Lafayette, Louisiana

Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

dogbert617

OBS Chief
Joined
Aug 19, 2016
Messages
840
Location
Chicago, IL
Has anyone ever stopped in this smaller city, or knew someone who lived in this city for a while, or heck even stopped in Lafayette briefly on a roadtrip? And if they ever spent any time here, can mention anything they really liked about this city?

It looks like it'd probably be an alright smaller city to stop off at, and explore IF you lived somewhere along the Sunset Limited route. Too bad the 3 times a week schedule of the Sunset Limited would make doing a trip here from New Orleans(or west of here, Houston, San Antonio, LAX, etc) tough to pull off, since you'd have to spend at least 2 nights here before traveling back. Although I do see University of Louisiana-Lafayette(ULL) does operate a local university art museum here, along with a few other things one could do(i.e. any events in what I believe is ULL's art center). Also I see there is some sort of nature preserve one could walk into, on the northeast section of town.

I don't think I am going to stop here on my upcoming CONO-Sunset-Eagle southerly Amtrak train trip in January 2020, but more am posting this since I'd like to learn some additional info on Lafayette I don't yet know. And since this city has never been posted, on this board before. Thanks to anyone who can respond and fill myself and others in, on what they know about Lafayette.
 
Lafayette is the Largest City in Cajun Country and has lots of Excellent Cajun Food and Drinking Joints,Friendly "Coon-asses" ( they're word, not a Slur) and Great Music!

You'd want to have a Car to explore Cajun Country. I suggest you Google up info on this unique area if interested in this Culture.
 
Lafayette is the Largest City in Cajun Country and has lots of Excellent Cajun Food and Drinking Joints,Friendly "Coon-asses" ( they're word, not a Slur) and Great Music!

You'd want to have a Car to explore Cajun Country. I suggest you Google up info on this unique area if interested in this Culture.

Thanks for your response! Without a doubt, it does sound like an area where renting a car would be a good idea, to explore all the smaller towns around Lafayette. Heh, and the term coon-asses is used to describe something locally there? I wonder what that refers to, myself?

Still though, suggestions within Lafayette would be fine to post in this thread. Along with of course, any good recommended ones a little outside of Lafayette's city limits. I think I allegedly heard of one blues/jazz/'juke joint' type of bar that wasn't too far outside Lafayette(maybe in Breaux Bridge? forget which town), which has sometimes been recommended per online reviews.
 
Heh, and the term coon-asses is used to describe something locally there? I wonder what that refers to, myself?

"Coon-ass" is a term which some Cajun people use to refer to themselves in a humorous and self-deprecating way, much as "Aggies" do in Texas. (However, as an outsider you'd be best advised to avoid the use of the term unless you know someone there really, really well!) "Cajun", of course, is a corruption of "Acadian", a French-speaking people which migrated down to Louisiana from Canada during the years before the Louisiana Purchase when France controlled the area. Many of them still speak amongst themselves in a French-ish patois. See also Boudreaux and Thibodeaux jokes.
 
"Coon-ass" is a term which some Cajun people use to refer to themselves in a humorous and self-deprecating way, much as "Aggies" do in Texas. (However, as an outsider you'd be best advised to avoid the use of the term unless you know someone there really, really well!) "Cajun", of course, is a corruption of "Acadian", a French-speaking people which migrated down to Louisiana from Canada during the years before the Louisiana Purchase when France controlled the area. Many of them still speak amongst themselves in a French-ish patois. See also Boudreaux and Thibodeaux jokes.

Oh, okay. Thanks for explaining the coon-ass term to me, btw. Also as for Cajun French, how many people still speak in that form of French in southern Louisiana? I remember reading the amount of people who speak in Cajun French had declined a lot in recent years, and that sadly it looks like efforts to reteach that language to younger people were neglected for years sadly. Leading unfortunately to less usage of it, today.

Sort of like how in Ireland, Gaelic is only spoken in a few rural areas in mostly western Ireland today. And that today, few people(especially in eastern Ireland, and probably less in southern Ireland vs. western Ireland) know how to speak Gaelic, vs. like decades or 1 century ago. Also of course like Cajun French, the amount of people speaking that has unfortunately declined a lot.
 
Back
Top