Whether you’re new to town or have lived here all your life, there’s a place in Downtown Lafayette that’s sure to capture your imagination.
That place, according to Kevin Krantz, is the Lafayette Science Museum located on Jefferson Street.
Krantz is Director of the Lafayette Science Museum and says that what make’s this museum stand out is its ties to the hub city. "Our focus at the Lafayette Science Museum is to represent Lafayette and the surrounding area."
"When somebody comes through from another state, another country," says Krantz, "they’re going to see things that reflect Lafayette and reflect science within the area."
And what better way to introduce visitors to Lafayette than highlighting our area’s unique contributions to music.
Cajun music, Zydeco music, and a 101 lesson on the greats both alive and gone are just a few of the exhibits at the museum. Krantz says these exhibits will also offer a sampling of their music.
And if you’re more of a visual hands on type, you won’t want to miss the virtual reality lab, Acadiana 360.
Krantz says that visitors can become emersed in Acadiana culture in the virtual world. "They can sit down and actually experience a crawfish boil, a fais do-do at Wayne Toups’, and they can go on a swamp tour. There are a number of things that they can do virtually."
The best part of this experience, it’s air-conditioned!
And what’s a trip to a museum without checking out some cool looking fossils? While the imposing mastadon and its crew of skeletal sidekicks are just casts of the real things, the truth about their origins is even more interesting.
"One of the notable facts about the mastadon is that right here on the Vermilion River there was actually a mastadon fossil found. We actually have its teeth and the remains of it upstairs."
If fossils aren’t your thing, just head up to the second floor where guests can get a look at what dinos may have looked like millions of years ago.
Of course, no trip to the Lafayette Science Museum is complete without checking out one of its state of the art planetarium shows, which take visitors into the night sky and beyond.
Admission prices range from $2 for kids to $5 for adults, making the Lafayette Science Museum a fun and affordable stop on anyone’s acadiana bucket list.
