Kyle Edmiston: [00:01] It's not a podcast studio. This is a multimedia studio that can do a lot of things positive, both for Visit Lake Charles, but more importantly, for the destination. And so keep watching, keep listening, and come visit us in Lake Charles.

Brady Renard: [00:22] Thanks for joining us in Louisiana's Playground Podcast, your guide to everything there is to see, taste, and do in Lake Charles. I'm Brady Renard.

Jillian Corder: And I'm Jillian Corder. We're excited to bring you the authentic stories and experiences of Southwest Louisiana so that you have all the tools that you need to explore it.

Brady Renard: Yep, and another terrific show for you today. As you can see, we're coming to you in HD, in 4K, and however you decide to watch it. On your phone, on your TV, on your, what is it? Samsung refrigerator. If you're streaming on YouTube to your Samsung refrigerator, what's up?

Jillian Corder: People do that.

Brady Renard: Somebody put Skyrim on it one time and so I've been obsessed with it ever since.

Jillian Corder: [01:00] That's our next refrigerator. We can't afford it.

Brady Renard: Yeah, no, we can't. But episode one hundred, and we wanted to do something special today. The hundred reasons we love Lake Charles.

Jillian Corder: Yep. It was really easy to come up with a hundred. It was actually hard to pare it down to one hundred.

Brady Renard: I agree. And so a fun show. Hope you kinda stick around. It was a lot of fun putting it together and talking it through. But as you know, before we get to that, we gotta do something else.

Jillian Corder: It's a taste of Southwest Louisiana, a segment that we like to call Envie Eats.

Brady Renard: [01:38] And we call it that because that's its name. Envie Eats is the chance that we get to go and taste a restaurant, review it, and really show it off, right? Like it's such an enjoyable experience to get to go to these restaurants. And now we get to kind of show you the images, as you'll see on your screen, from our time. This week we headed to Tokyo on Nelson Road, which is our only hot pot. So if you don't know what hot pot is, I didn't either. And it was something that I'm now obsessed with. So essentially what you do is you order a broth, and there's I think six different ones that they had on their menu. And so you order this broth and they bring it out, and then you order whatever else you want, from dumplings to actual like hibachi. I mean, their menu is two sides, right? So if you get the hot pot section, you do that. But for hot pots specifically.

Jillian Corder: It does seem like it's right up your alley.

Brady Renard: [02:35] They have meats, whether it be seafoods or things like lamb and chicken and beef, and they switch a little bit for lunch and dinner so that it's not the same menu. Then they have a ton of different veggies and some different carbohydrates, and they bring it out on a platter to you and it comes out raw. Everything is raw, and you put it into your hot pot, and they have little burners on the table. And so you get to put on the pot and you heat up your broth.

Brady Renard: [03:04] And they have like a little, hey, this should take about two minutes, this should take about three minutes. And you let it cook down in it and you pull it out, and then you can make your own sauce while you're there too. And there's some different recipes for making your own sauce. And then you just cook and you eat at the table together. And it's like one of the coolest experiences that I don't know how it isn't like everywhere.

Jillian Corder: Yeah, exactly. This is like hibachi to another level, 'cause it's like a cooking class mixed in with having a good meal somewhere. So it's fun.

Brady Renard: Almost. Sort of.

Brady Renard: [03:36] And it's all fresh ingredients, and like the fish was incredible. I now don't know if I've ever eaten boiled fish before, but it was phenomenal.

Jillian Corder: You're going back again today?

Brady Renard: Yes, and tomorrow. And the next day. And in fact, it's the only hot pot between here and Houston, then there's one in Lafayette. So they're like across I-10, like this is the stop until Houston if you're going west, or Lafayette if you're going east.

Brady Renard: [04:03] And so that's kind of why they decided to open it. And so he wanted to share, that's what the owner was telling me. He said, we've waited until a point that we feel like people are open enough to try something new. And so it's been doing well and it's awesome. I mean, for me, I literally had everything. I had almost every vegetable on the menu. Broccoli, of course, was my favorite.

Brady Renard: [04:32] And there was a lot of like even items that are not very common here, that you can't go to the grocery store and find. And so some of those were awesome to try as well. And I mean, my personal favorite was probably the fish. I really enjoyed the pork and the lamb as well. And so each of those were so good and different. And I tried in like the butter, the more buttery, chicken based sauce. Like they're all chicken based. Right. And then there's one that's kind of much more hot, and like there's a ton of peppers in it. It's almost like the vegetables and the meats need to be in different ones because they're just different flavors that you're getting. And so it's just such a cool experience. And then the way that you order it is cool. But in addition to that, if you don't want all of that, they have the regular menu.

Jillian Corder: Which is what I ordered from. I had sushi, got a crunch roll, you know, like one of my favorite kinds. And they are able to kind of make those to order. You know, I have an allergy, unfortunately, to avocado, which is the saddest thing on the planet, I'm aware. But so they were able to accommodate that for my sushi, which is amazing. And then I also had the crab puff.

Jillian Corder: [05:38] You can put cream cheese and crab inside something that's deep fried like heaven, I'm in. So it's really good. So whether you're getting the hot pot inside of the menu or you're ordering something else a little more traditional, maybe you're a little afraid to do the hot pot your first time out or something. Don't be afraid. But if so, their menu is extensive and they've got a lot, and it's just a fun place to go.

Brady Renard: [06:00] Yeah, it was a lot of fun, and it's definitely a place, I got home and I told Philip about it and he was like, Dad, let's go today. So at some point we're going.

Jillian Corder: May have to age up a little bit before he can go and cook his own food in there. But yeah, a fun place for sure.

Brady Renard: [06:18] Now, from a great meal to a great guest, we do something a little special, even so, with this new format, new episode, everything. We're even changing the format just a little bit today. As the president, CEO, and now the third time that you've been on the show, Mr. Kyle Edmiston wanted to come in, and before we get into our topic about the hundred things we love about Lake Charles, he kind of wanted to say a few things about our studio and the podcast, and kind of, I don't know, maybe brag a little.

Kyle Edmiston: Yeah, there you go. Just begging for compliments, aren't you, Brady? I like that. I like the way that you did that. But no, yes, I did ask to have just a couple of minutes, because fortunately Brady had me on in episode one. And we were in a boardroom with portable microphones, and today we're in episode one hundred.

Kyle Edmiston: [07:11] And he has significantly upgraded. He's brought Jillian into our podcast studio.

Jillian Corder: Thank you. Thank you.

Kyle Edmiston: Yes. And we're certainly happy to have her as a part of the team. But also, again, the surroundings. It's not a podcast studio. This is a multimedia studio that can do a lot of things positive, both for Visit Lake Charles, but more importantly, for the destination. And so really proud of where the two of you have brought this particular show, the podcast, but also just again how you've elevated what we do and how we do it from within our office. And so a big thank you. And then to those out there listening, watching, I think Brady's got some things on tap with the multimedia studio that will be even bigger and greater in the future. So keep watching, keep listening, and come visit us in Lake Charles.

Jillian Corder: Well, and can I just say one thing? Thank you. 'Cause you know, this is the big boss in the room who gets to decide, you know, how the money is spent, right? And where you're putting your resources. And I think upgrading something like this is so important and shows your investment in Lake Charles and Southwest Louisiana. So thank you.

Brady Renard: Much appreciated. And to also mention, as you talk about some things coming down the line, one thing that we're looking to be able to do is give our partners in the community, hotels, restaurants, business owners, attractions, that if they want to be able to use this space for something, that they can to promote themselves and promote Lake Charles, they can. And so that's what we're really hoping that this becomes, is a community connector, if you will.

Kyle Edmiston: Well, it's a great space that we're able to utilize within our office here on the lakefront. And like I said, you've done a great job the four years that you've been here now. It seems like just yesterday that you were starting, and it's been four years. But again, I love the idea of our community partners being able to come in and utilize the space and the technology that we now have available. I didn't have to pay a single thing to say any of those nice things. I didn't pay a single thing.

Jillian Corder: [09:17] It's so nice. Way to go, Kyle.

Brady Renard: [09:25] And so before we get into our episode about the hundred things, is there one thing that really stands out to you? Your favorite thing about Lake Charles?

Kyle Edmiston: Well, you touched on it when you introed us in. You know, I love our culinary offerings. We have just a tremendous amount of locally owned restaurants, and you can go from Cajun to Tex-Mex to all types of servings all around, and in different spices to different tastes to different styles. And what we have in the culinary is, in my opinion, second to none.

Jillian Corder: I agree.

Brady Renard: Thank you for joining us, and let's get to the show.

Brady Renard: And now that we've moved places here on the set a little bit, wanted to spread out, spread my wings a little bit if you don't mind. Excuse me. Let's talk about it. A hundred reasons why. I thought it was so fitting for episode one hundred to talk about that. And obviously, if we're sitting here and listing a hundred, it's gonna be a little ridiculous. So what I thought we could do is we put them in buckets. So as we drafted this list together, I've then organized them into buckets. So let's start it off with bucket one. The food that started it all. There's ten items here: gumbo, boiled crawfish, Darrell's po'boys, fried seafood, fresh Gulf shrimp, Cajun food, Creole food, beignets, boudin balls, and cracklins. What do you think about it?

Jillian Corder: [10:50] Mine is cracklins, because you know I'm not a fan, but for everybody else, yes. That I get. I mean, that's your top ten things of why Southwest Louisiana is so cool and stands out, and it's food.

Brady Renard: Sure. Yeah. I mean, there's so many great flavors and seasonings and so much that you can do just with those ten things, and really it's such an authentic identity portion of what we are.

Jillian Corder: It is. And to be honest, gosh. Did you put these in your order out of curiosity?

Brady Renard: No. Yes, well, shocker. And look, po'boys should have been its own, but specifically my favorite in town is Darrell's po'boys.

Jillian Corder: [11:35] Really, really hard to beat for me. That's like my go-to. When we first moved here, we ate a Darrell's po'boy once a week.

Brady Renard: Every Saturday.

Jillian Corder: [12:02] We realized that's not sustainable, because I was starting to become the size of the table. And so it just wasn't good. We had to slow down a little bit. But yeah, I mean, I think it's what stands out so much in Southwest Louisiana. You nailed it with the seafood, the Creole, the Cajun, that mix, that intersection of ideas. You know, there's like Mexi-Cajun out there. Like there's just so many things to discover. And you don't get bored with the food here.

Brady Renard: Not at all. Ever. So bucket two, the water life. We're talking fishing, boating, crabbing, the Calcasieu River, it's right here in our backyard, hello. And kayaking those bayous. So that's eleven through fifteen.

Jillian Corder: That's it, this is the easiest way to do a top one hundred list, is just to list a bunch of stuff and say that's eleven through fifteen.

Brady Renard: Yeah. And I mean, at the end of the day, as we've had our children, spending more time on the water has been something that we've really enjoyed. I've got a fishing fanatic on our hands with my son, or our son.

Jillian Corder: He's mine too. Our son is obsessed with fishing, and we normally go, I mean, every weekend or every other weekend at least. He's the reason why, you know, his grandpa has gone out and bought a boat, because he's decided that we have to have one for the kiddo. But yeah, I mean, and I grew up, I'm gonna just, sorry, you didn't, but I grew up round these parts, if you will, and weekend

Jillian Corder: [13:14] trips to Holly Beach or Rutherford and staying out there camping, fishing into the Gulf. Like that's just a way of life, and that's how I grew up. And I just couldn't trade that for anything. There's something so special. I romanticize it, I know, but there's something so special about the beach and about being near the water that I just wouldn't want to trade.

Brady Renard: So would you think that maybe bucket three should be like beaches and the vibe of it?

Jillian Corder: Seems like we just ride right into that one. Yeah.

Brady Renard: And so 16 through 23, we're talking the beaches. Slow town, relaxed beach town energy with none of the rush.

Jillian Corder: My favorite here, sunsets over the lake. We have the best sunsets in Lake Charles. I don't care what anybody says. If somebody ever argues that, they're wrong. They just are. Sorry. The sunsets here in Lake Charles truly are the absolute best.

Brady Renard: [13:57] They're the best.

Brady Renard: [14:05] Well, in addition to this, you had mentioned it, Holly Beach road trips, overnight, sometimes camping.

Jillian Corder: Yes, at Rutherford.

Brady Renard: The Creole Nature Trail, it's a full day adventure. Gator watching. Also seashelling on the beach. And then Creole Nature Trail Adventure Point. So all of those I grouped into beaches and the vibe of it, because I think you can't talk about the beaches without talking about the road to get there, the Creole Nature Trail, some of the stops you're gonna make along the

Brady Renard: [14:35] way, and the experiences and the memories of having those trips.

Jillian Corder: Yes, and I mean, it's another thing. We talk about it with our kids a lot, 'cause we do this with our kids a lot. But we used to do this as, you know, just two grown-ups before we had kids, as, you know, put the top down.

Brady Renard: Hard to call us grown-ups at that time, right?

Jillian Corder: Yeah. But we still felt like we pretended to be grown-ups. We felt like kids. And this is a way to kind of still feel like a kid again, right? So we would take that trip down south to Cameron, you go and you look at the alligators, you stop, you fish maybe a little bit, you head onto the beach, you get some good shells that you're gonna take home. You know, you fill up your little shell jar. And just nothing really beats that. It's a cool, relaxed weekend.

Brady Renard: And the next bucket is, you know, maybe when you're done with those weekends. How about some of the glitz and the glamour, the casino resorts?

Jillian Corder: [15:29] Yes. It's nice to get dressed up every once in a while, and that's where you can do that.

Brady Renard: We're talking L'Auberge, Golden Nugget, Horseshoe, Delta Downs. And then within those, we're talking the world class dining, live entertainment on any given weekend, and then of course the spa treatments, and probably my favorite of all, the lazy river days. And so that's twenty-four through thirty-one.

Jillian Corder: That's easy. Twenty-four through thirty-one, the twenties, if you will, are spent at the casino. And that is such a fun time. You know, you go out there, you go to the casino, we give each other a budget, what we can spend on the penny slots. We're not big gamblers. But you know, go and have a good time and get away.

Brady Renard: [16:13] It's a getaway.

Jillian Corder: [16:20] It truly is. And something about Lake Charles, Southwest Louisiana, that's so cool is we have this crazy dynamic where you're outdoors, it's Cajun country, it's Sportsman's Paradise. And then it's the glitz and glam. It's the total opposite whenever you're inside one of the casinos. It just feels like a different world, which is really fun. You can do both in the same day.

Brady Renard: Yeah, and it's great for obviously visitors, but also those of us that live here. It's a staycation, if you will. It's a getaway. And so having that opportunity in your backyard.

Jillian Corder: Don't have to go to Vegas. Hey, we were just called a Vegas dupe, right? You don't have to go to Vegas to have that kind of good time.

Brady Renard: And I agree. So yeah, so that's why it landed there. Bucket five, you mentioned outdoors, for items thirty-two through thirty-six. This is where they fall. We're talking Sam Houston Jones State Park, the great public golf courses that we have here. We have great private courses too, but the public courses for everyone else. Our neighborhood parks for the kids. Grosse Savanne and the eco-lodge experience that they offer. And then this one I did for a lot of other people. We're not as big of a fan, but duck hunting is so good here and so many love it. While I'm not necessarily a huge partaker, I can't just sit here and ignore it.

Jillian Corder: [17:30] Not at all, 'cause you ate duck egg rolls last week, so.

Brady Renard: You gotta appreciate it. You gotta appreciate it. I do.

Jillian Corder: And duck gumbo as well. We're not the biggest on hunting, fishing's more our speed. But yeah, the outdoors, I mean, they call this Sportsman's Paradise for a reason, you know. And here in Southwest Louisiana, there is just no end to it. It's amazing out there. And some of these, like you said, the neighborhood parks for kids. I know that seems like so simple, but we have some really incredible parks, even the ones right here on the lakefront. Millennium Park is one of our kids' favorites. We've got some really fun stuff.

Brady Renard: And we hear about it from other parents, that they're disappointed in their cities, that sometimes are larger than ours, that their park system isn't as good. And so I really appreciate that my son keeps a catalog of like, I want to go to this park today, I want to go to this one today, because they each have a little bit of their own flair and they're continuously getting better. We talked to Mike Castille on the podcast about it in a previous episode. And so that's a focus.

Jillian Corder: [18:30] And the fact that Philip's now five years old and there's still parks he hasn't been to yet. He's like, hey, let's go to a new one, and we, you know, pull up the map, let's find a new one today. So there's just no end to them. It's really great.

Brady Renard: While you're at the park, there's nothing better than having nice weather around. And so bucket six is weather. Because we have winters that are short and rarely see snow.

Jillian Corder: I like that. Same.

Brady Renard: The wind off the lake is a lifesaver on a warm summer day. Spring, it's like a gift, right? Just as when you're tired of being cold for like two weeks, spring is here and it's beautiful.

Jillian Corder: [19:08] Spring lasts about two weeks as well.

Brady Renard: This one's not as much weather, but it's about the seasons. Crawfish season is our fifth season.

Jillian Corder: It is. Yeah. Some people will say hurricane season, others will say it's crawfish. They go kind of hand in hand. But yeah, I love the weather here. I always tell people, at one point in my life I said I couldn't live above Interstate 20, because that's just too far for me, it's too chilly. And now I say that I can't live above Interstate 10. Like this is it for me. Like I can't do it, it's too cold. You know, our spring and fall are miniaturized, they're kind of short, and you get to summer, but man, it's the best, and spending it here, there's nothing like it. We got a lot of snowbirds that come in, just, well, the people too. You know, the people that are traveling snowbirds. You get it? Thanks. We have a lot that come in though for the summers here, and it's incredible.

Brady Renard: [20:03] So bucket seven is our festivals and downtown energy. That's items forty-one through forty-six. Well, we're talking Mardi Gras. Downtown festival scene just in general. There are so many that can be lumped in. We could almost make a hundred lists of just the best hundred festivals that we have here.

Jillian Corder: I'll be leaving work downtown on a Friday night and all of a sudden the streets are closed and I'm not really sure why. And there's like a new thing that's happening, some street festival. So it's pretty blink and you.

Brady Renard: You blink and you missed it. Right. Yeah. Walking the lakefront. There's nothing more relaxing than that, right? The lakefront amphitheater, getting it as a concert venue, like seeing an act there. Riverside Park. We didn't want to highlight every single park specifically, but that one feels so different from all the other ones. It's my favorite. We've talked about it a lot here on this podcast. Cal-Cam Fair. Right? And so all those make up for it.

Brady Renard: [21:02] Talked about it here on the podcast as well. You know, so much of these experiences, I try to make this show an encyclopedia of sorts for experiences. To where if you listen, you learn. And I love it when someone says, hey, I went to that restaurant that you guys had on Envie Eats, or we ended up going to this thing and it was just like you guys said it was. And there's no better recommendation than seeing that type of joy that someone else is having that we obviously had first.

Jillian Corder: You don't want to contain it. We want everyone to know how awesome Lake Charles is instead of just you and I knowing it.

Brady Renard: Yeah, spread it with the world, right? And this isn't just a list that like AI helped create, right? This is like a real list of things that we really

Jillian Corder: do regularly. Mardi Gras in Southwest Louisiana, the children's parade is our favorite, obviously, because we have kids. But it's absolutely a wonderful time. The festival scene, like we talked about. Walking the lakefront. I used to walk the lakefront almost, you know, as exercise, but also because it's just to wind down that way. There's nothing that beats it. Riverside Park, we're there nearly every weekend. We spend a lot of time there. And then the Cal-Cam Fair, I'll never forget going down the slide, you know, several months pregnant, going down the Cal-Cam Fair slide, and just remembering that I used to come to this same fair when I was a kid. Like it's just a really cool experience.

Brady Renard: [22:26] And now you bring your kid to it. Yeah. And so that's awesome too. Very cool. That circle moment. So, and within a lot of the festivals and the downtown energy is the music and the culture attached. And so for items 47 to 51, we're looking at zydeco music, Cajun music, live music just on a random Tuesday. There's always live music acts somewhere. It's not uncommon to be eating out and be like, oh, there's a band here tonight. And just that energy is contagious, it's infectious, right?

Jillian Corder: I think nothing lifts your spirit and the stress off your shoulders like live music. It doesn't even matter if it's not like your genre or your favorite kind of thing. You could not know this person at all. But when you go to a place, I always think of like Rikenjaks, right? We go on like a random night. We love to sit outside and eat. So we'll go there and then you realize, oh, there's somebody playing. And it's just such a vibe. It's such a cool experience.

Brady Renard: 100%. And so then the culture aspect of that, we're talking how Creole and Cajun culture runs through everything here. I love that. And then we kind of touched on it, the juxtaposition of our luxury amenities and down home charm. As you said, you could be sitting at a resort in the morning, and then for lunch in the afternoon, you're going to a plate lunch spot that is as authentic as it comes.

Jillian Corder: Yeah. Like Lake Charles doesn't have to be just one category of travel. It doesn't have to be just a nightlife place or just a place for food or just a place for families or just a place for single young people. Why not everything? And I think that's what we do really well here.

Brady Renard: I agree. And then from there we look at bucket number nine, which is the history that you can still see. Like the Charpentier Historic District. Imperial Calcasieu Museum, Historic City Hall, the architecture downtown that has survived everything.

Jillian Corder: [24:19] Everything you could think of.

Brady Renard: [24:27] And then the last bit of this one, items fifty-two through fifty-six, is the stories that the city carries that most people still haven't even heard yet. I'm hearing a new story sometime about Lake Charles, it seems like, weekly.

Jillian Corder: Yeah. I grew up not far from here, right? This is kind of home base for me. And for the last eleven years we've lived here exclusively, and yet still I hear new stories all the time about Lake Charles history. In fact, just this morning, no kidding, a lot of stuff from prior to nineteen ten, when the fires happened in Lake Charles, was just donated to McNeese's archives this morning. So, anyways, really interesting stuff there. So if you're kind of a history buff.

Brady Renard: It's a cool place to do that. And there's walking tours and things like that to kind of get your feel on history.

Brady Renard: Yeah, so when we say survived everything, we mean things from natural disasters like hurricanes to man-made disasters like the downtown fire. And so much that you can still see, and it's historic at the same time, and it's very cool. It's awesome. Now bucket ten, we move to for the families. We're looking at items fifty-seven through sixty-three here. Port Wonder Children's Museum. Can't beat it. The parks and green spaces built for kids that we have here. The youth sports scene and how good the facilities are within that. How about raising kids somewhere that they can actually go outside year round.

Jillian Corder: [25:45] Right. We rarely have to tell the kids, hey, go get outside.

Brady Renard: January through December. Yes. You know, and being able to do that.

Jillian Corder: We had the water slide up in the backyard like in December last year. Which is awful.

Brady Renard: Family focused events and festivals that bring the community together. Places like the Lazy Gator Waterpark and SPAR Waterpark in Sulphur. Each of those are separate entries, but that's items fifty-seven through sixty-three.

Jillian Corder: Those are great. Lazy Gator, man, what a charm in Westlake. That's a great spot. And Pinederosa Park, which is our kids' favorite. If only we lived in Westlake. It's nifty if you live in Westlake, you get a discount on the tickets at the Lazy Gator. But either way, it's worth going to. It's got a lazy river that even the parents.

Brady Renard: [27:03] And look, there's so many things on this list, if you haven't noticed by now, that you're like, well, you didn't mention blank. Well, these are the places that I've tried to separate it. And we wanted this to be an authentic list of things. I mean, I've sorted through so many different ideas to try to come down to this list, between our ideas together and everything. And so these are the ones that really show you what a weekend in the Renard house looks like.

Jillian Corder: Yeah, in case you were that curious.

Brady Renard: So bucket eleven is getting here and getting around.

Jillian Corder: I love this one. Can I talk about this one? Okay, great. Okay, so one of my favorite movie quotes, we're two weeks away from everywhere. Right? From O Brother, Where Art Thou, right? We're three hours away from everything big, right? So Houston is a quick trip. Did one just yesterday, right? Day trip, easy. New Orleans, same thing. Three hours, two hours away from Baton Rouge. So if you're trying to make it to a major airport for whatever reason, or a train over in New Orleans, this is the place to be 'cause it's so quick and easy. Also, we have our own regional airport. Super easy to get around. Connecting flights to Houston, you're on a plane for like ten seconds and then you're there.

Brady Renard: [27:45] Yeah, and that's what is awesome, is that you'd get on a plane in Lake Charles and you could be in either Dallas or Houston. So we currently have two direct flights, but from those two you can get pretty much ninety-five percent of anywhere else in the entire world from either of those airports.

Jillian Corder: No, I absolutely love it. And truly the flight over to Houston and the flight over to Dallas both are less than an hour. You just like.

Brady Renard: Yeah, they're very quick. By the time you sit down, they're like, all right, you can unbuckle your belt. So it's like, yeah, I didn't even buckle it yet.

Jillian Corder: It's one of those flights they don't serve you food on 'cause you won't have time to eat it. So great, great thing there.

Brady Renard: [28:20] Let's talk about local business. So it's a bit of the soul, the things that make us tick and go, right? So this is item sixty-seven through seventy. We're talking independent restaurants that have been here for decades. Local business owners who are also your neighbors, the farmers markets and local makers, and Crying Eagle Brewing as kind of a gathering place now, both on the lakefront and then their brewery. I love the fact of having a brewery and everything that kind of goes along with it, because it's not just the beer.

Jillian Corder: Sure. And I think Crying Eagle is also one of those places that's like a really good reflection of what Lake Charles is. We've been talking about the two sides, if you will, to Lake Charles. Two sides. And I think no one's gonna get that reference. And if you do, shout out to you. I think that Crying Eagle really represents what's best, right? You have like this more laid back feel and kind of outside, and you've got this music, and you're, you know, the brewery part of it. And then the Crying Eagle downtown, which is a little more refined, if you will, a little more elevated, it just kind of brings a little something to it. I think that's a good reflection.

Brady Renard: Yeah, and I think kind of splitting those is almost like splitting like a theater actor and then like a hardcore superhero actor in the same person, right? Wouldn't you say that's

Jillian Corder: Do you think we could get Hugh Jackman on this podcast? That's what he's referencing. Do you think we could do that? Hashtag.

Brady Renard: [29:42] No, it's not in the budget. You know what? I'll see what I can do. Hashtag bring Jackman on Louisiana's Playground. Hugh to LP. Let's do that. All right. Bucket thirteen, the community fabric. So it kind of leans in a little bit into bucket twelve, though. But the items that we love here, seventy-one to seventy-three: McNeese State University and what it means to the community, a city that rebuilds after every storm without flinching, and the volunteer culture. I love all three of those in completely different ways, right? Like McNeese is the infrastructure, in terms of so many people locally are McNeese graduates. And so they build the infrastructure there. I don't even have to say anything about the city that rebuilds after the storms. It is so apparent that within a year and a half the city didn't look like we were hit by Laura, because of how many people busted their tails to do it. And then the volunteer culture leans into that one, but also, you go to the high school baseball tournament here over in Sulphur at McMurry Park, you go through it and you'll realize almost every single person there is a volunteer. They are volunteering their time to make sure that this tournament runs smoothly, because it means something to them, that people are here experiencing their culture. They're not paid workers. They're here for free because they want to be here.

Jillian Corder: And that's awesome. And they like other people, and that's cool. This is a short category, if you will, but a big one. It's our identity. It's who we are. Resilient is who we are in this town. And I know people are sick and tired of hearing that word after every hurricane, but it is the thing that best describes who we are and what we are all about here.

Brady Renard: [31:20] I agree. Bucket fourteen is the things that visitors always say. I love this too. The friendliness of strangers, how affordable a weekend is compared to bigger cities, the feeling of being somewhere real and not manufactured. Authentic, huh? The surprise on their faces when they eat certain things here for the first time. The gumbos, the po'boys, and they're like, oh my god. I mean, there's even people from Louisiana that come here and eat.

Jillian Corder: It doesn't taste like this at home. Yeah.

Jillian Corder: [32:07] Exactly. I love hearing from people that are visiting. Sometimes it's even my own family, you know, from Texas, and they're coming over just for a weekend or whatever to visit with family, and they're like, this is pretty good, actually. Whether it's the food or the atmosphere or just the overall vibe, they're like, I get it. I love it when people have that kind of light bulb moment and they're like, I get it now.

Brady Renard: [32:20] I love it. Bucket fifteen are the little things, right? We're getting into the details here.

Jillian Corder: I just realized what number one was on this particular list. Number seventy-eight overall on the list of things that we love about Lake Charles, Brady, is drive-thru

Brady Renard: Daiquiris.

Brady Renard: Right? Like how awesome are drive-through daiquiris. It could have been in bucket fourteen as well, so some of these kind of cross. What about boudin from a gas station that's better than most restaurants, right? Like gas station fare locally is better than most restaurants anywhere else.

Jillian Corder: That is also a novelty.

Jillian Corder: [32:54] You've never had, if you've never had a meat pie from a gas station or a sausage on a stick, then you're just like not living.

Brady Renard: No, exactly. Sunday mornings that feel slower here in the best way. Snowballs in the summer. For those curious, snowball is the same thing as a snow cone, but certain people around here get real touchy about it. Snowballs actually soak up the liquid poured in, versus a snow cone where it just drips to the bottom. That's just ice pieces.

Jillian Corder: [33:23] It's shaved ice with liquid syrup.

Brady Renard: How about king cake season? Right? The best. And then this one was for you: eating outside because the weather actually lets you.

Jillian Corder: [33:37] That's my favorite thing. Top of the list is I get to eat outside. Anywhere we go, Brady knows, if we're talking about where are we gonna go for dinner this weekend, it's can I sit outside? 'Cause if I can't, I don't know that I wanna go. I need to sit outside and eat. It's something in my soul. I just love it. Love it.

Brady Renard: [33:56] Does it have outdoor dining? We're working through it.

Brady Renard: Bucket sixteen, we're looking at the natural beauty that people overlook. We're talking Spanish moss on live oaks, the migratory birds, not just the people, the actual physical birds that fly across the country, and the world even in some aspects, to come through here. What about the marsh at golden hour?

Jillian Corder: Actual birds this time.

Jillian Corder: [34:20] Mm, that's nice. When you're out there riding, that's what we used to do, is just kinda cruise along, right? And there's nothing that beats that when the sun's setting.

Brady Renard: And I know I mentioned Calcasieu River, but this is a free-flowing river, that's increasingly rare in America, is to have that. And so I wanted to make sure to highlight that. Wildflowers on the roadside during the spring. And then our favorite, which is why it falls in here, is the Pintail Wildlife Drive. We've talked about it before. Driving around, seeing the gators in person in their natural habitat. I think the last time I went, I counted over 35. And the kids and I spent two hours looking at alligators.

Jillian Corder: [35:01] You just keep making the loop, man. What is it? A mile and a half.

Brady Renard: We did it in one loop in two hours. Like we just spent, and it's just, it's peaceful. It's awesome, and seeing the gators, it's just fun.

Jillian Corder: It's just life at a different pace, and it's really good. And the gators, the birds down there, the, you know, the flora as well, like the flowers that we see. Gorgeous. You spot a nutria every once in a while when you go down there. It's true. It's just a cool place. Very cool place.

Brady Renard: Bucket seventeen, we're nearing the end. These are the final ten now, or final eleven. Number ninety through ninety-two. And it's the culture that makes us us, right? Locals willing to share their culture with anyone who shows up curious. I love that. That's probably my favorite thing.

Jillian Corder: Even if you didn't ask, we'll still tell ya.

Brady Renard: [36:00] The smell of the Gulf. I love the smell of salt water, especially, which for me was always the Gulf. I grew up in a different part of South Louisiana, but it was the same Gulf that I grew up fishing in and everything, crabbing in.

Jillian Corder: I have to tell a funny story real quick. So we were out of town the other week. We visited a water park, and, it's SeaWorld, I don't know why I'm trying to avoid the title of it. We went to SeaWorld, and at one point it smelled fishy. We passed somebody with a bucket of something for, you know, one of the orcas, and I went, oh, I love that smell. Because there's something about that smell of the sea, or being out on the river, or something about that. So it's like one of the weirdest things ever, right? I don't want it like bottled and perfumed or anything, but it is one of those things that you just can't pass.

Brady Renard: It's home. When you're in the space that it's supposed to smell like that, I love it. I don't want that anywhere else, right? Like you don't want to open the bathroom and that's the smell you get.

Jillian Corder: [36:53] That would be terrible. But there is something about that salt in the air, being on the water, that you can't beat.

Brady Renard: And then the last one for that one is our mix of people and the culture that comes from it, and everything that kind of ties, which everybody's got. Cultures are, I've added a couple of different ways in here, but each one's a little different, don't worry. And then bucket eighteen, we're nearing the end. What makes us proud? These are the things, items ninety-three through ninety-five, that make us proud. Like a food culture that could hold its own against anywhere else in the world.

Jillian Corder: Yes. On a very large scale.

Brady Renard: I'm very confident that our food culture is as good as anyone else's in the world. Not just Louisiana, not regionally, not America, not this continent. The way that this city shows up for itself after any type of disaster.

Jillian Corder: We take our food quite seriously, right?

Jillian Corder: [37:45] We saw it firsthand. Brady and I were both reporting at the time when Hurricane Laura hit, and we were some of the first people out on the roads as the emergency responders here were clearing them, before people came back after being evacuated. And when we watched people pull themselves up, pull themselves together, and rebuild on day one after a massive hurricane. That's why I love it here. That's why I love these people. I get emotional when I think about it.

Brady Renard: It's incredible to see. Yes, there was outside help, but there was also a lot of people that went home, saw everything that they had to do at their home, and they said, I'll get to you in a second. I gotta help everyone else first. And you help everyone and then start to help yourself.

Jillian Corder: But also returning the favor. So there are people that came here to help us after Laura, who years later, let's say when it flooded in, you know, the Virginia and Carolinas, right? Like we had teams of people going over there to help. When it flooded in Texas last year, right? We have people that run over there to go help, because that's just kind of who we are. It's in our DNA. So thank you to everybody who helped. Shout out to the people of this area that just keep going.

Brady Renard: [39:02] I agree. And then finally, this kind of lends into the authenticity: a genuine Louisiana identity that has never tried to be anything else and knows exactly how good it is at it. I know it's a very long one, but I think you kinda understand what I was going with on that one. And then finally, this is the final stretch. Bucket nineteen. It gets us from ninety-six to ninety-nine. Ninety-six, community parties and fireworks. A city that still is in the middle of its story. We're not at the end of it.

Jillian Corder: [39:26] I love that.

Brady Renard: The next restaurant, the next festival, the next reason to come back.

Jillian Corder: Anything that's happening this weekend, basically. And ninety-nine.

Brady Renard: Everything that's still left to discover, even if you have lived here your whole life. That one. Right. I mean, those are pretty self explanatory. Well, we're on the wave of a really cool next twenty-five years. I'm really excited to see what Lake Charles is. Like every five years, it feels like it's a new city. And I love that there is now a vision, a plan, a spirit of wanting to be better and move forward, you know?

Brady Renard: [40:11] And I think a little bit of that was the COVID effect that I think nationally, and worldwide, hit a lot of people. Combine that with going through Hurricane Laura, and that is a spirit that has been rejuvenated, re-energized. And I think if you visit, you'll see it.

Jillian Corder: Yeah, I think there's just something to be proud of. And I think people are finally starting to, and some people have been there all along, and I've always felt this way, but I think now people are starting to really realize they have something to be proud of. And we overlook a lot of things in our own backyard, right? You take it for granted, rather. You know, the waterways and the this and the that, because you're dealing with life as, you know, regular life. You're not a tourist in this town. But I think more people who live here and call this home are taking so much pride in it.

Brady Renard: I agree. And then finally, the last reason, but certainly it's probably for me the number one, and it's the people. The people are what I love about this place, because almost every single entry in here is what it is because of the people, the community. The person that is making the boudin in the back and the person that maybe sells it to you, sometimes the same person. The person that greets you at the store, the person that you help pick up something for, whatever it is, that spirit that seems to exist in every person that lives here. That's why it's reason one hundred.

Jillian Corder: [41:43] I completely agree. The people of this place that want to make it great for everybody. You know, southern hospitality is a real thing, and it's coming from real humans who are excited to wake up and do their jobs every day. And whether that's, like you said, the person greeting you at the door of a restaurant, to the person in the back who's cooking it, to the farmer who created the thing. Like it's every single person helps tell the story of who we are here in Southwest Louisiana.

Brady Renard: Yeah. And to give you a little bit of behind the scenes, a lot of times when we do things marketing wise for Visit Lake Charles, and we're trying to have discussions with outside agencies and entities that are helping us craft ideas or maybe find a way to execute them, like every single time it's like, well, you guys's greatest strength are your people. Your people. It's always, it's not, thank goodness we have these mountains. The people make everything else worth doing.

Jillian Corder: Yep. And I love it. It makes us want to do this job. I get to do this. I consider this a treat. This isn't my day job, and I consider this an absolute treat to talk about this place that we live and the people who make it that way. And to be able to bring them on this show and talk to them about what it means to them, I think it's so incredible. And if that convinces just one person out there to come maybe visit Lake Charles and to come here for their next vacation. Or, you know, swing by on the way. You know, we're right off I-10. If it convinces one person to stop in a shop or a restaurant around these parts, I feel like I've done my job well then, because what an easy place to sell when it's so nice.

Brady Renard: [43:23] I don't disagree. And so thank you so much to Kyle for kind of having that little address there at the start of the episode. And the biggest thank you for everything is you, the listener, for sitting and watching and listening. And however you partook of this podcast, the first full video podcast from now on. I mean, we've had one video podcast prior, but this is the first one, don't worry. And so we just appreciate the time that you took out of your day to spend some time with us.

Jillian Corder: Yep. Remember to like, share, leave a comment. That always helps us grow our audience and further share the unique stories.

Brady Renard: On YouTube, subscribe now, huh?

Jillian Corder: Hit subscribe here or something.

Brady Renard: Yeah, just do this, and then when I stop and it's on your screen, pause it so that I'm pointing at it.

Jillian Corder: [44:09] So that we're right at some point. I don't know, I'm not one of those people. But remember, that always helps us grow our audience and be able to share these amazing stories with people all over the world. So we really appreciate it. Also, go to visitlakecharles.org/podcast for more episodes, advice on where to eat, and events that are happening this very week. Yep, I'm Jillian Corder.

Brady Renard: This very week. Thanks again for coming to play at Louisiana's Playground. C'est tout.