Shannon Metcalf helms the Lafayette Visitor's Center every week and has worked here with a host of volunteers for 26 years. But she doesn't consider sharing her love of Lafayette with the world as work.
"This has been a joy," Metcalf said. "I've never found that I was going to work. That's a real blessing."
Metcalf even drops by on her days off, stopping at the center in the middle of Lafayette's Evangeline Thruway to feed the cat she and the volunteers have adopted. They call him "Capon," a Cajun-Creole word meaning scared.
"He scared, but he's also deaf," she explained of his shyness. "He's always here. He's our guard cat."
Capon might also be considered lagniappe, what we in Acadiana call "a little something extra." Tourists stop by the Lafayette Visitor's Center to receive information on where to go and what to see in Lafayette and throughout Louisiana. Metcalf has acquired a wealth of knowledge on not just the Bayou State but surrounding states as well. What she doesn't know, she finds out for visitors, she said.
However, what travelers find at the Lafayette Visitor's Center is more than a simple building full of brochures and volunteers ready to assist. The property contains landscaped gardens and a boardwalk that takes visitors along a short stroll through a pond full of cypress trees, lily pads, and blooming plants, depending on the time of year. Visitors will discover turtles on their walk along the boardwalk and may feed the fish off the building's deck, which overlooks the water.
This year, Metcalf witnessed a pair of Canada geese nesting in the swampy pond, and spring brought forth three goslings, the first time in her 26 years that the center saw baby geese!
"They're so precious," she said.
Once, the pond attracted a small alligator they named T-Sid, but like most gators who wander into urban areas of Lafayette, he was relocated to the wild.
Visitors will also enjoy artwork unique to Lafayette, such as the "Bienvenue a Lafayette" sign by local artist Robert Harris, aka King Rob, and the giant titfer, or iron triangle, used as a rhythm instrument in Cajun music, created by Lafayette Travel's Creative Director Lance LeBlanc and erected by Begnaud Manufacturing. Both make for excellent selfie spots.
Of course, the Lafayette Visitor's Center has all the information you need to make your trip to our city and Southern Louisiana a success. Metcalf and her team of volunteers are eager to help in any way.
"First, I listen," Metcalf said of tourists needing help. "Then I ask where they're going next so I can assist them both here and the surrounding areas. We want to make their trip as smooth as possible. We try to make it easy for them, where they're going."
Since Metcalf began working at the Visitor's Center more than two decades ago, about 100 volunteers have worked under her leadership. Her volunteers and the people she's met visiting from all over the world have been a blessing, Metcalf explained.
"I have had a big family for the last 26 years," she said.
The Lafayette Visitor's Center is located right off Interstate 10 (Exit 103A), heading south at 1400 Northwest Evangeline Thruway. The center is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, except for major holidays.
Dogs are welcome but must be on a leash. Bathrooms are located inside the building. Although there are no outdoor picnic tables or chairs, the Visitor's Center makes for a nice stop to stretch your legs and relish South Louisiana's natural beauty.
For more information on Lafayette Parish and the Visitor's Center, call (800) 346-1958.
