Association Leadership - July/August 2008 - (Page 41)

in focus: Beaumont New hotels, attractions await in Beaumont East Texas city features sprawling facilities, eclectic activities More than 800 hotel rooms, nearly 44,000 square feet of space and a slew of unique attractions await meeting planners in the East Texas city of Beaumont. The Holiday Inn Beaumont Plaza is the crown jewel of the city’s meeting hotels, with 253 rooms and 22,000 square feet. Not to be outdone, though, is the MCM Elegante Hotel and Conference Center, with 22,000 square feet of its own and 276 rooms available. The Hilton Garden Inn (1,825 square feet, 100 rooms) and Holiday Inn Midtown (1,820 square feet, 190 rooms) round out the meeting hotel selection, though new facilities such as the Candlewood Suites, Comfort Inn & Suites, Homewood Suites, Residence Inn Marriott and Studio 6 expand the lodging/meeting menu. In terms of attractions, one of Beaumont’s newest sites is the historic Crockett Street Entertainment District, located downtown. The district offers everything from the Spindletop Restaurant to the Dixie Dance Hall, with a number of other dining places, clubs and bars to visit. More info is available at www. crockettstreet.com. Meanwhile, the Gator Country Alligator Theme Park & Restaurant takes its place as the only alligator theme park in Texas! Here, guests can see the lifespan of an alligator and get up close and personal with nature’s wild. The whole family will enjoy live demonstrations and hands-on activities, like holding the baby gators to “ﬁshing” for a gator. The park is home to “Big Al,” the largest alligator in captivity certiﬁed by TX Parks & Wildlife, as well as more than 125 alligators ranging from 12 inches to 11 feet long. Also, meet Gwendolyn the saltwater crocodile, and two alligator snapping turtles. The newest addition to the park is Gator Country Restaurant, featuring popular Tex-cajun delicacies like whole-fried catﬁsh, fried alligator, gator quesadillas and boiled crawﬁsh. For those less adventurous, the restaurant offers Cajun Chicken Spaghetti, mouth-watering steaks and many other delicious options. Visit their Web site at www.gatorcountrytx.com. At the John Jay French Museum, an old-fashioned white fence, a sprawling green lawn and venerable oak trees adorned with ivy and vines surround the simple Greek revival-style home, which depicts the 19th-century life in East Texas. The house was built in 1845 by merchant John Jay French as a trading post and tannery. The McFaddin-Ward House is a magniﬁcent Beaux-Arts Colonial-style home – built in 1906 and on the National Register of Historic Places – that transports the visitor to another era with a stately central staircase, Tiffany Glass, gleaming silver, Persian rugs, period china and crystal. The McFaddin-Ward gardens encompass a city block and bloom seasonally. (409) 832-2134 The Fire Museum of Texas is home to the world’s largest ﬁre hydrant, where visitors can explore the history of the ﬁre service and learn ﬁre safety information in the interactive Fire Safety Activity Center. Go green at the all-new Shangri La Botanical Gardens & Nature Center. Submerge yourself in nature in any of the nine artfully designed garden rooms, complete with four sculpture rooms. A guided boat ride allows visitors the opportunity to see more than 300 species of plants and the famous “survivor The John J. French House. Beaumont’s Mardi Gras 2007 celebration. tree.” Shangri La also has a world-class heron blind, Nature Center and a Nature Discovery Center that embody the center’s mission to teach people of all ages to “Be Kind to Your World.” Shangri La has achieved the highest LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certiﬁcation – Platinum Level. It is the only Platinum Level facility in Texas. The facility creates its own energy and cleans its own water, making it a true example of what it means to be environmentally-sensitive. Just north of Beaumont, the Big Thicket National Preserve is one of the most diverse biospheres and has made the city a jumping-off place for nature tours, birding, kayaking, canoeing and hiking. The preserve consists of nine land units and six water corridors encompassing more than 97,000 acres. It was the ﬁrst preserve in the National Park System and protects an area of rich biological diversity. The visitor’s centers offers interactive exhibits about the natural and cultural history of the Big Thicket region. ◆ July/August 2008 | Association LEADERSHIP 41 http://www.gatorcountrytx.com http://www.crockettstreet.com http://www.crockettstreet.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Association Leadership - July/August 2008

Association Leadership - July/August 2008 Contents Chairman’s Column Homepage 60-Second Solutions Cover Feature: Association Lessons Learned Perspectives Association Case Study TSAE Annual Conference CEO Strategies New Members Community Spotlight Government Relations: Resources Technology: Web Site Redesign Global Summit Photo Page Great Ideas Beaumont New Mexico Index to Advertisers Advertiser.com The Lighter Side of Associations

Association Leadership - July/August 2008

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