Bedding Down Bayouside
At this highly-rated Breaux Bridge Airbnb, you can lounge next to a gleaming saltwater pool or make cultural outings along Bayou Teche
A 135-mile waterway reduced to a few squiggles of blue Sharpie. That’s how Linni, our host, has illustrated Bayou Teche in a bulging binder of maps and recommendations that sits right inside the doorway of the Breaux Bridge Airbnb where my husband and I had come to stay for the weekend.
Flip to the next page, and there the Teche is again, serpentine sketches annotated by Linni’s careful hand, designating attractions like Lake Martin, the Evangeline Oak, and the antebellum landmark Shadows-on-the-Teche. On the wall by the bed (with its taut white comforter) a framed print of the waterway recounts Bayou Teche’s history in descending paragraphs, pinpointing Breaux Bridge, Cecilia, Arnaudville, New Iberia, and other neighboring communities bunched along the bayou. I realized then that those bold blue lines in the binder were no elementary doodle: The Teche is a totem, and it guides the region’s life and culture. Even before Google Maps’ confirmation, I could tell that most of Cajun Country was at our fingertips from where we bedded down bayouside.
We saw the Teche for ourselves when morning came. The one-acre yard—its main feature a long, gleaming saltwater pool you might hallucinate on summer’s more punishing days—slopes down to the bayou; along the way, pairs and quartets of chairs are grouped for easy socializing. A well-loved hammock is the final option for lounging before the grass cedes to water.
Our hotel-like accommodations were in the guest house off the main dwelling’s carport, a small but resourceful space that suited our basic needs (bed, coffee, Netflix as lullaby). Beyond the room, free reign was given of the yard, that blessed pool, a new outdoor shower (there’s an indoor one too), and even the kayaks stacked by the fence.
Airbnb structures each online listing into rules and missives from the host, but the decorative touches by Linni and her husband Trent (another charmer: framed prints of vintage Louisiana product labels on the wall include “French Market Molasses,” “Pride of Venice Cove” satsumas “from the rich alluvial soils of the Mississippi River,” and “Bayou Maid Louisiana Porto Rican [sic] Sweet Potatoes”) and communication with the two throughout the weekend did a charismatic job in bridging the gap between guest room and hotel. They even left homemade muffins outside our door.
Still, it is odd to stay in a stranger’s home, to see their cars and know that you have entered their orbit and not the other way around. None of our previous stays through Airbnb (we’ve been to Seattle, Portland, Chicago, and Ocean Springs this way) have put us in someone else’s backyard as they went about their daily life. But at this writing, the $95-a-night guest house has 128 reviews on Airbnb that average out to a five-star rave, so it would appear the close arrangement suits the couple and their endless guests just fine. Consider this Endorsement #129.
We didn’t get the chance to meet our hosts, but that’s a shame to be rectified upon our next visit. Their knowledge of the area, starting with that binder of maps, pamphlets, and restaurant menus, guided a weekend that ran to and from Breaux Bridge in short scenic jaunts. I liked looking at the illustrated Teche on each return to the room to trace our latest outing and re-orient. That’s where we went, and here’s where we’re headed next.
Before we left on Sunday morning, I took to the guestbook to leave my own personal mark. The entry spilled across two pages and threatened a third. I guess you never overestimate the power of lending your voice to a joyful chorus.
Recommended Excursions:
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Café des Amis
On Saturday mornings, the line outside runs around the corner by 7:55 am, the doors open at 8, and by 8:30 the floorboards are quivering with a local zydeco act and a restaurant full of two-steppers. Even if you don’t think you’ll dance—and you wouldn’t be the first to have your mind changed—the spectacle of dancers, furious and fluid and swapping partners with each new song, is not to be missed.
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Buck and Johnny's
Greenery on the stairwell, a fir tree in the corner, and twinkly lights decking all of Buck & Johnny’s halls were never properly explained on our September visit, but the ambiance is undeniable. The exposed brick walls still bear touches of the Italian joint’s former life as Domingues Motors; but the aroma of brake fluid has, thankfully, long since been replaced by balsamic, mozzarella, and lots of roasted garlic.
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Lake Martin/Cypress Island Preserve
Perfect for birders, hikers, and families, too, the Cypress Island Preserve spreads out over 9,500 acres between Breaux Bridge and Lafayette; but you can narrow your visit, and still see plenty of wildlife, by opting for the boardwalk or levee trails, which will reopen on October 1 once alligator nesting season has concluded. (Isn’t it nice to know you’re being looked after?)
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Parish Brewing Co.
Bayou Teche Brewing in Arnaudville is a quicker drive, and their Saturday offerings are hard to beat (see Tyler Thigpen’s May 2016 article on the brewery’s busiest day, which includes yoga and music trivia); but we took twenty minutes to make a first visit to Parish Brewing in Broussard, home to many of our favorite beers like the hoppy Envie and the collaborative coffee stout made with Rêve Coffee Roasters, another local producer. Our friends were able to bring along their four-year-old to the all-ages taproom—he played Jenga—and my husband secured a four-pack of the coveted Ghost in the Machine ale for our home fridge.
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Saint Street Inn
Too often, I have to settle for letting Lafayette’s dining scene dazzle me from afar. Not so this weekend, when I was able to check The Saint Street Inn off my list. We all wobbled a little after a taste of the Heirloom Tomato Toast (I blame the divine garlic aioli); and our table quickly filled with Scotch eggs, crostini, craft cocktails, house-cut pappardelle, and Cajun-Cuban sandwiches. The menu changes often, but I’m told you can depend on the smoked gouda mac and cheese with an herb biscuit crumble.