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          Order a Guide |
Three-day Motorcoach Itinerary
Day 1 Begin your day with shopping and sweet sampling at Slidell’s Bayou Country General Store. The store offers a vast array of Louisiana-themed items, from spices to decorations. We promise you won’t go home empty-handed. Then head to Passionate Platter, also in Slidell. It features cooking classes, herb garden tours and a catering cafe. Meander through the hibiscus herb room filled with varieties of teas, coffees and kitchen/garden frivolities. Fresh herb plants are also available. Next, enjoy a two-hour narrated boat tour in one of America's most pristine cypress river swamps. Native naturalist guides will teach you the history, folklore and ecology of the Honey Island Swamp and its inhabitants. The evening will conclude with your group dining at Palmettos on the Bayou on beautiful Bayou Bonfouca in Slidell. Day 2 Wake up and head to Madisonville’s Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum. View boat models, highlighted by a video exploring origins and adaptations of the local watercraft. Dioramas depict frontier life on the bayou and the commercial uses of ships called luggers and schooners. Enjoy the sounds of the river in the 2/3-scale paddle-wheeler/theater featuring an award-winning video presentation about Louisiana’s maritime heritage.
Next, find your way to downtown Covington for a walk back in time. For more than a century, Covington was a favorite spot for commerce and for wealthy vacationing New Orleanians. Today, many of the picturesque town's historic homes have been restored as antiques and specialty shops, art galleries and an eclectic selection of restaurants, making the downtown area a popular destination. Don’t miss the H. J. Smith's Son General Store and Museum, family-owned and operated since 1876. The Covington museum houses hundreds of items from the past, including a 20-foot-long cypress dugout boat, a cast-iron casket, old farming tools, a 1920s gas pump, a hand-operated wooden washing machine, and much more. Finish your day with an elegant dinner at Benedict’s Plantation in Mandeville. Day 3 Spend the morning on a one-hour guided tour of Covington’s Insta-Gator Ranch & Hatchery, Louisiana’s only licensed alligator ranch that’s open to the public. Learn about the industry from hatchling to handbag. Feed some of the 2,000 gators swimming in crystal clear water or hold a baby reptile. Make your way to Pontchartrain Vineyards. Located just north of Covington, the award-winning vineyards produces table wines in the classic French tradition. A tour includes private tasting held in an Old World tasting room. Have lunch at Abita Brew Pub, the original site of the Abita Beer Brewing Company. Then travel to Madisonville to see the Otis House, a late 19th-century Queen Anne-style home that was once the residence of a lumber baron. Save time to explore the grounds, which are part of the Fairview-Riverside State Park. Your travels in St. Tammany culminate as you dine at Annadele’s Plantation in Covington.  | |||||||||||
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