Jefferson Davis

Named for the President of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis Parish is a largely rural region of Acadiana located along Interstate 10 between Lafayette and Houston. Jennings, the parish seat, was a railroad depot-turned-petroleum boom town after Louisiana’s first oil well was unearthed nearby. The most popular attraction today is the Gator Chateau, or Alligator House, a fostering facility for adult alligators, as well as babies that can be held. The town of Lake Arthur surrounds a freshwater lake peppered with cypress trees and, on its north shore, ringed by a white sand beach. In Lacassine, the Bayou Rum Distillery offers tours of their factory where each batch is brewed from 100% Louisiana sugarcane. The Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge, nearly 35,000-acres, is one of the nation’s top migratory wildfowl wintering sanctuaries, a perfect place for bird spotting and sport fishing.