Seeing an alligator in the wild is at the top of many a typical tourist's wish list -- and Louisiana is just the place to get up close and personal with gators. -- Photo courtesy Louisiana Tourism

One of the safest places to meet an alligator is in a restaurant. In Louisiana, where the meat is popular, they generally serve it fried or sauteed, and it tastes -- you guessed it --like chicken.

A close encounter with a live one is much more exciting, and will still leave you with 10 fingers. For that, visit Chateau des Cocodries (The Alligator House) at Exit 64 of Interstate 10 in Jennings, the little southwest Louisiana town that calls itself the Cradle of Louisiana Oil.

Gators do little but sleep October through April. We visited in February, so the three adults that live there weren't worth much more than a glance.

The fun came when they brought out Nemo, one of their two babies, and passed him around so we could hold him. Nemo loves having his tummy and throat rubbed. He was 16 months old at the time, and about 45 cm long.

He's likely to grow 30 cm a year until he reaches 3.3 metres -- a tad big for a tummy rub.

Alligator House is open year round. The adults can be seen daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The babies can be handled daily except Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., when there's an attendant present. Admission is free.

Seeing a gator in the wild is at the top of the typical tourist's wish list. That's not as dangerous as it sounds, because, unlike crocodiles, alligators aren't generally aggressive and won't attack humans unless they're agitated.

We saw two gators during a day-long driving tour of the Creole Nature Trail. It's an All-American Road, meaning it's a destination in itself, one of only 21 in the country to have that designation.

The most frequently travelled portion extends from I-10 at Sulphur, just west of Lake Charles, south on La 27 to Holly Beach, on the Gulf of Mexico, then east across La 82 through Cameron and Creole, and north on La 27/Hwy. 14 North to Lake Charles.

That takes you along Calcasieu Lake, through Sabine National Wildlife Refuge, along the Gulf of Mexico and through Cameron Prairie National Refuge.

It's flat, and virtually at sea level, so the points of natural interest are subtle. Much of the trail passes tidal marshes dotted with little rock-hard sand islands called cheniers.

Long-horn cattle grazed on tufts of grass and nutria, a beaver-like rodent so plentiful it's considered a nuisance, splashed in the shallows. Fishing boats crowded the docks at Hackberry, where they catch shrimp, oyster and crab.

The area's popular with birders. Even in winter you can expect to see roseate spoonbills (commonly mistaken for flamingos), pelicans, ibis, egrets and herons.

Cameron Parish alone has an estimated 140,000 to 150,000 gators. But Captain Sammie Faulk, our guide, said it takes warmth to lure gators out of hiding, and the clouds didn't clear until we reached Wetland Walk, the Sabine refuge|s 2.4-km paved walking trail.

One section is signed Alligator Alley, and it lived up to its name.

A trip like this takes four to six hours, allowing for stops at wildlife refuges, beaches, picnic sites or restaurants.

The Southwest Louisiana Convention & Visitors Bureau in Lake Charles has free cassettes and CDs for a self-guided tour.

Lake Charles is best known for casinos, but I think its best attraction is the Mardi Gras Museum.

Folks spend as much as $10,000 on elaborate costumes that are worn only two or three times during the annual event. More than 450 have been donated to the Mardi Gras Museum.

It's open from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday. Here are some websites and toll-free numbers for tourism information: Jeff Davis Parish, jeffdavis.org, 800-264-5521; Southwest Louisiana/Lake Charles, visitlakecharles.org, 1-800 456-SWLA.