Lafayette: Visitor Center

Lafayette Visitor Center, Lafayette, Louisiana

I popped  into the visitor center one weekend morning, thinking to get a map or two before pushing off to my next thing.

..... about an hour later, I left the center smiling after an enrichening conversation with the two docents inside. Native south Louisianans of cajun heritage, the two women enthusiastically shared engrossing information about the history, culture, and other tidbits relevant to the area.

Loved the outsiderish-art sign for the center.

There's a pleasant boardwalk trail on the property that guides visitors over the bayou. 

 

Lafayette Visitor Center, Lafayette, Louisiana

The only things I didn't love about the center is that it hides in plain sight on the Evangeline Thruway, which is always bristling with traffic, and regardless of which direction you approach the center from, you've got to make a fast left turn into the visitor center campus. The visitor center, in fact, resides on a wide "island" between the divided thruway.    

Once you know where the center is, it's not so much a problem, but I can't tell you how many times I drove right past it before I noticed there was a building there and later, that it was the visitor center. 

More prominent and earlier-on signage would be helpful to those unfamiliar with the area. Or just the directionally-impaired, like me.