Unconventional Fun: Discovering Unique Activities in Lafayette

 

 

 

 

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Are you a fan of the X-Games that has been waiting for an opportunity to try your first 360? Maybe you're a novice roller skater hoping to gain confidence or a veteran BMX rider looking to gain a hobby. Regardless of your history with skating, Magnolia LA BMX Shop and Skate Park has a place for you.

The business has been in soft opening phases for a few months but celebrated its grand opening in May 2023. It serves as Acadiana's only indoor skate park. Open seven days a week, Magnolia LA is owned and operated by Lafayette native Joseph "Ooti" Billeaud. Billeaud became a part of the BMX community during the 90s as the sport began to gain popularity.

" I think it is every BMX biker and skater's dream to have their skatepark," Billeaud explains. "The first skatepark I rode was in 1995, called Buck Nutty's Skate Ranch. I've been traveling the country to ride my bike at different skateparks ever since."

He created the space to be inclusive to all riders regardless of age or skill level. He hopes to grow Lafayette's thriving skating community and welcome more people to learn about the vast sport.

"Lafayette has a rich skateboard culture built over multiple decades, but it currently doesn't have any indoor or outdoor skateparks in the city, so its impact will be incredible for the community as it's very much needed."

Magnolia will be offering a summer camp and private lessons at the facility. If you need help figuring out where to start with equipment, check out the shop portion of the building. Magnolia LA has an admission price of $10 and welcomes BMX, wheelie, and MTB bike riders, roller skates, roller blades, scooters, and skateboards.

Click here for additional information on allowed equipment, safety, group pricing, and more.

Thrill chasers and puzzle enthusiasts rejoice a new escape room has opened in Lafayette. Located next to Sam's Club on Ambassador Caffery, Escape360 allows you to heighten your logic skills with different intense challenges. If you've never heard of or participated in one, an escape room is a timed game where participants solve puzzles to unlock the room or receive a prize.

Escape360 currently offers two different puzzles with varied difficulties. Both are family-friendly and open to anyone over the age of 7. The owners recommend being 13+ to get the most out of the game.

If solving these rooms with strangers makes you nervous, don't worry. Escape360 operates differently than most escape rooms because they only put you in a room with members of your party. Each session requires a minimum of four people to participate and has a cap of 8. Reservations can be placed at Escape360.net, walk-ins are accepted, but reservations are strongly encouraged.

Everybody loves a good conversation piece, so why not make one yourself? Pottery Alley offers various crafting courses, workshops, and private sessions for all skill levels. Pottery Alley first opened in 2007 and recently opened a new location at at 510 W. Pinhook Road. It is a wonderful way to spend the weekend or a great addition to your travel list if you are visiting. Pottery Alley is the only place in Acadiana where you can throw, fire, and glaze pottery, offering a fully immersive experience.

If you are a local or have been in town for a while, you should take advantage of the monthly class offerings. Students can choose from wheel or hand building as their medium and schedule four 3-hour courses to master that skill set. These classes are open to anyone 12 or older and can be booked in advance by clicking here.

If you are looking for more than one experience? They have you covered! Each month Pottery Alley offers a variety of workshops to help learn the fundamentals and seasonal craft ideas. These classes are open to anyone eight years and older. Currently, they offer three workshops: Wheel for Dummies, Handbuilding for Dummies, and Seasonal Workshop. The seasonal course is centered around holidays and nature of that month and is open to children six and older and adults. Clay, glaze (paint), and firing are included in all services. Summer day camp is also offered for children 8-17. Campers can focus on sculptures or wheels.

If you are looking for a more peaceful way to spend a day, try a session at Zen Den Yoga Studio off Johnston St. Zen Den specializes in hot yoga but don't let that scare you away. Hot yoga has many proven health benefits and is believed to improve mental health. And at Zen Den, they curate courses suitable for all skill and comfort levels. Zen Den is owned by Emoni Harbor, a native of Lafayette and a long-time yoga lover. She has always appreciated the feeling you get when doing hot yoga and wanted to share that power with others.

Zen Den classes are heated between 90 and 115 degrees Fahrenheit and range in difficulty level. Hot Slow Flow, Slow Burn, and Heal and Strech are suggested classes for beginners. These classes are open to more advanced yogis as well.

Specialized courses and workshops are posted on their social media pages monthly. Each Saturday, Zen Den offers a $5 course, an excellent opportunity to get a feel for the class structure. Classes are offered Monday through Saturday, with one class on Sundays for expecting mothers.

Zen Den offers membership packages ranging from one-day to one-year membership options. For more information click here.

Don’t just organize a party, have your participants create something fun! That’s the idea behind The Bougie Bar at 209 Jefferson St. in downtown Lafayette, where partiers may drink, enjoy finger foods and produce a candle to boot.  

Louisiana’s candle-making store offers several opportunities for a kids or adult party, a group date night or a girlfriends’ soireem . The fun starts at $40 which includes all the items necessary to create an eight-ounce candle with a choice of up to three fragrances from their inventory of 100 scents.

“We advise you to take your time to choose your fragrances to create the perfect blend,” said Bougie Manager Whitney Ross. 

Private parties of 10 or more people are featured daily and last about two hours. Games are welcome and if parties don’t have their own, The Bougie Bar may initiate some, such as the strut game where participants walk a runway for prizes. Smaller groups (1-10) may be admitted as a one-hour Walk-In Session from Wednesdays through Saturdays. Each month The Bougie Bar host open social parties, a fun opportunity to meet new people.

Music is part of the fabric of South Louisiana so don’t expect to bowl in Lafayette without listening to Acadiana’s finest musicians. Louisiana entrepreneur Johnny Blancher  began this unique entertainment combination of bowling to live music at Rock’n’Bowl in New Orleans, and its popularity has soared. Because Lafayette shares the same love of music and bowling, Blancher opened his second venue in an old bank building on Jefferson Street in the heart of downtown Lafayette. Visitors may enjoy ongoing live music—not to mention the opportunity to dance— while bowling on 16 hip-styled and lighted lanes. There are plenty of dining and drinking options as well.

Lafayette and the surrounding area is home to numerous thrift shops and antique stores, which make for fun outings of treasure hunting. Look for stores run by non-profits and churches where sales benefit the community or shops selling unique vintage items. Lafayette is also home to Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore that sells furniture, appliances, home improvement products and so much more, all helping raise funds to build affordable homes in the greater Lafayette area.

Jump on the bus and enjoy Lafayette’s culinary prowess with Cajun Food Tours. We’re talking sampling the best of Cajun and Creole cuisine—and possibly delicious items you’ve never tasted before—at five curated restaurants in Lafayette. You’ll try Lafayette staples such as boudin, a type of sausage that’s passionately loved here in Acadiana; gumbo, with ingredients that tell of Louisiana history; and fried alligator, a tantalizing dish most people will never get at home! Lafayette may be known for its Cajun and Creole heritage but it’s an international city as well. Cajun Food Tours showcases this culinary diversity with its Around the World: Ethnic Food Tour.

If you’d rather check out alligators alive and well in the wild, there are numerous swamp tours around Lafayette, from high energy air boat tours to leisurely voyages that explain the unique ecosystem that’s South Louisiana.