and sleeping space for 10-to-12. Wherever you land in the park, bring your fishing pole (don’t forget a license!) for trolling fresh and salt water in the ponds, bayous and the brackish water of Lake Pontchartrain. retreat to fairview-riverside state park

Situated just two miles east of Madisonville, Fairview-Riverside State Park sprawls over 99 scenic acres along the banks of the bucolic Tchefuncte River. Campers and day visitors can take pontoon tours of the river, wander the park’s nature trail, troll for crabs or fish or just relax under a canopy of live oaks. Louisiana Tours and Adventures offers custom tours of the adjacent Tchefuncte River and trips to view the 1837 lighthouse at sunset.

If you’re staying overnight, the park offers 81 sites perfect for RVers, all with electricity and water hook-ups, nearby bathrooms and showers as well as the necessary dump station.

But campers interested in hanging out under the stars will love the designated tent camping section of the park with bathrooms nearby, but the rest of the scene is all Mother Nature. Yes, you can bring Fido with you: Behaved doggies-on-leashes are welcome.

However you use your outdoor time, there’s one thing you’re sure to bring home with you after your experience. “Camping makes memories that will last a lifetime,” Pearson says. “That’s something money just can’t buy.”

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GATOR FACTS • The American alligator averages about 800 pounds and can be 10-15 feet long, though the largest ever recorded was found here in Louisiana and measured 19.2 feet.

• Alligators can run about 20 miles per hour in short bursts.

Get your reptilian fix at Insta-Gator Ranch and Hatchery and learn everything there is to know

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t’s not a visit to Louisiana without an alligator interaction, right? We’ve got just the place for you. Insta-Gator Ranch and Hatchery in Covington is home to more than 2,000 alligators (and a few humans who interact with them). Insta-Gator offers fun and educational tours and programs that will teach you all about the prehistoric reptiles and even give you a chance to hold one.

Kids (and their parents, too) love to visit the touch pool, where smaller alligators swim in crystal clear water and you can scoop them up as they glide by for a fantastic photo-op.

Visitors hear all about the harvesting of gator eggs, often from area waterways like Bayou Castine, and watch a video before visiting huge alligators in tanks in their covered barns. Guides explain the indus30 | LOUISIANANORTHSHORE.COM

try that actually helps preserve the species in the wild. There’s a gift shop at Insta-gator, too, where they like to say you’ll learn everything about the American alligator from “hatchling to handbag.” 23440 lowe davis road, covington

• Diet consists mostly of fish, turtles, small mammals and birds, though alligators have been known to attack dogs, deer and on rare occasions, humans.

• Alligators today represent a $50 million industry for Louisiana. Shoes, purses and other items of alligator skin fetch high prices and the meat, which is classified as seafood (but, yes, tastes like chicken), is increasingly offered in restaurants.

• Mating season is April to May. Females build a nest and lay 20-60 eggs, then cover the nest with vegetation and hang out til August when eggs begin to hatch.

• As a species, alligators have been around for about 37 million years.

PHOTOS KEVIN GARRETT (2)

Calling All Gator Groupies

• The state’s alligator population is around two million, the most of any state. After population declines by the mid-20th century, harvest quotas were put into place. Populations now are at sustainable levels.

FIVE SPOTS ... for art

saladino gallery

SALADINO Gallery has gained respect as a regional art powerhouse, showing works by a number of the South’s finest artists including Rebecca Rebouché and Scott Ewen, many of whose works hang in the elegant Southern Hotel across the street.

409 e. boston street, covington armbruster artworks fine art gallery and school

Gretchen Armbruster features her fine art and offers regular workshops. Other artists on display include Mel Moncada, Robert Santopadre, and Mary Helen Seago.

By appointment.

502 n. columbia street, covington Canceled Edition: The Art of Birding, An Installation by Pippin Frisbie-Calder presented by the St. Tammany Art Association

Creative Control

St. Tammany Art Association is the hub of the Northshore’s vibrant visual arts scene

PHOTOS BOBBY TALLEY

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ong recognized as an art-friendly town, Covington is home to a number of fine galleries and the St. Tammany Art Association, a fine exhibition space unto itself. A lovely 19th-century building in Covington’s historic St. John District houses rotating exhibits by regional and national artists, juried competitions, member artist gallery, classes and lectures. In the alley between the STAA Building and HJ Smith and Sons Hardware, you’ll find Art Alley, a fun non-traditional exhibit and event space frequently used during Fall and Spring for Art, Columbia Street Block parties and more.

320 n. columbia street, covington

the wild osprey

Showcases original art from emerging artists as well as unique and unconventional gifts. Also offers educational workshops.

Featuring the work of Rachel Pinto, Dominique Giordano, Tressie Jordan, Rachael DePauw, Amber Anne Palo and Melissa Levine.

522 girod street, mandeville

impastato gallery & art therapy

Artist Elizabeth Impastato’s large gallery displays her original impressionism and abstract art and offers lessons and services for her patrons to discover how art can reduce stress.

1901 u.s. hwy 190 #28, mandeville city of slidell cultural center

This gallery inside Slidell’s City Hall hosts multi-artist shows and juried exhibitions.

2055 second street, slidell

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PHOTOS ERIC LINDBERG

Abita Mystery House

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Where “everyone is welcome, even your family” dds are you’ll either love it or hate it. There’s not much middle ground for visitors to the Abita Mystery House, an explosion of oddball collections, art and humor thrown together like the ingredients to some kind of great cosmic gumbo. You get it. Or you don’t.

That’s okay with John Preble, the mad scientist stirring the pot: He gets his jollies— and his five bucks admission—either way.

Formerly known as the UCM Museum (a Preble joke, as in you-see-‘em), the folk artsy roadside attraction has been welcom32 | LOUISIANANORTHSHORE.COM

ing visitors since 1993 when Preble turned a vintage gas station, old barn and Creole cottage into a popular roadside attraction.

Filling the structures, and green spaces in between, with more than 50,000 found objects (“brick” phones, transistor boards, paint-by-number scenes, bottle caps, arcade games … etc.) and his own art, Preble created an altered-states kind of universe where you never know what’s around the corner or through the next door.

New in 2021: The Shed of Miracles.

22275 highway 36, abita springs

Meet the animals up close and personal at the Global Wildlife Center.

Eye to Eye with Giraffes Go on safari at Global Wildlife Center in Folsom

T PHOTO KEVIN GARRETT

he excitement builds on the approach. Scenery along rural, tree-lined Highway 40, as it ribbons through the northwestern corner of St. Tammany Parish, begins to subtly change.

Suddenly open grassland resembles an African savanna—and in more ways than one. The sight of zebras and Father David deer, giraffes and elands signal that you are about to enter a special place.

Global Wildlife Center is the largest free-roaming wildlife preserve of its kind in the U.S., home to more than 4,000 exotic and endangered animals living on 900 scenic acres. Visitors have a few options to explore Global. Many opt for the safari tours in large motorized wagons that travel the grounds, providing on-high views and the opportunity to toss feed to many of the animals as they approach the wagon.

The private Pinzgauer tours are a great choice for families and animal lovers who want a unique and once-in-a-lifetime encounter. Seating up to eight people, the 4x4 vehicles put guests eye level with Global’s inhabitants who often follow or surround the vehicle. Stroke a giraffe’s neck as she leans over your shoulder. Amazingly beautiful up close, the giraffes are persistent—they want that food!—but they’re gentle. Touch the massive, wooly head of an American bison, or the horns of Watusi cattle as they feed from your hand. Deer, llamas and zebras come up close, and gaggles of fat geese waddle at top speed behind the Pinz as it pulls away.

Safari tours are given several times daily; Pinzgauer tours require reservations. All make unforgettable memories for kids of all ages.

Call (985) 796-3585 for tour availability, or book online. globalwildlife.com 26389 highway 40, folsom

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adventure experiences

PHOTO LAURAGRIER.COM

Get in touch with your inner adventurer on the Northshore, where you can go hiking, biking, fishing and paddling all year long. Rent gear or take a charter, but get out there and play.

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BIKE RENTALS brooks’ bike shop

Patrick Brooks operates three bike shops on the Northshore: One near the Mandeville lakefront; one in Slidell; and another in downtown Covington at the start of the Tammany Trace bike path. He also has self-serve rental stands in Abita Springs. Visit his website to reserve. Guided tours of Old Mandeville, Covington and the Trace can be scheduled with as few as three people, and there’s even a brewery tour by bike. brooksbikeshop.com bayou adventure

PHOTO KEVIN GARRETT

Located near the scenic Lacombe drawbridge of the Tammany Trace, this outpost has tons of Louisiana snacks, great food and souvenirs to stock up on for your ride. Kayak rentals and guided paddling tours are also available. bayouadventure.com

Tammany Trace

Tracing your way through St. Tammany's towns

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he 31-mile-long Tammany Trace winds through green spaces, parks and over bayous, connecting five communities and offering all who travel the path a way to experience the Northshore’s natural beauty.

Originally a corridor for the Illinois Central Railroad, the Trace now is a walkable, rideable asphalt ribbon stretching from downtown Covington, continuing through Abita Springs, Mandeville, Lacombe and Slidell. It’s so special that it was inducted into the Rail-Trail Hall of Fame in 2017.

Some users stroll or pedal leisurely. Others power-walk the path or even horseback ride along the adjacent horse trail. Serious cyclists, in racing jerseys and Lycra shorts with padded buns, whiz through from beginning to end and back.

Whether you walk a few blocks or go the distance, the Trace is a lovely way to explore the Northshore.

There are numerous entry spots for the Trace, Louisiana’s only (and first) rails-totrails conversion, but the official trailhead is located on Koop Drive off Highway 59.

A green caboose serves as the information center and ranger office. Also, here are restrooms, water fountains, a playground and picnic tables. There are trailheads with parking and restrooms in downtown Covington, Abita Springs, Mandeville and Slidell. The recent expansion into Camp Salmen Nature Park means even more naturescapes to explore. (Bike rentals are available in several towns; see related story.)

The Tammany Trace is closed to motorized traffic except for the small carts used by park rangers who patrol its length from 7:30 a.m. to dusk daily.

Visit TammanyTrace.org for a map and to plan your outing.

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Bayou Adventure offers sunset paddles on Cane Bayou

Pick your Paddle

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ith scenic rivers, bayous and Lake Pontchartrain to explore, the Northshore is a great spot for paddlers.

There are a number of easily accessible launch spots across the area. You can bring your own gear but you don’t have to.

Kayaks, canoes and paddleboards are available for rent at several locations for paddling at your own pace, and there are tour operators happy to take you out for a day on the water.

Step inside Bayou Adventure (bayouadventure.com) in Lacombe , an outpost for all things outdoors, and immerse yourself in authentic Louisiana. Visitors from all over the world have strolled through the doors and stood among the displays of shrimp boots and rods, lures and live bait tanks. You can find bikes for exploring the nearby Tammany Trace, as well as kayaks and paddleboards available for rent for adventures on nearby Lake Pontchartrain or Cane Bayou. Bayou Adventure also has its Bayou Kitchen serving Louisiana specialties like alligator sausage, boiled crawfish, poboys, boudin, crawfish pies, fried okra and more. There’s a plethora of locally-made products too, like honey, “cracklins”’ (fried pork skin), and Louisiana craft beer.

Bayou Adventure also offers sunset paddles down Cane Bayou 36 | LOUISIANANORTHSHORE.COM

to the lake just in time to catch the glorious pink, purple and gold sunsets we have come to expect here but never tire of seeing. Enjoy the scenery—watch for osprey and eagles, boar on the banks and alligators in the reeds under moss-draped branches—or try your luck fishing from your kayak.

Canoe and Trail Adventures’ guides (canoeandtrail.com) are Louisiana Master Naturalist certified, and are great for pointing out the wildlife along the way and sharing knowledge about the waterways and its flora and fauna. They also offer rentals of paddleboards, family canoes and kayaks launching from the popular Chimes Restaurant on the scenic Bogue Falaya River.

Wade in the shallows and spot fish schooling in its clear waters or play on the sandy river banks as you go. Or, paddle to nearby Bogue Falaya Park and use the new paddler’s launch to moor up and explore.

After you work up an appetite paddling with Canoe and Trail, slurp some fresh Gulf oysters shucked on site at The Chimes, or enjoy Louisiana specialties like alligator, crawfish étouffée, BBQ shrimp or red beans and rice. The kids will love playing on the boardwalks and meeting the Chimes’ resident goats. Their parents will appreciate the extensive collection of beer on tap.

PHOTO LAURAGRIER.COM

Peaceful waterways await exploration

Marsh and Bayou Outfitters in Mandeville

Fish On!

Catch your limit and a good time

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ishing is a favorite pastime on the Northshore and a fun activity year-round for families who can throw out a line from Mandeville’s free fishing pier at Sunset Point, along Lake Road’s marshy banks in Lacombe or from the St. Tammany Parish Fishing Pier in Slidell. But there’s action for serious anglers, too, thanks to the many charter captains launching out of Northshore marinas.

With easy access to Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Borgne, the Rigolets Pass and the Biloxi Marsh, charters are a great way to spend the day on the water. Area captains know where to go for trophy trout, record redfish, largemouth bass, sheepshead, tripletail, flounder and drum. Some, like Mike Gallo of Angling Adventures of Louisiana and Dudley Vandenborre, famous for his Deadly Dudley lures, make regular appearances on Louisiana fishing shows, sharing expertise and tips on where fish are biting.

Basic info: Charters often start just before daylight and end in the early afternoon. Most charters can carry five-tosix people. You don’t need to know the difference between spinnerbait and jigging spoons; most welcome anglers of all skill levels and all ages, too. You’ll need to make a reservation. You won’t have to clean your fish; your captain does that for you.

For more information, visit fishthenorthshore.com and download our new Fish On! guide to fishing the Northshore.

FIVE SPOTS ... for fishing gear

bayou adventure

Live bait, tackle, fishing and crabbing supplies for purchase or rent, convenience store and a Bayou Kitchen.

28178 us-190, lacombe

marsh & bayou outfitters

Extensive selection of fishing tackle, accessories and apparel; even a fly shop 2600 florida street, ste. 3, mandeville

the bait shop on front street

Fishing, crabbing, crawfishing gear, propane, pogey, shiners, worms, crickets and more 1604 front st., slidell gus’s tackle and nets

Fishing, shrimping and crabbing accessories

726 old spanish trail, slidell jes tackle

Propane, bait, fishing supplies 40559 highway 190, slidell

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Glamping at Fontainebleau State Park Experience the great outdoors with an easy button

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new partnership between Louisiana State Parks and Tentrr makes camping in style sweet and easy. There are nine state parks in Louisiana that now have glamping Tentrr sites, 65 glamping sites in all, including Fontainebleau State Park (see related story p. 29), the state’s most visited. At Fontainebleau, seven single tents and one group of three single tents for a group of family and friends are available for camping with an easy button. Safari-style campsites feature canvas tents with a queen bed and memory-foam mattress, Adirondack chairs, camp benches and table, a fire pit and campfire grill, propane heater, camp loo and a five-gallon, filled water jug. There’s even an extra dome tent for additional guests. Bring your own bedding, lanterns, firewood, food and refreshments, and you’re all set. All glamping sites were chosen for their natural beauty, and are in less-traveled areas of the park. For the adventurous, several campsites are a 20-minute paddle from the Fontainebleau beach launch, and feature a breathtaking view of Lake Pontchartrain. Fontainebleau State Park’s 2,800-acres on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain offer a sandy beach and swimming area, fishing piers and nature trails. Paddling the scenic Cane Bayou waterway that borders Fontainebleau State Park is a wonderful excursion to plan during your glamping stay. Nearby outfitter Bayou Adventure can assist with canoe rentals to paddle to your glamping site or on Cane Bayou. louisiananorthshore.com/glamping

Hike the Trails

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he Northshore has miles of peaceful hiking trails in the great outdoors. Pack a backpack and commune with nature. In this part of Louisiana, you’ll find the terrain easy to navigate and the elevation no more than a gentle slope. Let the fresh air of the Northshore’s piney woods rejuvenate your mind, body and spirit.

Lovely Northlake Nature Center is a 400-acre preserve located along the banks of Bayou Castine. There are about seven miles of trails taking you through three different eco-systems. Among the sights: A grove of giant magnolias, boardwalk overlooking a beaver lodge and, if you’re lucky, you might catch a glimpse of the center’s flock of wild turkeys.

Over in Lacombe, Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Reserve offers 15,000 acres of south Louisiana ecosystems. Visitors enjoy hiking, fishing and birding along its waterways and trails. The two-mile Boy Scout Road Interpretive Trail includes a boardwalk and overlook at Bayou Lacombe, and birders will likely spot the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker here. The trails at the Southeast Louisiana Wildlife Refuges Complex headquarters wind along Bayou Lacombe and through historic gardens; blooming mature camellias and azaleas are stunning to behold.

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The state park trails at Fairview-Riverside in Madisonville and Fontainebleau in Mandeville also offer boardwalks and plenty of opportunities for wildlife spotting and birding (over 400 species have been recorded at Fontainebleau).

The 130-acre Camp Salmen Nature Park’s peaceful respite includes 3.3 miles of trail system in various stages of development in Slidell, on the beautiful Bayou Liberty. Budding botanists appreciate the Camp Salmen Live Oak, accessed via the Camp Ridge Trail and listed on the Live Oak Society Registry, as well as the presence of pitcher plants sprinkled through the boggier areas of the park.

If a leisurely stroll is more your speed, walk along Lakeshore Drive’s paved path in Mandeville. The cool breezes off Lake Pontchartrain and the shimmering sunlight on the water will make your heart sing.

PHOTOS TAYLOR MURPHY; @CAROLINEDINEENCARLSON

A leisurely stroll or a power walk will recharge your batteries on any one of our nature trails

Honey Island Swamp

Honey Island Swamp Encounter nature without cinema special effects in the Honey Island Swamp

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PHOTOS LAURAGRIER.COM (2)

orget the swamps you’ve seen in movies with 20-foot gators launching themselves into canoes and hissing black snakes dangling from every moss-hung tree. Pure Hollywood.

What you can expect to find in the Honey Island Swamp, on the northeast edge of St. Tammany Parish, is pristine beauty and abundant wildlife. There are gators, to be sure. You’ll see them sunning themselves on logs or watching warily from the banks (you make them more nervous than they make you); if they swim out to the boat it will be to score a few marshmallows thrown by the tour guide to lure them closer.

You probably won’t be seeing any snakes, though they’re out there and despite reported sightings that date back centuries, odds are you won’t be catching a glimpse of the Honey Island Swamp Monster, either.

You will see turtles, maybe an eagle overhead and snowy white egrets patiently stalking a bullfrog dinner. You might see boar, a nutria, prehistoric-looking pileated woodpeckers or great blue herons, depending on what time of year you visit. You’ll see an absolutely lovely patch of planet Earth, one that’s been largely protected from us.

The Honey Island Swamp encompasses almost 70,000 acres, more than half of which is preserved for posterity as part of the Pearl River Wildlife Management Area. The PRWMA is swampy in the south, more hardwood bottomland to the north and home to black bears, feral pigs, cougars, nutria and an abundant year-round migratory bird populations.

Dr. Wagner’s and Cajun Encounters take visitors into the Honey Island Swamp. Reservations aren’t mandatory but much appreciated and may avoid disappointment on your part. Most tours run around two hours in length.

In the fall, the cypress trees begin changing from brilliant green to a rust color. And winter has its own beauty as the cypress trees bare, gators are mostly dormant but other wildlife are more active and visible. Visitors in spring will see the most color, as irises and water hyacinths bloom in profusion; summer is prime time to see alligators.

Several tour companies operate out of the Slidell area. Most companies offer boats that seat 15 to 24 passengers, however tours by kayak are available as well. For more information on Honey Island Swamp tour operators, visit louisiananorthshore.com/swamp LOUISIANANORTHSHORE.COM | 39

Accessible Adventures Await

The Northshore welcomes wheelchair users by jim and barbara twardowski

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relaxing retreat of fun, food and nature awaits those who venture to St. Tammany Parish.

Whether you are attending an annual festival or longing for an unhurried weekend away, you’ll find the Northshore welcomes wheelchair users. cruise through covington

Covington contains a variety of wheelchair accessible activities.

The St. Tammany Art Association has ever-changing exhibits and a variety of classes. Use the ramp located at the back to enter H.J. Smith’s Sons General Store and Museum—a family-owned store since 1876. For a coffee break, head to Coffee Rani where the display case is filled with pastries or indulge in a Creole Cream Cheese waffle cone at HooDoo Ice Cream. For lunch, snag a table at LOLA where the kitchen is inside a train caboose. Make dinner reservations at Del Porto for contemporary Italian fare. linger along the lakefront

meander by a bayou

Heritage Park, near Olde Towne Slidell, overlooks Bayou Bonfouca and has a wide cement path winding alongside it. Next door is Palmettos On the Bayou. The Acadian-style restaurant prepares Louisiana cuisine under lush cypress trees. For a special treat, attend the Saturday Cajun brunch when a three-piece band accompanies the meal. Wheelchair access to the 5,000 square foot deck and the restaurant is by a ramp located on the side of the restaurant. feed the wildlife

More than 4,000 free-roaming endangered, exotic and threatened animals live at the Global Wildlife Center in Folsom. Hop aboard a wheelchair accessible covered wagon and come-face-to-face with zebras, bison, giraffes, kangaroos and more as they traverse the 900-acre preserve. Be sure to buy plenty of feed and have the camera ready for photos. tour a brewery

Wheelchair accessible paths beside the seawall on the Mandeville Lakefront provide unobstructed views of Lake Pontchartrain.

Handicapped parking is located along Lakeshore Drive. Stop for a selfie at the gazebo at Carroll Street or snap a picture underneath a 100-year-old Live Oak tree. If you’re traveling with kids, there’s a playground, too.

Kick back in Abita Springs. Take a 30-minute guided tour of the Abita Brewery and sample four craft beers. Another option—only offered seasonally—is the craft soda tour. The tours are wheelchair accessible. Closed-toe shoes are required for anyone participating in a tour. Check the calendar for fun events ranging from crawfish boils to trivia night.

roll on the rails to trails

go fish

The Tammany Trace provides 31 miles of an asphalted trail through five communities—Mandeville, Covington, Abita Springs, Lacombe and Slidell. The path presents views of wildlife, bayous, streams and rivers from elevated vantage points. The wheelchair-accessible trail can be accessed from a variety of spots you might already be visiting—download a map.

The St. Tammany Parish Fishing Pier in Slidell includes handicapped accessible sections where the railing is lower. Bring your own fishing gear and a license to catch off the 650-foot pier. museum hop

A quirky attraction, the Abita Mystery House at UCM (“yousee-em) Museum is packed with an eclectic collection of more than 50,000 objects. Enter a vintage gas station and make your way through several accessible buildings to examine everything from aliens and scary clowns to funny signs and folk art.

Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum is also wheelchair accessible.

At The Book and The Bean

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Louisiana-inspired items make wonderful souvenirs or gifts.

Saturdays, the Mandeville Trailhead Community Market bustles with vendors selling a variety of prepared foods, fresh produce and a slew of arts and crafts. The booths are stationed beside wheelchair accessible sidewalks and there’s almost always live music. The Camellia City Market in Slidell is also wheelchair friendly. Open every Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon—rain or shine. If you’re visiting on a Sunday, pick up a locally made treat (baked goods, honey and jellies) at the Abita Springs Art & Farmers Market from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Many more accessible restaurants, attractions and events not mentioned are ready to welcome you!

PHOTO JIM TWARDOWSKI

shop for one-of-a-kind finds to take home

connect

looking back PHOTO KEVIN GARRETT

Northshore residents live among the ghosts of St. Tammany’s past.

Experience history at our Louisiana State Parks, myriad of museums or on a self-guided walking tour of Old Mandeville.

HJ Smith & Sons

LOUISIANANORTHSHORE.COM | 41

St. Tammany Timeline

The Choctaw inhabit the northern shore of Lake Pontchartrain, which they called Okwa’ta (meaning “wide water”).

Bernard de Marigny builds sugar plantation (now Fontainebleau State Park), then founds Mandeville a few miles west.

Tourism boom begins in Abita Springs when a doctor declares the area’s local springs have restorative qualities.

First span of the 24-mile Pontchartrain Causeway is built, creating the longest continuous bridge over water in the world.

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Voices of History

Jackson Cantrell at Fontainbleau State Park

Bearing witness to St. Tammany’s past, Jackson Cantrell shares untold stories by beth d’addono

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istory and heritage mean the world to Jackson Cantrell.

The 18-year-old Mandeville resident starts college this fall in Florence, Italy, with a focus on International Relations and, to no one’s surprise, History. He uses every platform at his disposal to illuminate St. Tammany’s past, which like everywhere else in America, should not be interpreted solely from its European settler’s perspective.

Influenced by his geologist mother, Cantrell was encouraged to pay attention as he went out into the world and see beyond the obvious from a young age.

It’s that sense of curiosity and power of observation that is the reason why there are not one but two historic markers in Fontainebleau State Park, the result of Cantrell’s grassroots efforts that grew out of his Eagle Scout project, completed when he was 16. It’s also the reason Cantrell brings St. Tammany’s history into sharp focus with the heritage tours he developed and leads for Canoe and Trail Adventures. On the Bogue Falaya River, he offers a paddle through time that speaks to Covington’s past as well as the general story of St. Tammany; how it was settled and who was living in the area for centuries before Europeans set foot in the region.

Joking about too early an exposure to Indiana Jones movies, he notes “that sense of history and adventure stuck with me. The lens of history can bring meaning to so many problems that we see around us in the world.”

PHOTO CHRISTINA COOPER

1830

1812

The Republic of West Florida is formed to revolt against Spanish authority in the area — and lasts 74 days.

Louisiana admitted to the Union in April. West Florida resists but becomes part of the state five months later.

1956

1887

Explorers Pierre LeMoyne Sieur d’Iberville and Jean Batiste LeMoyne Sieur de Bienville check out the Northshore.

The U.S. acquires 828,000 square miles of territory in the Louisiana Purchase, which does not include St. Tammany Parish.

1810

1803

1699

1600 B.C.

Originally home to Choctaw and other tribes, the Parish has been shaped by various cultures and events

As a kid, his family often visited historic sites, and Cantrell remembers clearly the conversation at Fontainebleau that would influence his life. He was 6 years old.

Grayhawk Perkins, a descendent of the Choctaw and Houma Nations, was an interpretive park ranger who took an interest in young Cantrell’s questions about history. “He said to me, ‘Son, what do you think that oak alley was for?’ Having been on plantation tours, I assumed it was the entry for an elaborate house. I was wrong. Mr. Grayhawk told me that instead, the trees were planted to shade slave quarters. I was stunned.”

As he got older, Cantrell felt strongly that the enslaved who had lived and worked on the land, not by choice, needed to be recognized. “This wasn’t just a beautiful place for taking wedding pictures or shots for holiday cards. It wasn’t that I wanted people to stop using the park—but just to understand what all had gone on there.” During the course of his research, he uncovered the names of 153 enslaved children and adults who lived and worked at Bernard de Marigny’s Fontainebleau Plantation.

After consulting with historians and archeological records, he also learned that Native people had inhabited the area for 2,500 years. “There was a massacre of the Natchitoches tribe just a few miles from here, entirely instigated by the French. People just didn’t know that.”

Cantrell petitioned the state for two historic markers to bear witness to the park’s past. Installed in 2019, one commemorates the enslaved individuals who worked on the plantation from the 1830s to the 1860s. The other honors Native peoples who called this land home for thousands of years before it was settled by Europeans. Archaeological specimens and historic photos supporting Cantrell’s work are displayed at the park’s visitor’s center, and his research papers are published online. fontainebleau state park

62883 louisiana highway 1089 mandeville

paddling into the past

Jack Cantrell is one of the most enthusiastic leaders of Canoe and Trail’s Covington heritage-by-kayak excursions and will continue to lead tours when he’s home from school.

The River Tour meanders along the Bogue Falaya River, a tributary of the Tchefuncte River which flows to Lake Pontchartrain.

The commentary combines history and culture to carry guests back in time as they learn about the customs of local Native Americans

who encamped and thrived along the river. Paddling past the town’s 1800s steamship landing, there are stories of enslaved individuals who achieved emancipation well before the Civil War. From its 19th century identity as a resort destination famous for mineral springs and sandy beaches, Covington’s history—all of it—deserves attention. Better still, participants can feel good knowing that a portion of proceeds from the tour benefits the United Houma Nation and the Amistad Research Center.

“These are stories that need to be told again and again,” Cantrell says. “It’s an honor to share this history with others.”

Book Bogue Falaya River tours at canoeandtrail.com.

PHOTOS LEANNE CANTRELL; KEVIN GARRETT

HJ Smith & Sons

you can ’t miss the old wooden structure on covington ’s columbia street,

with its wagon out front, vintage swing and Bonanza vibe. Opened in 1876, HJ Smith & Sons General Store and Museum is still operated by the Smith family, who’ve stocked it to the rafters with everything from camo to garden gnomes, and the precise nail needed for a home project. You’ll find everything you didn’t know you needed here, and more.

Floors creak and history hangs in the air, especially when a small ramp leads you into the original general store, preserved by the family in all its mercantile glory as a free museum. It’s fun to see the artifacts of Covington’s past, a cast iron casket, 20-foot cypress dugout and old-timey cases crammed with detergent-box china, farm tools and dry goods. 308 n. columbia street, covington LOUISIANANORTHSHORE.COM | 43

The Revelation of Past Stories A series of relationships and chance discoveries led to a tour of Old Mandeville with some surprising stops along the way by jyl benson

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The Dew Drop

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A stop on the Historic Walking Trail in Mandeville

“My role was to make sure the tour did not depict Old Mandeville as just another summer retreat for wealthy white people,” Casborné says. “[Clark] would drop these jewels she had uncovered. She is an amazing storyteller. She was learning about the houses and the properties but more importantly, she was learning about the people, including Black people. Everyone knows what Black people were doing in New Orleans but not so much in the rest of the state.

“Black jazz musicians would travel from New Orleans to Buck’s Place (now Ruby’s Roadhouse) and the Dew Drop to raise money for the Northshore Benevolent Associations, which were established to help African Americans cope with financial hardships such as illness and providing proper burials for family members because they could not buy insurance. People who have lived here for generations do not even know the history of this place.”

The self-guided tour now explores 41 locations, each of which display QR (Quick Response) code markers. Using a smart device, visitors can scan the code and jump directly to the City of Mandeville’s website to view a written history of the site, see images and hear the history narrated by WDSU television news host Heath Allen. The stops on the tour are diverse, ranging from historic homes, churches, clubs and schools to burial grounds, gathering places for benevolent societies and the cradles of jazz.

To experience the tour virtually, visit cityofmandeville.com and click on “About,” where you will find “Explore Historic Mandeville” in the sidebar. Click there and a map will appear with the 41 locations listed, which also corresponds to a number on the map.

Click on either the title or the number on the map to see pictures and learn the history of the site.

To experience the Historic Walking Tour in person, obtain a map from City Hall, the Mandeville Trailhead or The Lang House and go directly to the location, where you will find a marker in the form of a QR code. Scan that on your device and the same information appears. All 41 locations have these markers on site.

PHOTOS LAURAGRIER.COM; ZONDRA WHITE JONES

oon after retiring, Mandeville resident Nancy Clark started volunteering with the Old Mandeville Historic Association, where she worked on a Mother’s Day tour of historic homes to raise funds for the organization. Wanting to give the tour greater depth, she started researching transfers on the properties featured on the tour. She paid a visit to the Mandeville Clerk of Court’s office and became friends with Archivist Robin Perkins and her staff.

A world opened and an obsession was born.

“The Land Records Department for the City of Mandeville is absolutely fascinating,” Clark says. “There are impeccably-kept records dating back to the 1700s. Our history in Mandeville is so much more than most realize. There is just so much here beyond the obvious.”

About 10 years ago, Clark’s enthusiasm attracted Alia Casborné, Cultural Director for the City of Mandeville, who approached her about leading a one-day tour for Leadership St. Tammany. Clark approached the task of developing a tour with the zeal of an ardent hobbyist, for which she was becoming known.

“I can talk and talk,” she says. “And I have a voice that carries.

They seemed pretty interested on that tour.”

That long-ago tour became the foundation for what is now the Historic Mandeville Walking Tour, which exists both in-person and virtually.

Clark and Casborné became partners in developing a tour that would serve to educate in a compelling way beyond the obvious.

“We needed to document all of the lesser-known information somewhere other than an archive or in a few peoples’ minds based on things they had heard from elder relatives,” Casborné says.

As Clark uncovered and amassed the history of a home or building, Casborné would glean onto tidbits she found particularly curious and together they would dig for more information.

St. Tammany Time Machine The past is accurately and delicately preserved on the Northshore

otis house museum

119 fairview drive, madisonville

This late 19th century lumber baron’s home includes memorabilia and photographs from the area. The Queen Annestyle home is on the grounds of Fairview-Riverside State Park.

the lang house

bayou lacombe muesum

61115 s st mary street, lacombe

History and culture meet in the Bayou Lacombe Museum, housed in the oldest existing wooden schoolhouse in St. Tammany Parish. Museum exhibits explore 18th, 19th and 20th century life in Lacombe.

walker percy trail

louisiananorthshore.com/ walkerpercy

Tour the Jean Baptiste Lang House, one of the few “Anglo-Creole” structures still standing in Old Mandeville and hear the history of Mandeville as a resort community for New Orleans’ elite.

The noted author and Covington resident moved to the Northshore in 1948. It was here that he wrote his most famous books, including the National Book Award-winning The Moviegoer.

lake pontchartrain basin maritime museum 133 mabel drive, madisonville

Madisonville’s maritime history is explored through artifacts, exhibits, dioramas and displays.

See lighthouses of Louisiana, visit the lightkeeper’s cottage and learn about the museum’s location on the former Jahncke Shipyard site.

abita springs trailhead museum PHOTOS ERIC LINDBERG (3)

This special space at the heart of town is known for history exhibits, arts and culture festivals, and its location on the Tammany Trace. From November 12-14, don’t miss the En Plein Air Exhibition.

slidell museum

2020 first street, slidell

Housed in the town’s old jail, the museum displays two floors of photos and memorabilia from Slidell’s history as well as the South’s role in the Civil War. LOUISIANANORTHSHORE.COM | 45

treat yourself Some of us just need to shop.

You’ll find plenty of shopping opportunities on the Northshore, so let’s go!

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PHOTOS KEVIN GARRETT; @MIAYAKEL _41

splurge

opposite page : Das Schulerhaus Christmas & Gift Gallery in Mandeville

Old World Meets New World Even the most discerning shopper will find a treasure in Covington’s Historic Downtown District by jyl benson

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PHOTO KEVIN GARRETT

owntown Covington once hummed along to the clack-clack of hooves pulling wagons laden with newly-arrived goods —brought by schooners—to the foot of Columbia Street.

Today, the same historic buildings bear witness to the excitement of a beautiful arts, shopping, dining and entertainment district.

Just blocks from the old docks of yore, the two outposts of Columbia Street Mercantile (231 and 236 n. columbia st.) are stocked not with the household necessities of yesterday, but with the most desirable ladies’ fashions of today. The two shops are located just steps from each other and have all the bases covered at prices that will please. The larger of the two, at 231 N. Columbia St., is loaded with infinitely wearable, casual, on-trend clothing; seasonally appropriate colorful dresses, skirts, and blouses, jeans to flatter every figure, and stylish jewelry and shoes to finish the look. These are the items you will reach for again and again, pairing them with heels and a glittering handbag for one occasion; sandals and a sunhat for another. Across the street, the sister property has a more polished focus on cocktail dresses, mother-of-the-bride day dresses and designs for special occasions.

Shoefleé (228 n. columbia st.) and deCouer (222 n. columbia st.) are located on opposite sides of the same building with free flow allowed between the two, allowing for many women’s indulgences in their favorite obsessions simultaneously: shoes and household adornments. The former is stocked with hundreds of styles of shoes and handbags in all prices ranges and levels of formality with offerings from many brands including Betsy Johnson, Chinese Laundry, Clarks, Cougar, Franco Sarto, Lucky Brand, Naked Feet, Sam Edelman and Sofft. On the other side of the building, seasonally based, affordable, decorative housewares abound in styles inspired by the French countryside and shabby-chic aesthetics. Look for lamps, furniture, local art and pottery, wall art, glass decanters, vases, platters, trays, and bath and body products. Featured brands include Tyler, Trapp and Swan Creek candles.

As treasures literally spill down the entry stairs and into the front and side yard, it would be best to visit On A Whim (282 e. rutland st.) not so much on a whim but with plenty of time to spare. Moving through the maze of small rooms crammed with exciting finds including vintage garden implements and art, antique furniture, clothing, hats, china and serve-ware, posters, clocks, light fixtures and more, takes a while. A recent visit to the maroon cottage revealed a lengthy church pew repurposed as an elegant, roomy garden seating.

At the Copper Rooster (222 lee lane) proprietor Michelle Stegall creates carefully detailed tags for her merchandise to keep the many disparate items in her fascinating shop cohesive as each is written out with everything there is to know about the item. Finds here range from Claire Burke home fragrances and contemporary shelf brackets to well-preserved stained-glass windows and vintage garden accessories. One room is heavy on fine English and French china and serve ware, another with old shutters, doors and chandeliers.

Famed New Orleans architect John Crestia perfectly encapsulated the work of Covington interior designer Jennifer DiCerbo and her team at The French Mix (288 lee lane) when he referred to their work as, “Not traditional, but transitional with a contemporary edge.”

Louisiana is routinely referred to as the closest relation to Europe in the United States and DiCerbo will bring you that much closer to the elegant, distinctly European spaces of the Old World while seamlessly merging in layers of influence — say, icily-toned eighteenth-century French or Swedish chairs or metal and crystal Italian chandeliers, with sleek contemporary consoles and cocktail tables, painted Italian candelabra, fine vintage rugs and midcentury modern lamps with colorful abstract art.

DiCerbo’s 4,000 square-foot retail shop and atelier in historic downtown Covington is a must-visit for those seeking to create sensational interiors. Look for original artwork, lighting, luxurious rugs, window treatments and custom pieces for all spaces in the home.

Mallie (218 lee lane) features fresh, stylish fashion with a young bent ranging from jeans and cute tops to special occasion wear. The service is personable, friendly and a recent visit revealed a collection of various styles of bodysuits (the perfect first layer that stays tucked in!) that everyone is looking for but that remain so hard to find. Mallie is the source.

A great place to while away the afternoon, Once in a While: Home of Green-Eyed Goddess (226 e. lockwood st.) expansive gift shop and cozy coffee shop is located across from the Covington Trailhead. You’ll find handcrafted jewelry and designs from celebrity stylist Belinda Miley as well hand painted religious figurines, keepsake boxes, clothing, wall art, home and garden décor, bath, body and spa luxuries, and vintage home accessories.

LOUISIANANORTHSHORE.COM | 47

FIVE SPOTS ... to shop

fremaux town center, slidell

Tenants at this sprawling center include Best Buy, Dillards, Dick’s Sporting Goods, TJ Maxx and numerous restaurants.

Located off the Fremaux exit.

(If you’re looking for antiques, head to Olde Towne Slidell, a few minutes away.) downtown covington

The town’s historic district is a walkable feast for shopaholics, with quaint streets, cottage boutiques, restaurants, galleries and so much more. Check out Lee Lane, Rutland and Columbia streets for sure. You’ll find antiques, art, jewelry, gift items, clothing and free parking, too. premier shopping centers, mandeville

The Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic and Anne Taylor Loft are among the shops at this large center on Highway 190. river chase shopping center, covington

Located at I-12 and Highway 21, the center beckons with Best Buy, Marshall’s, Target, Lane Bryant and more.

(Restaurants and a multiplex movie theater, too.) pinnacle nord du lac, covington

Find Kohl’s, Kirkland’s and Academy here, as well as specialty shops like Ban Soleil and Bra Genie. I-12 at Pinnacle Parkway.

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Shopping Ops

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outique and antique shops are sprinkled all around the Northshore. You’ll see them on your way to the large shopping plazas, so be sure to stop and browse and meet a friendly local shopkeeper. You’ll find all sorts of treasures you’ll want to take home. Looking for something out of the ordinary?

st. tammany souvenirs jose balli

Sterling silver Spanish Moss pendant 3424 us-190, mandeville

joseballi.com

abita brewery

Abita Cooking Louisiana True Cookbook

166 barbee road, abita springs

abita.com

miss emma’s famous pralines

Pralines

705 old spanish trail, slidell

emmafamouspralines.myshopify.com kenney seafood

Schwings SOS Oystershells

400 pontchartrain drive, slidell

sosshells.com

Consider monk-made soaps and candles from the St. Joseph Abbey Gift Shop; Abita Beer cookbooks, growlers, t-shirts and other merch from the Abita Brewery Gift Shop; and for delicious, melt-inyour-mouth pralines, Miss Emma’s can’t be beat. You’ll find the smiles come free with your sweet treat.

das schulerhaus

Louisiana-themed merchandise 611 girod st., mandeville

aquistapace’s supermarket

Sal & Judy’s Creole Italian sauces, dressings

125 e 21st ave., covington

salandjudys.com

st. joseph abbey gift store

Monk soap

75376 river road, covington (985) 867-2227 saintjosephabbey.com/gift-shop

PHOTO LAURAGRIER.COM

Honey Island Swamp in Slidell PRSRT STD US Postage PAID Mandeville, LA Permit No. 253

Enter to Win

A Northshore Getaway Go to louisiananorthshore.com/getaway to sign up to receive emails, and you’ll automatically be entered to win a trip for two!

the getaway Two-night stay at a hotel in Slidell Honey Island Swamp Tour with Cajun Encounters Charter Fishing Trip

*restrictions and availability apply

go to louisiananorthshore .com/explore for more vacation ideas .

PHOTO LAURAGRIER.COM

Northshore culinary & brewery basket