LAFAYETTE, LOUISIANA, USA -- In addition to great cuisine, Lafayette's Café Vermillionville has a lot of history and ambiance. Housed in the building that served as Lafayette's first Inn, originally built in 1799, you'll find gorgeous Cypress woodwork throughout. A "quilt" of antique windows gives way to a stunning view of the beautifully manicured outdoor garden (used for private parties and extra dining space in warm weather).

An on-site herb garden gives chef/owner Poncho Veron plenty of seasonings for his nouvelle Cajun dishes. Poncho tries to use all native Louisiana ingredients when preparing his food -- from the veggies to locally caught seafood and Louisiana grown meats.

Situated in such an historic dwelling, it's not surprising to learn that Café Vermillionville has a resident ghost.

It seems that during the plantation days before the civil war, a family who lived in the house had a small daughter afflicted with polio. Her devoted father would regularly travel to New Orleans to get her medicine. During one such trip, the little girl died before her heartbroken father could return.

We're not sure when the ghost stories first began, but employees of Café Vermillionville tell of a period before the current restaurant opened. At that time the historic building was being used as office space. A local Lafayette woman who would drive by each morning between 4 and 5 AM on her way to work stopped in one afternoon to find out what the building was used for. She claimed she frequently spotted a little girl in yellow dress on the house's upper front balcony during her early morning commutes. Of course, no such little girl lived in the house, at least not in that era.

Another time a Café Vermeillionville diner who was taking a photograph was shocked to see a small girl with shoulder length brown hair in a yellow dress standing next to his subject when looking through the view finder. She vanished when he looked at the room without the camera.

Other diners throughout the years have also reported seeing the mysterious yellow clad little girl. Perhaps you will too if you visit Café Vermillionville. No matter if you don't. You'll still have one of the finest meals the Lafayette area has to offer (click here to learn more about dining at Café Vermillionville and other Lafayette area fine dining establishments).

Practicalities

Café Vermillionville is located at 1304 W. Pinhook in Lafayette, LA 70501. Phone 337-237-0100 or click to www.cafev.com.

Cheri Sicard, in addition to being the editor of FabulousTravel.com and its sister site, Fabulous Foods.com is the author of The Great American Handbook: What You Can Do For Your Country Today and Every Day and The Low Carb Restaurant Guide, and the co-author of US Citizenship for Dummies. To learn more about Cheri, click here.