Things to Do in Terrytown

Offering BYOB art classes in a welcoming, instructor-assisted atmosphere, Corks N Canvas provides a laidback setting for self-expression. Participants will receive step-by-step instruction to craft striking artwork they can take home at the end of the session and place above their mantle, secret trap-door bookcase, or army-men-figurine reenactment of the battle of Pork Chop Hill. Choose among several sessions (click on the address of your chosen location to see a calendar of events) that teach budding strokesters to paint vibrant doggie portraits, landscapes, or abstract-expressionist renditions of the DMV. The creative paintventure may finally spark the dormant artist within that’s been reclusively hiding like Boo Radley since the finger-painting period.

Paddle the river in style on the luxurious Creole Queen, aquatically equipped with heat and air conditioning, modern restrooms, and wheelchair accessibility and replete with old-time accents such as Victorian-style draperies, gaslight-inspired period lighting, friendly ghosts, wooden parquet dance floors, and Louisiana cypress bars and brass railings. Disembark and change out of pedestrian threads and into something more heroic during the 2.5-hour Chalmette Battlefield tour, which includes informative narration on noteworthy landmarks, local river lore, and crock-pot recipes and a visit to the historic battlefield. On the jazz tour, passengers embark on a two-hour cruise filled with peppy live jazz, cocktails, a Creole buffet, and starlit views of the city's skyline. Dinner (though not included with this Groupon) can be purchased on board for $24 per person.

In 1959, Robert Trent Jones Sr. completed work on Timberlane's 7100-yard, par-72 golf course near the west bank of the Mississippi, and it still stands as a friendly, challenging round in a pleasant, private setting. Mature oaks line the sides of each Bermuda-grass fairway, and in 2007, Timberlane re-surfaced its expansive greens with Tif Eagle turf, giving putts a new zip and helicopter pilots a new view. Before hitting the links, sharpen up your chipping, putting, pitching, pitch-shifting, and Super Bowl Shuffling on the all-grass practice range and putting green, or try the driving range nearby. When you're ready, hop in your provided golf cart to match wits with the labyrinthine course, which features four sets of tee areas per hole, 17 water hazards, 80 sand bunkers, and 13 mechanical yetis. If he's around, see if you can snag a tip from resident PGA pro Tim Brown, who was named by Golf Digest as the #1 Best Teacher in Louisiana in 2009.

After Frankie Cheek discovered segway tours while visiting Italy, he decided to start his own company in his native New Orleans. When he was boarding a plane back home, Hurricane Katrina struck, redirecting him to Louisiana’s grandfather country: France. While exploring Paris in the wake of the devastating tragedy back home, Cheek drew inspiration for his future segway tours—he was resolved, according to his website, to "help a city rich in history move forward while riding the most high-tech transporter available." Since returning to New Orleans, he’s led daily segway adventures, whirring groups of sightseers around the French Quarter, the riverfront, and Jackson Square with the ease, maneuverability, and safety-minded attitude of a cool biker gang. Plus, through a partnership with other tour companies, Cheek can also guide guests through swamps, plantations, and supposedly haunted locales.

Yogi Michele Baker began teaching yoga at a New Orleans athletic club in 1998. Ten years later, after Hurricane Katrina forced Baker to evacuate her home, she started writing a yoga-instruction training manual. She soon put it to use, using it as a guide to lead her staff at Swan River Yoga, which she opened with business partner Keith Porteous. Today, the yoga center helps pupils practice yoga and guides aspiring instructors as they hone their craft and nurture the third eye that sprouts from their forehead.

Yoga classes are suitable for a variety of skill levels, and range from prenatal and beginners’ yoga to Anusara yoga—a class that focuses on flowing movements and proper alignment. Swan River Yoga also provides holistic services such as massage, reiki, and acupuncture.

Founded in 1976 by a group of ambitious visual and performing artists, the Contemporary Arts Center still keeps in touch with its roots as an artist-driven community organization. The award-winning design of its ever-changing gallery, atrium, and theater spaces juxtaposes the original architecture of a turn-of-the-century warehouse building with newer materials and aesthetics. Within its 30,000 feet of open event space, the CAC hosts a range of events, such as curated contemporary exhibitions, world and local music performances, and special galas such as the SweetArts Bash.

When not coordinating exhibitions and performances, the CAC staff also leads educational programs such as one-day art camps, which expose children and adults to the arts. In these programs, professional local artists train groups in drama, dance, music, visual arts, and creative writing.