6 Tips for Maintaining Your Car’s Paint Job
With any car, you’ll want to keep it looking like the day you drove it off the lot. One way to do that is by maintaining the paint job. Here are six tips to keeping your vehicle’s paint in tip-top shape.
Know How to Wash Your Car
The most important thing you can do to maintain your car’s paint job is to properly wash your car and do so regularly. When washing your car, maintain a safe distance between the water nozzle and your vehicle because water pressure that is too strong may damage the paint itself. Wash your car from the top down, apply soapy water in sections, scrub with a non-abrasive mitt, then gently rinse. Repeat this process until your car is clean, then dry with a microfiber towel.
Wax Your Car
As part of your car washing process, make sure to wax your vehicle at the end. Waxing both protects your car and allows it to shine after a quality wash job. You may be tempted to use a polish instead, but many polishing products actually contain abrasives that can cause harm to your paint.
Protect Your Car From the Sun
The sun’s rays can fade your vehicle’s paint, making it less likely to shine. You probably won’t be able to correct fading by washing or waxing either. Of course, driving in the sun generally cannot be avoided, but you can be strategic when parking your vehicle either at home or when you’re out for the day. Try to park in your home garage if you have one, or at least under some shade, like a carport. When out on the town, use parking garages instead of open lot or street parking.
Safely Remove Bird Droppings
Unless you always keep your car in the garage or under a tarp, it’s inevitable that it will eventually be the recipient of bird droppings or bug splatterings. Some bugs are rampant in the spring and summer months and slowly chip away at your paint if you don’t wash them off regularly. It’s the same with tree sap — if you don’t take the time to remove it soon, you may end up with paint damage.
To take care of these environmental obstacles to a clean paint job, consider using a waterless wash or purchasing a quick detail spray. To use, spray over the covered spot and then wipe clean with a microfiber towel. React fast and wipe gently, and your paint will be none the wiser.
Immediately Fix Scratches
To maintain your car’s paint job, you should also fix scratches as soon as you notice them. You can fix a superficial scratch with touch up paint or a scratch repair pen. Deeper scratches can either be addressed at a professional paint shop or you may be able to take care of this yourself by sanding around the scratch, using a primer, and then repainting.
Following the tips on this list should keep your car looking brand new so you can enjoy the look of it for many years to come.
5 Things to Do Around Lafayette on a Rainy Day
There are plenty of brilliantly sunny days in Lafayette, but we also have our fair share of rainy ones too. When those days hit, there is no need to cancel your day out. Instead, try one of these rainy day activities.
Go on a Cajun Food Tour
A major part of the city of Lafayette is the food, and there is no shortage of it on the Official Cajun Food Tour. Even if you are a Lafayette restaurant connoisseur, you’ll still love taking the 14-seat bus around the city and trying traditional Cajun dishes at five of the city’s favorites. What’s fun about this tour is that it’s not only about the food, you’ll also spend three to four hours hearing about the history of the city.
Admire the Cathedral
The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist is a sight to see, no matter your religious preference. Here you’ll find intricate stained glass and beautiful Italian marble inside and an above-ground cemetery and exquisite oak trees outside. This cathedral has a history that’s just as interesting as our city. Learn more on one of the audio tours available in English, Spanish, and French.
Visit the Children’s Museum
It’s easy for children to feel cooped up in the house on a rainy day, so consider visiting the Children’s Museum of Acadiana. The exhibits at this museum are hands-on with a strong emphasis on learning through participation. Children will love exploring HAPPY PAWS Hospital, a play veterinary clinic where they can learn more about animals and take care of those admitted. Another favorite exhibit is the Bubble Factory where kids can create different bubbles and then experience what it’s like to stand inside one. This is a spot that kids and adults will enjoy.
Star Gaze at the Planetarium
If you’re disappointed that it’s raining, visit the Lafayette Science Museum, a combination museum and planetarium where there’s nothing but clear skies in the forecast. On the museum side, discover more about meteorites, the speed of light, and different spacecraft, then visit the planetarium to learn what it takes to be an astronaut and the story of some of our solar system’s stars. The planetarium has both live and recorded demonstrations so you can have a first-hand look at constellations and planets.
Create a Piece of Clay Art
Hand Star Clay Studio, located on East Saint Mary Boulevard in Lafayette, is a place to visit if you’re feeling artistic. Owned and operated by Adel deValcourt, this clay studio hosts beginners’ classes, workshops, and even studio tours where you can see works of art in the gallery and showroom. Adel also offers date night packages and private lessons for those who want to take their clay building to the next level. After your time at Hand Star, you’ll have a piece you can’t wait to display in your home.
We’re lucky that no matter the outdoor conditions, there is plenty to see and do. Even when the weather is less-than-ideal, enjoy one of these adventures to pass the time and try something new.
5 Luxury Features of the 2020 Cadillac Escalade
The 2020 Cadillac Escalade offers you an unbeatable luxury experience. This iconic full-size SUV features traditional Cadillac designs along with innovative features. You’re sure to love its all-new interior, exterior, performance, and safety features. Get to know five luxury features that make this a truly refined vehicle.
1. Delightful Interior Features
The 2020 Cadillac Escalade was made for the comfort of all passengers. It can accommodate up to eight people, giving everyone ample space to enjoy the ride. Each detail of the interior features incredible craftsmanship and quality materials. The standard model includes premium leather seating surfaces on the first two rows. The driver and front passenger can enjoy heated and cool seats that can adapt to your preferences. The Bose Centerpoint surround sound 16-speaker audio system also makes for a state-of-the-art listening experience inside the cabin.
2. Eye-Catching Exterior
The exterior of the 2020 Cadillac Escalade is sure to turn heads with its elegant yet modern design. The full LED tail lamps feature the light blade design that’s unique to the Cadillac brand. Along with its stunning design, the exterior also includes some impressive features. The hands-free liftgate opens with a swift kicking gesture under the bumper, perfect for when your hands are full. It also has an invisible rear windshield wiper, helping you see better while maintaining the integrity of its design. Power assist steps are also available to make it easy to get in and out of the vehicle in style.
3. Next-Level Performance
The 2020 Cadillac Escalade offers a comfortable ride and impressive handling. The 10-speed automatic transmission makes for smooth acceleration and exceptional power in each gear. It’s also stocked with innovative engine technologies to ensure you’re riding as efficiently as possible. The Magnetic Ride Control system reads the road up to 1,000 times per second and automatically optimizes the suspension to driving conditions. It also has stability control, ensuring that your vehicle stays on the road.
4. Enhanced Safety Assistance
Enhanced safety features make the 2020 Cadillac Escalade one of the safer vehicles on the road. The surround vision feature gives you a bird’s eye view of your vehicle, making parking a breeze. It also has a safety alert seat, sending you vibrations when it detects objects in your driving path. The 2020 Cadillac Escalade also includes automatic emergency braking, helping you avoid more collisions. Lane changing in this SUV is also enhanced with its lane change and side blind zone alert, helping you avoid collisions with vehicles next to you.
5. Unique Trim Levels
The 2020 Cadillac Escalade comes in four different trim levels: Standard, Luxury, Premium Luxury, and Platinum. Although the Standard model is a truly luxurious SUV, you can continue to upgrade the Escalade for even more impressive features. When you choose the Platinum model, you get 18-way adjustable seats with massage settings, a leather-wrapped instrument panel, a console cooler, and other additional luxury features.
The 2020 Cadillac Escalade is truly a high-end vehicle that allows for maximum comfort. With this ride, you’ll be finding any excuse to take it for a spin. If you’re looking for a spacious SUV stocked full of luxury features, then this is the vehicle you need.
Image via Cadillac.com | Cropped from original
Living in Louisiana, we know good Cajun and Creole food the moment it settles on our tongue. Around here, our palates are made for this food. Even though there are plenty of options to choose from, here are our picks for authentic Cajun and Creole restaurants around Lafayette.
Bon Temps Grill
Bon Temps Grill, located on Verot School Road, is an award-winning Lafayette restaurant known for its Cajun and Creole cuisine. The menu at Bon Temps is largely focused on seafood and steak, like their Alligator Bang Bang Po-Boy and deep-fried meat pies. Try their Hamburger Steak, a half-pound of ground beef that’s smothered in brown gravy and cheddar cheese, or order the 12-ounce ribeye, 6-ounce filet, or 8-ounce sirloin to experience their grilled-to-perfection cuts.
Prejean’s Restaurant
If you’re looking for a tried-and-true Cajun restaurant, look no further than Prejean’s Restaurant. Around for more than 40 years, this Lafayette staple is focused on two things: providing authentic food and creating an environment where guests feel welcomed like family. Prejean’s serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, so stop by almost any time of day to enjoy your Cajun favorites with a twist.
If you want the best start to your day, order the Prejean’s Napoleon, a poached egg dish with a potato cake and crab cake that’s topped with a hollandaise sauce, fresh shrimp, and tasso. If you’re looking for something a little sweeter, the French toast-esque Pain Perdue should do the trick. For lunch or dinner, make sure to order the Chicken & Sausage Gumbo — it’s a three-time world champion dish for a reason.
Don’s Seafood Cajun Restaurant & Oyster Bar
Don’s Seafood Cajun Restaurant & Oyster Bar has been around since 1934, and some locals would consider it a tradition to enjoy one of their fantastic dishes. With every bite of any dish, you can taste the difference in their commitment to quality food and an exceptional cooking process. You won’t be disappointed in their charbroiled oysters made with garlic butter and Romano cheese. You also can’t go wrong ordering the fried or grilled catfish.
Blue Dog Cafe
The Blue Dog Cafe is easily recognized by its signage — a blue dog with wide yellow eyes. Artist George Rodrigue created the painting and sculpture of the dog, along with other notable works that capture the history of the region, and his sons now own Blue Dog Cafe. Any dish at Blue Dog Cafe is sure to be a great one, but we recommend the Corn and Crab Bisque and the Crawfish Enchilada for the true taste of Creole.
Dwight’s
Dwight’s, serving Lafayette residents and visitors from their Johnston Street location for decades, specializes in crawfish, along with other classic Cajun and Creole dishes. Dwight’s crawfish is so fresh that they only serve them five months of the year when they are available at their peak. For something a little different, try their BBQ lunch on Sundays.
In Lafayette, you’re surrounded by award-winning and mom-and-pop restaurants that have been part of the community for years. To enjoy a meal at any of these locations is to know and love the city’s culture and history.
Are you looking for a luxurious sedan with the latest technology for your new car? Meet the 2020 Cadillac CT4. This sedan keeps daily drivers and commuters happy and connected on the road.
Super Cruise
The 2020 Cadillac CT4 is a significant vehicle because it is the first sedan to include Cadillac’s Super Cruise system. When you engage this automated driving system on certain highways, the car takes over for you. You do not need to have your hands on the wheel with this system. However, you need to keep your eyes on traffic. You’ll need to be able to react if the traffic suddenly changes. If you need to shut off the Super Cruise feature, you can tap the brakes, and your car is back in your control.
Read the rest of this entry »Creating an Emergency Kit for Your Vehicle
On the vast network of open roads that covers the United States, breakdowns are common. Keep yourself and your family prepared through the creation of a fully equipped and well-maintained vehicle emergency kit. Take a look below to discover what you’ll need to add to your kit and why.
Include a Full-Fledged First-Aid Kit
In case of a breakdown that causes an injury, a complete first-aid kit must be included in your vehicle emergency kit. Your first-aid kit should contain items used in the treatment of burns, cuts, scrapes, stings, splinters, sprains, strains, and breaks. It’s also wise to include items that treat fever, nasal congestion, cough, sore throat, mild to moderate pain, gastrointestinal problems, skin problems, and allergies.
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Do you enjoy the idea of mixing luxury with the capabilities of a full-size SUV? Meet the 2020 Cadillac Escalade. The Escalade and its longer version, the Escalade ESV, allow you to enjoy a luxurious interior while you explore any destination you can imagine.
Luxurious Materials
As soon as you open the door to your new SUV, you’ll notice the luxurious materials that surround you on your drive. The wooden accents work well with your chosen interior color. The front captain’s chairs feature hot and cold settings to keep you comfortable. Second-row passengers also enjoy heated seats. All four trims also feature a heated, leather-wrapped steering wheel.
Read the rest of this entry »Fun Day Trips Lafayette, LA
If you’re wondering where one can go for a spring day trip from Lafayette, Louisiana, there are many beautiful and interesting destinations to choose from. Here are a few examples.
Atchafalaya National Wildlife Refuge
If you’re longing to explore the great outdoors, take the 35-mile drive from Lafayette to the Atchafalaya National Wildlife Refuge, which lies just east of the Atchafalaya River. This refuge offers diverse landscapes that include hardwoods, Bald Cypress-Tupelo swamps, and bayous, which are slow-moving streams. These various habitats house over 200 species of resident and migratory birds, as well as numerous other animals like wild turkeys, white-tailed deer, swamp rabbits, gray and red foxes, coyotes, raccoons, bobcats, and the American beaver.
At this beautiful refuge, visitors can enjoy various outdoor activities, such as hunting, wildlife viewing, paddling, hiking, and biking. If you’re into fishing, the waters of the river offer an abundance of largemouth bass, white and black crappie, bluegill, red ear sunfish, and channel catfish.
Avery Island
Another beautiful destination, which is just a 30-minute drive out of Lafayette, is Avery Island in Iberia Parish. Long before the Avery family — for whom the island is named — settled on the island in the 1830s, the Native Americans realized that the island is actually a large salt dome that was probably shaped from an ancient seabed, and started to manufacture salt. In the 1860s, Edmund McIlhenny married into the Avery family and started growing pepper plants on his in-laws’ farm. The pepper plants thrived, and in 1868 McIlhenny founded the now famous Tabasco pepper sauce brand.
Many years later, McIlhenny’s son, Edward, established the Jungle Gardens next to the Tabasco factory with the goal of creating an egret sanctuary. He initially reared eight young egrets and then released them to migrate to the Gulf of Mexico. The following year the egrets returned with other species and have done so ever since. The garden also boasts a 900-year-old Buddha statue and numerous exotic plants that Edward introduced to the island’s landscape, including Japanese camellias, Egyptian papyrus sedge, and many varieties of azaleas.
Henderson
Henderson is a small town that lies only about 17 miles outside of Lafayette. The town is known for its Cajun culture and excellent Cajun fare. If you like crawfish, you’re in the right part of the world as the town offers a number of restaurants, for instance, Pat’s Fisherman’s Wharf Restaurant, that serve delicious crawfish meals. Henderson is located in the Atchafalaya Swamp, which you can view through one of the many swamp tours on offer in town.
The Atchafalaya Basin Airboat Swamp Tours company, for instance, takes visitors out into the swamps on airboats, which are able to venture deeper into the swamps than regular boats. Once you’re back on land, enjoy a refreshment at a venue where you can view some Cajun/Zydeco dancing before heading home.
These are only three examples of the beautiful and diverse places that lie a short drive outside of Lafayette. Featuring natural beauty, historical sites, and a rich cultural heritage, the surrounding areas have a lot to offer and you will not run out of day-trip destinations any time soon.
If you drive a car with an automatic transmission, you might take it for granted. You put it in ‘Drive’ and away you go. But you should take measures to make sure that your transmission keeps on working as smoothly as it should. Here are some ways to take care of your transmission and avoid costly repairs.
Check the Fluid
It sounds simple, but checking your transmission fluid regularly is the easiest way of taking care of your automatic transmission. Not only will it show that you have the correct level of fluid, but, if the level is really low, it can also identify if you have a leak. Finding a leak early can save you an expensive repair later on.
Read the rest of this entry »Interesting Bookstores You Can Find Around Acadiana
Lafayette, Louisiana, is on the shore of the Vermillion River. It has beautiful scenery and a variety of great attractions, including the Vermillionville Historic Village, one of the largest Creole and Cajun living history museums in the world. If you feel like relaxing later, you can visit one of the many bookstores in the area to find a fascinating read. Here are some of the most interesting bookstores near Lafayette.
The Book Rack
The books in The Book Rack will let you experience faraway places, exciting events, magic, mysteries, and more. You can travel to other galaxies, battle vampires, or even fall in love with a wonderful spouse. It’s an excellent place to browse and find hidden treasures.
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