Destination Downtown

Without stepping foot in an airport or packing a single suitcase, you can take a holiday. Whether you plan a jampacked day of fun, a two-day tour with a night in a local hotel, or sporadic excursions throughout the summer, fill your itinerary with uniquely Baton Rouge activities. Start your sojourn in downtown Baton Rouge, an area bursting with museums from the LSU Museum of Art (pictured above) and LASM to the USS Kidd, Old State Capitol and Capitol Park Museum. You can even park in one spot and walk to most museums—and don’t miss the abundant open-air art, including the recently restored Martin Luther King Jr. monument at City Plaza. downtownbatonrouge.org

Fin-tastic Fun

For an immersive underwater experience, look no further than Baton Rouge’s very own interactive aquarium in the Mall of Louisiana. At Blue Zoo, customers can touch and feed stingrays, reptiles, starfish and birds. Towering tanks are filled with salt water and freshwater creatures including seahorses, jellyfish, electric eels and more. And of course, no aquarium is complete without a 40-foot shark tank—the main attraction filled with blacktip sharks. The fun also includes weekly mermaid shows, pirate shows, dive shows and a live shark feed. batonrouge.bluezoo.us

Rock the Boat

During the summer, BREC’s lakes are always a cool way to beat the heat. Head down to Wampold Park for sunset paddling events, and watch the sun fall over the LSU Lakes while you kayak or canoe on the calm waters. This experience is offered on June 16 and June 30, but make sure you register in advance. For an afternoon adventure any day, you can explore Greenwood Community Park’s 18-acre lake by renting a kayak, canoe or stand-up paddleboard. brec.org

Three Cheers

Cap off a day of excursions by driving back downtown, where Three Roll Estate distillery and tasting room offers unique experiences from history-filled tours to relaxed patio events. The 45-minute tours take place at three different times Wednesday through Sunday, during which guides share the history and science behind the Louisiana sugarcane-based spirits. Then comes the tasting where adults 21 and older can sample Three Roll Estate’s award-winning rum and vodka. Three Roll Estate also hosts live music and crawfish events on its patio on Saturdays; check the distillery’s Facebook page for details. facebook.com/threerollestate