Guide at a Glance
Guiding Experience
6 years
Languages
English
Favorite Trip
All-Inclusive Taste Tour
Guide Bio
I’ve been a resident of Lafayette since I was four-years-old and I’m a proud graduate of the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. After college, I taught middle and high school Social Studies in Baton Rouge for nearly four years before coming home to Lafayette. I’ve always had a passion for the history and culture of my hometown, moving away for several years only made me love this town more once I came back.
My first job back in Lafayette was as a tour guide and blacksmith at Vermilionville, a local historic folk-life village, where I still work to this day. Being able to share the history of our rich and diverse culture with visitors from across the world at Vermilionville made me realize I had found exactly what I wanted to do with my life.
Louisiana, and Acadiana especially, is one of the most fascinating places to explore the fruits of many different cultures coming together. They produce their own unique music, lifestyle and most importantly, food! I truly believe the right bowl of gumbo, the perfect link of boudin or the simplicity of red beans and rice can show you the history of our state all in one bite. I’m excited to join Marie and Ginger as a guide and I look forward to sharing my passion for my hometown and our cuisine.
My wife and I really enjoyed the food and quirky little venues that formed part of the tour and that alone would have been enough for us to have a really good experience, however………….. Jay made the whole tour come to life, he is an extremely knowledgable young man, with just the right wit and humour to go alongside it. During the tour you are at the mercy of those who are in the bus with you as this could really determine the sort of experience you might have, Jay however ensured we all got to know each other at the start and really allowed the group to form a quick bond so we could all laugh along and enjoy the food and sights together.
Top bloke, top tour guide and thoroughly nice guy. Definitely would recommend.
Myself and 3 of my classmate girlfriends took The Cajun Food Tour with Jay on Saturday, May 27, 2017. We are all locally from Acadiana with one of us now living in Arkansas. On our tour we had a couple from London, 2 couples from Texas and 2 couples from the Acadiana area. We had a great time. Jay was very informative about the history of the area as we rode from one restaurant to the next. The food we sampled at all 6 restaurants was absolutely delicious!!! As well as the drinks! I would highly recommend this tour to anyone and I look forward to doing it again!! Thanks for a wonderful afternoon food tour Jay!!