Local arts market provides cool holiday shopping
| Join Sara Hebert and Chris Jay as they go on dates and share their local activities and restaurant choices.
Especially during the holiday season, Chris and I love to support local businesses when we’re buying gifts for our friends and family. If you think about it, a dollar spent on a locally made item makes so much more of a difference than a dollar spent at a chain store. Chris has been telling me about The Agora Borealis, a new arts market located at 421 Lake St. in downtown Shreveport, for months. We finally visited on a recent Saturday afternoon.
Without intending to, we visited while local artists Robert Trudeau and C. Mark Burt were hosting an event showcasing their illustrations. Local band Twang Darkly were performing, and shoppers were milling around, purchasing items ranging from handmade clothing and candles to granola, soap, original works of art and more. If you’re a fan of DIY arts and crafts events like the Texas Avenue Makers Fair, you’ll love The Agora Borealis. All of the items for sale at the store are unique, handmade items created by artists from Shreveport and the surrounding communities. Store owner Katy Larsen and her team have done a great job of curating the works of artists and makers that complement one another.
One of my favorite aspects of The Agora Borealis is the store itself. A beautifully restored space, the walls are exposed brick in places and more like a traditional gallery space in other places. The floor has been given a very cool new finish, and soft, colored lights suggest the aurora borealis – better known as “the northern lights” – which the name of the store makes reference to.
But, at the end of the day, a store is only as good as its merchandise, and The Agora Borealis is packed with incredibly colorful, one-of-a-kind creations ranging from furniture to photography.
Chris and I love to admire the largescale paintings by local artists like Joshua Chambers and Rachel Stuart-Haas, and we appreciate that the store carries items to fit even the smallest budget. It’s definitely a great place to visit if you’re doing holiday shopping for an artlover.
–Sara Hebert
Around mid-November, I develop a highly specific craving. It’s the kind of emotional attachment to a seasonal flavor that I think a lot of people feel for pumpkin spice lattes. I’ve never tasted a pumpkin spice latte (nor would I admit it if I had), but when the temperatures start to drop and my in-laws start calling about their impending visits for the holidays, I’m gonna need an eggnog daiquiri.
Eggnog daiquiris are seasonal – they go on sale at places like Tony’s Liquor on Line Avenue and Cuban Liquor on Pierremont in early November and will be available, usually, until shortly after the New Year. According to the guys at Tony’s on Line Avenue, they sell more and more eggnog daiquiris as Christmas approaches. During the week leading up to Christmas, they can sell 100 or more in an hour. Gallons and half-gallons can be purchased at most places that sell eggnog daiquiris, but I’m always a little too embarrassed to say, “I’ll take a gallon of eggnog daiquiri.” Even with in-laws like mine, that seems like a bridge too far.
What is my ideal eggnog daiquiri?
I’m glad you asked. Inspired by my friend Sarah Smith-Brown, I like to pick up my eggnog daiquiris at Tony’s on Line Avenue and add some fresh nutmeg once I’ve returned home.
This makes the beverage taste a lot more authentic, like the version your uncle used to serve every Christmas, only about 30 ounces larger than your uncle’s version and possibly a lot more potent. I’ve seen some liquor stores in Shreveport-Bossier City introducing spinoffs of the original eggnog daiquiri, including pumpkin eggnog and chocolate eggnog, but I’m not interested in those versions. Why mess with perfection?
Whether you’re enjoying an eggnog daiquiri or something more refined this holiday season, please celebrate responsibly, and don’t drink and drive.
-Chris Jay
