Things To Do In Metairie

Yelpers give Audubon Aquarium of the Americas an average of four stars and TripAdvisors give it a four-owl eye average.

Playmakers Indoor Sports facilitates the frolicking needs of recreationalists with a full menu of soccer, lacrosse, flag football, and paintball in a climate-controlled arena with a turf field. Every weekend, the field sprouts a series of inflatable bunkers for Friday-evening paintball sessions. Intermediate-leveled sharpshooters strap on provided protective gear and the equipment necessary for dappling human canvases with high-speed brushstrokes.

The Zephyrs boast a rich history of nurturing budding bat-swatters and arm-bazooka wielders; nearly 50 former Zephyr players are currently playing in the major leagues. Led by the big-swinging 22-year-old first baseman Logan Morrison, who sported a .300 average and 10 RBIs in his first 40 at-bats, and 23-year-old hurler Ryan Tucker, who posted a 1.59 ERA and nine strikeouts in his first 11.1 innings, the Zephyrs are primed for another run at the PCL American South division title.

Joy Theatre straps young comedians to a fully packed parachute of theatre fundamentals—confidence, improvisation, acting, sketch comedy, stage fighting, character development, and more—before giving these young talents a chance to jump onstage in front of a live audience. Most classes meet on weekends and offer students the opportunity to perform in one of the theatre's Saturday or Sunday shows, which are open to the public. Kids 4–11 meet on Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 3 p.m. for the Giggle Gaggle class (with performances starting at 2 p.m. and running the last hour of class); the older set, ages 12–19, meets on Saturdays and Sundays from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. for their own Detention Span class and performance. Shy comedians and outgoing gorillas keeping a low profile in people suits can sign up for The Sunday Funnies. This class for ages 4–19 teaches all the essentials of improvisational comedy through games in a fun and welcoming environment. Instead of a weekly performance, Sunday Funnies keeps young stars in demand with a live performance every 10 weeks.

Velocity Sports Performance's array of indoor tracks, turfs, and Olympic-style weightlifting equipment lets members fine-tune their physiques at their own pace. The fitness center is a cornucopia of resistance machines, free weights, and 25 cardio machines designed to entertain bored muscles while ridding bodies of sweat. Runners can experience Velocity's small field of athletic turf, which re-creates the feeling of running on real grass, while the sprint track treats treads to a less deceitful synthetic surface.

Bursting from the retro ambience of a refurbished art-deco movie theater, the renowned hand-blown-glass art studio boasts a multihued array of gaffer-made accoutrements. Keep wine from escaping on a post-party spree with a decorative bottlestopper ($62), a hand-crafted sculpture complete with elegant metal fitting designed to hold in liquid and libation secrets. Showcase seasonal candies or secret-admirer notes in a fluted dish ($65), available in intricate designs of blue, salmon, white, and more. The New Orleans paperweight adds personality to desks and gravity to astronaut homework with the classic Big Easy fleur de lis etched in a heart shape atop a round paper anchor ($50). For a romantic shimmer, check out the pointed oil candle with a stand, a teardrop-shaped candle perched in a three-pronged mini-tripod that imbues romance with long-lasting light ($50), similar to a triple showing of Gremlins under an Alaskan summer sky.