Fearless Finds: The RE Market

Spring is in the air, so what better place to be than the Spring Fling at The RE Market?! This past weekend The RE Market had sales, refreshments, and art classes to welcome Spring, and I got to speak with the manager and a few vendors as I looked through the booths.

The RE Market has something for everyone! They have antiques, vintage finds, repurposed home accents, architectural salvage, and so much more. Looking for a gift? The RE Jeweled booth by designer Celia Joe Black has creations made from repurposed items and is a must stop. I also had the pleasure of meeting Susan Sarradet Bergeaux in her booth, Sunset Creek, which features home accessories and interior design. There are far too many amazing vendors to name; you’ll just have to go see for yourself!

The RE Market is located at 303 North Lake Arthur Avenue in Jennings, Louisiana, a street over from the Donut King. Formerly the old 7up Bottling Company, the building has a very eclectic, shabby-chic look to it, which is perfect for this type of business. It just fits! While walking around, my sister said “Come here, you’ve got to see this!” and led me to the inside of the original front doors of the building to a large tiled 7up logo on the floor. It was so cool!

Kayla Gary, the manager, and her lovely staff welcomed me in, and she couldn’t talk enough about the start of The RE Market and how they’ve grown in the past three years. The business started out as a 200 square foot cabinet showroom, and now it’s this 10,000 square foot “REpurposed, REnewed, and REmarkable” place housing 30+ vendors with a waiting list!

The RE Market is open Monday through Saturday 10am-4pm. For more information you can call 337-821-0083 or 337-275-7312 or visit their website at REaccents.com. 

P.S. The RE Market is stop number 44 on the Louisiana Antique Trail! We will be doing a blog series about this soon as we attempt to visit all 95 shops on the trail! Check out LouisianaAntiqueTrail.com for more info.

Fearless Finds: The Strand Theatre

My mom and I have always been lovers of old movies. We love seeing the fashion and technology of the past, and some of our all-time favorite actors and actresses are from old Hollywood. So you can only imagine our excitement when we found out The Strand Theatre in Jennings, Louisiana, is showing old movies on the big screen all year long, and, as if that wasn’t enough, one of our favorites was the next in the lineup: Pillow Talk with Doris Day and Rock Hudson!

My mom and I watched Doris Day all the time when I was younger, and her movies always feature forgotten things of the past like party-lines and automats. It was so much fun to watch it on the big screen in the quaint atmosphere of the old Strand Theatre. Tickets are only $3! And they have popcorn and drinks for sale, too.

We had so much fun and can’t wait to go back! I’ll definitely be there for Clue in November!

The Strand Theater is located at 432 N Main Street in Jennings. Their next showing is Paint Your Wagon on March 28 at 7:00. Some of their upcoming movies are The Apple Dumpling Gang, Grease, and all three Back to the Futures!

For more information call 337-821-5509 and like them on Facebook.

Fearless Finds: Java Joltz

Lately we have been searching for anything Mardi Gras, so when we discovered a local business served a King Cake Latte we had to go try it! Java Joltz is a coffee shop and bookstore in Jennings, Louisiana, (just down the street from the Rocket Drive Inn) that serves soups, sandwiches, and lots of coffee.

We walked in and each ordered a blended King Cake Latte, and my mom and Myron ordered a couple sandwiches. While waiting for our goodies we met the owner, Christy Lepretre, to find out more about this cozy coffee shop.

Originally Java Joltz was called Books ‘n’ Java and opened in 2010 at a different location. But in 2013 coffee sales took off and a drive-thru was needed, so they moved to their current location: 115 E. Shankland Suite E, Mid City Shopping Center in Jennings. They have a drive-thru! If only I worked in Jennings…

Anyway, though you wouldn’t believe it with the extensive and creative menu, soups and sandwiches are a new addition at Java Joltz having been available for about two months. They have such amazing flavor combos, including their best seller the Mayflower which is turkey and Gouda on sourdough with spinach leaves and cranberry pepper jelly (coincidentally the same sandwich my mom and I had been eyeing before ordering!). To order a sandwich, they hand you a list of ingredients that you can check off to make the sandwich uniquely yours. We loved that!

Then we got our coffees. WOW! The King Cake Latte is delicious! It’s perfectly sweet and full of flavor, and they even make it look amazing with purple and green syrup and gold and green sprinkles! Christy told us that after her daughter and an employee created the King Cake Latte last year so many people requested it after Mardi Gras that it’s now available year-round. That’s a problem for me. How am I supposed to try out all the other flavor combinations like Funky Monkey and customer-created Breakfast @ Tiffany’s when this one is always an option!?

After I had already fallen in love with the place, Christy began to tell us where she gets her ingredients from. “I’m all about having fresh ingredients and supporting locals,” she told us. Her coffee beans are locally roasted by Reve Coffee Roasters of Lafayette and sent within 24 hours. This brings me back to my time spent in Austin and their famous “Keep Austin Weird” movement that promotes small, local businesses, and I’m so excited to see something similar taking root in Southwest Louisiana.

Music is also in the air at Java Joltz! Every other Saturday they host a jam session sponsored by Steve Riley and a few others. You can even perform at Java Joltz! The first Friday of every month is open mic night. Songs need to be approved, and the sets are mostly acoustic.

We even got a sneak peek at a few upcoming sandwiches! With Lent starting this week, they will have a buffalo shrimp sandwich on sourdough with guacamole, lettuce, and tomatoes. They’re also serving a twist on the grilled cheese sandwich, the Pepper Popper Sandwich, with cheddar cheese, pepperjack cheese, jalapenos, and banana peppers on wheat berry bread.

Christy and her crew were so sweet, and we really enjoyed our drinks, food, and visit with them. Christy also said she was so appreciative of the community of Jennings and their continued support, it was even bringing tears to her eyes. We can’t wait to go back and already have our orders in mind for our next trip.

For more information check out their Facebook page, call 337-246-3700, or visit their website javajoltz.wix.com/javajoltz.

Fearless Finds: Rocket Drive Inn

I love cheeseburgers!

Not the fast food prepackaged ones. The real meat, homemade ones I found at my new favorite place, the Rocket Drive Inn. This great find is as old as me. No wonder we connected the first time I sat on the coolest red picnic tables, covered with the scratchings of years gone by. 

The atmosphere is so vintage even my seventeen year old son put down his iPhone and dug into his cheeseburger and fries. I knew I had to take Lexi, a fellow cheeseburger lover, and share this literal blast from the past.

We each ordered a cheeseburger, an extra large drink, and one order of homemade onion rings to share for about $14. Not bad for a quick daycation to the 1960’s. Now we can’t wait for summer to head back for some homemade Rocket ice cream (the cold kept us from enjoying some this trip).

I for one am truly grateful to the owner, Joann Leger, for keeping this little piece of nostalgic heaven available for all to enjoy. Next time you’re in Jennings, stop by 1118 State Street or call 337-824-2120 for more info.

If the Rocket Drive Inn happens to be a favorite of yours or you take our advice and try it out, let us know! We'd love to hear about your little visit to the past.