Anything cool to do in Shreveport, Louisiana?

[Tyler Durden]

I'm going to be stuck there a couple of days this week. Most likely Wednesday and Thursday Night.

No hookers or strip bars, thank you. A Comedy Club and maybe somewhere I can get some good gumbo.

[av8rdave]

1. No

[Tyler Durden]

2. C'mon. I got one "NO" so far....

Sounds like a "portable DVD player" night to me.

Anyone know if you can take your laptop on the plane yet? I tolerate flying poorly and maybe a film and about 4 drinks may help.

[av8rdave]

4. Sorry, man...just telling it like it is

I used to do a lot of layovers there. Admittedly, I don't gamble much, so the casinos never had much draw for me. If you like $5 minimum blackjack with the cards machine shuffled or out of the shoe, there is something to do.

[jus_the_facts]

3. Go gamble...the casinos are what's happenin' there....

:hi:

[Tyler Durden]

5. I'm already broke.

I won't find anything entertaining in racking up some credit card debt!

[jus_the_facts]

6. Then I'm outta ideas....that's what's hot in Shreveport nowadays.....

....hope your stay in my state doesn't suck too bad for you...the only cuisine advice I can give...an exceptional Mexican place called Pancho's...s'been there since I was in kindergarden circa '71-'72...I haven't been since the late '90s and enjoyed it that time...so it must still be pretty good if they're still in business after all these years! :D

[Tyler Durden]

7. Oh well.

Maybe I'll look it up, but the Tex/Mex in Houston was not only OUTSTANDING, but it was the only reason for going there.

That, the "Laff Stop," and the Montrose district.

[SacredCow]

8. They do have a couple of good theatres...

the Marjorie Lyons (which is associated with Centenary University) and the River City Repertory.

I don't think the RCR has anything going right now, but I don't know about Centenary.

[leftofthedial]

9. you can sit around and make jokes about Lafayette

[SoyCat]

16. At least Lafayette has Grant Street Dancehall...just saying

[Courtesy Flush]

17. Don't forget the Blue Moon.

If they'd asked for things to do in Lafayette, it wouldn't be so hard to come up with something. And Lafayette is a fraction of the size of Shreveport. People rarely visit Lafayette and say they hated it.

Just sayin'

[leftofthedial]

18. You kiddin?

Lafayette has it going on . . . food, music . . .

It's the rubes in Shreveport who are the butt of this joke.

[SoyCat]

20. ...of course! I'm crazy about Lafayette.

[aaronbees]

10. Hmmmm...

My advice is to get out and see the Red River if you have time during the day. I'm about an hour north of Shreveport but haven't spent much time in town -- mostly pasing through on the way to New Orleans. I hear the riverfront district in town is nice -- clubs and restaurants and such. There's one race track, Louisiana Downs. I imagine there's some good music in town but not sure of the hotspots; if you like blues there's probably something good. Travel down to Natchitoches if you can - just a little ways south and a neat town, oldest settlement from the Louisiana Purchase.

[Courtesy Flush]

11. Shreveport isn't Cajun

I'm not sure I'd order gumbo in Shreveport. They only joined the Cajun bandwagon when it got popular. They're nothing at all like South Louisiana, where the Cajuns live.

[displacedtexan]

12. Eat catfish at Smith's Cross lake.Inn

http://www.smithscrosslakeinn.com/default.asp

[Joe Fields]

13. Yes, as a matter of fact: leave!

[SoyCat]

15. Yep! I've been there once and hated it.

[nosillies]

14. OK, some advice from someone who's from there

I don't live there currently, but I go back home every couple of months (was there a couple of weeks ago), so my advice should be pretty current. There are lots of good places to eat and play in Shreveport -- including lots of good cajun food. No, not just wannabe cajun food, but real good cajun food.

The casinos are hard to miss, if you're interested in that sort of thing.

The racetrack can also be fun. I don't know the racing schedule, but their site is www.ladowns.com

There used to be lots to do in the downtown Red River district, but some places have closed. There is a comedy club down there -- http://www.funnyboneusa.com/shreveport/default.htm

As far as good restaurants go, there are too many to mention. For gumbo -- Herby K's (but don't go there without speaking to someone in the area first -- in a bad part of town, and not always wise to go there, depending on recent crimes), Pete Harris, Ralph and Kacoo's (though they've changed the menu, and it may not be up to its usual quality), Blind Tiger, or the Oyster Bar. A previous poster mentioned Smith's, and it has great fried fish (fried anything, really).

There are lots of other great places for all types of food, from dives to very fine dining. Feel free to PM me if you want lots of details.

[jobycom]

19. My sister was born there, so apparently someone

found something interesting to do. Not sure what ELSE there is to do there.

[Courtesy Flush]

21. But was she concieved there?

Let's not read too much into that.

[jobycom]

22. Probably

She was adopted, making it seem less likely that her parents were wealthy travelers.

[Gold Metal Flake]

23. Rent a car, take a drive.

Go down to Natchitoches and get some meat pies. Walk along the riverfront, check out the old buildings. See the lakes. Drive back. Bout it.

Might want to go to an old looking record store and look for indy papers and then look for blues music clubs.