For David Hoddle, it’s just a five-minute drive from his suburban Baton Rouge home to the rolling wilderness and solitude along the Amite and Comite rivers.
Where the two rivers meet, just a little north of Florida Boulevard on the eastern edge of the parish, BREC opened Frenchtown Road Conservation Area, its largest park, late last year.
“Every time I come out here, it’s a little different,” says Hoddle. “I’m always excited to come out and see what’s changed.”
He recently helped BREC set up geocaching sites along Frenchtown’s trails, which can help bring more hikers to the relatively new park. Geocaching is like a scavenger hunt in a public space or park using a GPS app.
Amanda Nichols, BREC naturalist, says Frenchtown currently has more than three miles of trails through the hardwoods and sycamore groves, some with overlooks along both rivers, but stresses that the trail system is still very primitive, with no public facilities other than parking and signage at the trailhead.
“A lot of people think that, it being a BREC park as opposed to a large state park or federal park, it will be a little more user friendly,” she says. “But it’s 500 acres—that’s a lot of raw, forested area.”
Starting this month, BREC will host monthly walks through Frenchtown where “you can pick the brain of one of our naturalists,” Nichols says. All the more reason to head outdoors this fall. Find out more at brec.org.—Benjamin Leger
The 13th Gate celebrates its 13th year this season. Founder Dwayne Sanburn says he and the Midnight Productions crew got to work on the special anniversary immediately after last year’s successful run—which included a movie set-worthy London street during the height of Jack the Ripper paranoia.
After polling customers, Sanburn decided to add a clown back to the downtown 13th Gate this year. The clown’s demented house is the final fright of the walk-thru attraction. “It’s the haunted house at the end of the lane,” he says, and you can practically hear him grinning over the phone as he describes it. “There’s no electricity inside, and there’s a storm raging outside. The only way you can see is when the lightning strikes.”
Sanburn says new effects and scares have also been added to the London area, the lobby and—across the street—the outdoor Necropolis 13. “We try to outdo ourselves every year,” he says. “We decided to go for the throat this year.”
The 13th Gate is open Thursdays-Saturdays all month and all Halloween week. midnightproduction.com—Matthew Sigur
A mid-century icon is getting a makeover this month when 18 local artists debut their re-imagined Eames chairs. Art Melt runner-up Patrick Tiek, pop artist TJ Black and muralist and shoe designer Marc Verret are among the local talents chosen to use the classic, molded plastic seats for their latest works of art.
Verret, who creates art under the name Marc Fresh, geared his vintage, mint-tinted piece to the event’s largely female audience. “It needed to be eye-catching and bold in order to draw attention amongst the crowd and the other chairs,” Verret says. “The phrase Sittin Pretty’ gives it a fun, humorous, sassy title.”
The chairs will be on display for auction Oct. 8 at Blitzen Bash, the kick-off party for the Junior League’s Hollydays event held at the River Center. Proceeds benefit a variety of Junior League community charity projects. hollydays.org and juniorleaguebr.org
Other events to check out this month (and early next month).
Brew at the Zoo, Oct. 10: Taste more than 130 craft beers while checking out the zoo’s exhibits and listening to local band West Without. brzoobrew.org
Prospect.3, starting Oct. 25: The New Orleans-based arts biennial includes companion exhibits at more than a dozen Baton Rouge venues.
Haints, Haunts and Halloween, Oct. 26: LSU Rural Life Museum hosts a country fair-themed afternoon of wagon rides, games, trick-or-treating and more. discoverburden.com
10/31 Consortium Halloween Parade, Nov. 1: While it takes place the day after Halloween, the Dia de los Muertos-themed parade downtown will still be full of costumed revelry. 1031consortium.com
Louisiana Book Festival, Nov. 1: The Baton Rouge-based event continues to grow with a laundry list of literary leaders.
