La Salle Park and Lafreniere Park (Metairie, LA) -- November 2019

 We’d come to Metairie to visit some of Lauren’s friends.  It was just after dark when we arrived at Lynn’s place, so we didn’t get a good view of the area until the next day.  The one of the “main drags” of the city was Veteran’s Blvd, where all the commercial places were (Outback, Barnes & Noble, and such).  We were staying a few streets south at a place just off of Airline Drive, which was much more residential (with the businesses which support it).  Just a short distance down the road from Lynn’s place was La Salle Park, where we made sure to take Milo for walks in the morning.  It was a nice grassy and shady metropolitan park, which had the Jefferson Performing Arts Center nearby, as well as the Ochsner Sports Center (which was the training camp for the New Orleans Saints).

 I was being sociable, and Lynn was setting the agenda, we didn’t explore as many of the places I would’ve liked to.  The intent was we’d come back frequently and check out other parts of the city.  During lunch time I would get and drive around to try some of the local establishments.  One place I enjoyed and hit twice was Lee’s Hamburgers on Metairie Drive a short distance east of where we were staying (close to Codifer Blvd).  I enjoyed the authentic atmosphere there, as opposed to the one to the west of Lynn’s place (which felt kind of “corporate”).  Also, I was amused at a particular street sign I had to drive past to get to the location I liked.

 Also while we were there, checked out Lafreniere Park, which was close to Veteran’s Blvd.  This was a larger park with more development.  In addition to a performance stage and a large pond network, we noticed the park was filled little habitats constructed for the stray cat population to give them some shelter and feeders for dry food.  Interesting that how Austin prides itself on being “animal friendly” won’t do something like this.

 Anyone whose been to Metairie please don’t shoot me for what I’m about to say.  The section of Airline Drive down by Lynn’s place reminded me a lot of Sunset Beach (which I dove through frequently when I went to California for work).  Just substitute Airline Drive for Pacific Coast Highway, and to the south was ocean one block away as opposed to the Gulf a few miles away.  It evoked the same feelings I had there (I liked Sunset Beach), so Metairie felt very comfortable and familiar to me, even though I’d never been there before.  Yeah, you’ll never see evacuation signs on the Pacific Coast, but it just added to my enjoyment of the area.  I look forward to going back and experiencing more of what this place has to offer.