St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana at a Glance
Location: On Lake Pontchartrain, north of New Orleans
Access: Louis Armstrong International Airport (MSY); interstates 10, 59 and 12
Major Meeting Spaces: The Harbor Center
Hotel Rooms: 1,500 in Slidell and 3,100 total in St. Tammany Parish
Off-Site Venues: Maritime Museum of Louisiana, Olde Towne Slidell, Palmetto’s, Patton’s, Saint August Maison
Contact Info:
Visit the Northshore
800-634-9443
visitthenorthshore.com
The term “Louisiana Northshore” might puzzle you until you look at a map. Find New Orleans, and then look north across Lake Pontchartrain to St. Tammany Parish, a.k.a. the Louisiana Northshore.
The Northshore, with a diverse collection of towns much smaller than New Orleans and its own distinct history, has for decades been a bedroom community for people commuting to New Orleans, a weekend escape for people living in New Orleans and a pleasant surprise for curious travelers dropping off any of the region’s three interstate highways.
Because of its road and airport accessibility — the Louis Armstrong International Airport is on the south shore — the Louisiana Northshore also has grown into a worthy target for meeting planners.
Slidell (population of almost 30,000) has the most meeting facilities, and the rest of the parish furnishes numerous attractions and diversions that include Louisiana’s only maritime museum, the Abita brewery and a 31-mile-long rails-to-trails project where you can walk or pedal off some of the extra calories you are bound to consume in a state known for good eating.
Major Meeting Spaces
Slidell’s Harbor Center is the Northshore’s primary meetings facility. It opened in 2005 with 45,000 square feet of column-free space and expanded in 2024 with 9,000 square feet of divisible meeting room space. General manager Kathy Lowrey noted an irony of its location — New Orleans is close enough to be an attraction (especially after a meeting) but perhaps distant enough to discourage nighttime outings and diminished attendance at the next morning’s sessions. Harbor Center offers in-house decorators, in-house A/V, three loading docks, a full commercial kitchen and free parking. A message inscribed on a lobby wall cites the staff’s philosophy of providing “Lagniappe Service” (“lagniappe” translates to “something extra”).
The smaller Slidell Municipal Auditorium (10,000 square feet) is the parish’s second-largest facility. Its downtown location makes it a candidate for an off-site function before an evening in the Olde Towne district.
Distinctive Venues
Slidell offers several off-site event locations. The one with the most history is Patton’s, located in the Salmen-Fritchie House, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. Its big claim to fame is the 1922 “wedding of the century” that garnered national media attention and drew more than 4,000 guests. The current owners have a family catering history that started in New Orleans more than 60 years ago.
Palmettos on the Bayou has indoor and outdoor dining spaces along Bayou Bonfouca, Middendorf’s is famous for thin fried catfish and (odd as it sounds) a six-week Octoberfest, and the Saint August Maison has reception and dinner space, as well as the distinction of a totally plant-based menu.
A dinner-and-attraction combo is in Madisonville at the Maritime Museum of Louisiana. It has 3,600 square feet of banquet/reception space, and event clients have full access to the museum. Built on a former shipyard, the museum focuses on artifacts, photographs and documents about all aspects of Louisiana’s waterborne past, including bayou-traversing pirogues.
Old Towne
Olde Towne Slidell never will compete with the French Quarter in New Orleans, but it doesn’t need to. Olde Towne is a historic and cultural district covering approximately 12 blocks that is ready-made for a meeting’s free-wheeling night on the town. It’s a walk-around kind of place with casual restaurants, nice shops, antique galleries, the city’s history museum and even a classic soda shop with the special amenity of miniature golf out back.
“In a way, Hurricane Katrina [in 2005] was a blessing to Olde Towne,” said Alex Carollo, director of cultural and public affairs for Slidell. “Before Katrina, the area was run down and had other problems. Katrina created a clean slate, and redevelopment credits permitted development of what we have today.”
Carollo described various ideas for how meetings attendees can enjoy Olde Towne. One involves a bingo card challenge of photographing various aspects of the district while enjoying a progressive dinner. A great example: Start with daiquiris at Triangle Square at Antique Umbrella Alley, followed by gumbo at Deanasco, a beer at the Brass Monkey Draught Emporium, an oyster po’ boy at KY’s Olde Towne Bicycle Shop Restaurant, a refresher at Luna Tequila and a nonalcoholic milkshake at the Old Town Soda Shop, where the owner can create special ice cream flavors for groups.
After the Meeting
Yes, you could scoot down the interstate to New Orleans, but the Northshore offers some distinctive reasons to stay — starting with its very own swamp. Honey Island Swamp — moss-draped cypress trees, alligators, owls, egrets, frogs, herons, snakes, racoons and more — attracts visitors from around the world. Narrated nature tours explore the 250-square mile swamp from boat ramps only a few minutes from Olde Towne Slidell. Honey Island Swamp is a permanently protected wildlife area that is one of the most pristine river swamps in America.
More animals, but of a completely different type, are at the Global Wildlife Center near Folsom. It is the largest preserve for free-roaming animals in the country. You ride in open-air vehicles across 900 acres of rolling rangeland to see giraffes, zebras, kangaroos, camels, bison, llamas and more. It’s Africa in Louisiana.
A third natural experience to keep you in the parish is spending time on the Tammany Trace. The 31-mile paved path is Louisiana’s only rails-to-trails conversion (it once was an Illinois Central Railroad route), and walkers, joggers and cyclists hop on at trailheads linking Slidell, Lacombe, Mandeville, Abita Springs (that’s the brewery detour stop) and Covington. The route takes you through Fontainebleau State Park, which affords beautiful views of Lake Pontchartrain.
About the Food
Because the Louisiana Northshore is so close to freshwater, brackish water and saltwater, seafood in great variety rules. “Good seafood is everywhere here, even in small restaurants,” said Slidell’s Carollo. Choose snapper at Phil’s Marina Cafe in Slidell, grilled oysters at Pat’s Rest Awhile in Mandeville or a soft-shell crab BLT at the Anchor in Madisonville — or whatever is next to those selections on the menu — and you’ll be happy.
