What to Do Besides Casinos, Museums & Boardwalk (Shreveport: hotels, YMCA)

[shyguylh]

I live about an hour from Shreveport & Bossier-City, I've been there a few times and for the life of me I can't find anything to do there other than checking out & photographing the downtown area where the water fountains spray out of the sidewalks near the Red River, casinos, the Boardwalk, and (people think I'm crazy) jumping in the Red River in various places as a "wild swimmer" of sorts. There is also that Alligator zoo (forget its name). Our favorite place to eat is probably Taco Mania.

Casinos & gambling don't interest me, although we once stayed in Sam's Town just for the experience of staying in a nicer hotel. Bars don't interest me. Museums & such aren't my thing. Same goes for the Boardwalk, which just seems to be a fancy version of an outdoors mall. What I'd like to find there are (a) somewhere you can swim in an indoor heated pool for the day besides the hotels (b) places to enjoy some outdoor scenery to get some scenic landscape shots. There is the river cruise boat ship, but I'd also like places you can just venture on YOURSELF.

Also a couple of other things (a) what hotels besides Sam's Town and Horseshoe (which seems to be the fanciest hotel in town) have heated pools, preferably outdoor ones and ones that go deeper than 5 feet? (I used to live in Tucson & I swear even Motel 6 hotels have heated outdoor pools, in Texas they are VERY rare.) Am I the only one that has no problem swimming in the Red River, or do most people consider that crazy? Also, the roads on the freeway seem to be from a 3rd world country, you want to talk about bumps--man, last time I was there I swear just driving on the freeway just about knocked my teeth out. My wife, who was the actual driver, said it was so bad it actually made her back sore.

Tips?

[BeenThereDunThat]

Louisiana highways have always been bad. And Shreveport's streets are bad too because the city has always delayed funding road repair so they can pay for other costs like building a convention center and city-owned hotel for millions that many experts felt was (and still is) a financial boondoggle. The city sewer system is in desparate need of repair / upgrade but that too has been "kicked down the road" for decades... now the feds are suing the city for EPA violations from sewer overflows, etc. So the money has to be found somewhere otherwise the city is fined by the feds for any delays.

Now to your question about "what to do" and "are you crazy for swimming in the Red River"... well... the river can be dangerous and while it may look calm on the surface...there's hidden whirlpools along the bank where the sandbars drop off to considerable depth. About 2 summers ago 5 or 6 kids drowned at the same spot on the same day due to the sand they were walking on giving way. Now most of them couldn't swim but it shows how something seemingly simple as wading in the shallows on the Red River can turn tragic in a heartbeat. Another thing is the River gets a lot of run-off from industrial drainage and street drainage... I don't think it's all that healthy to be swimming in myself.

What to do besides gamble and shop? Well... you could always check the S'port-Bossier Convention & Visitor's Bureau for attractions and events as there's a good listing of different things ranging from scheduled events to museums to nature centers... etc.

Things to Do | Shreveport - Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau | Shreveport - Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau

The Broadmoor YMCA has a decent pool as does Centenary College where you can either pay a health membership or pay a use fee. Not sure if they do the use fee anymore but it's worth a call. LSUS has a huge pool in a fitness center too.
The Holiday Inn near the S'port Airport had an indoor / outdoor pool but it's been ages since I've been there.

Cypress Black Bayou a short drive north of Bossier is a decent place with campsites, lake beach and outdoor amenities, cabins...etc. I believe it's a state park.
Cypress Black Bayou - A Recreation and Conservation Park

There's things to do around S'port-Bossier, you just have to search them out as they don't do a lot to promote themselves except on the SBCVB website or at visitor's centers in brochures.

good luck!

[geauxlauren]

During the summer, there is Watertown......I've never been there but it's there and a water park a small water park. I don't know about scenery...can drive another hour or so to Kisatchie. I've heard people cannoning in Red River...but I would never swim in there like the the poster above said...it's too unpredictable and don't even want to know the bacteria that is in there...no thank you to staff infections....and the park...Stoner park..or whatever is a nice park to just walk...around...trees and the river...and you can see the city line.