GARDENS & GUMBO: Part 3 - Breaux Bridge, Lake Charles, and the Creole Nature Trail
- Connie Pearson
- May 4
- 3 min read
Visiting the laidback town of Breaux Bridge required a short backtrack from Lafayette before heading to Lake Charles, but the comments we heard made us want to check it out. The idea of cute boutiques, poking around a large antique shop, and having brunch in a 1925 building that was once known for making caskets proved to be too much to resist.
Remnants of the hand-operated Otis elevator that was used to transport caskets from where they were made upstairs to the showroom downstairs are incorporated into the decor of Cafe Sydnie Mae at 140 E. Bridge Street. From 1945 to 1983, the building served as a fabric store and the morning drop-off point for the local newspaper. Subsequent identities were an army surplus store, an art studio, a coffee shop, then the Cafe des Amis, known as the "Home of the Original World Famous Zydeco Breakfast." The first cafe closed, but in March of 2018, Cafe Sydnie Mae opened its doors and remains in operation today. It was named for Sydnie Mae Durand, a former Louisiana State Representative. Live music is common at Cafe Sydnie Mae, and the walls are adorned with paintings of famous Breaux Bridge musicians.
We were there for Sunday brunch (a reservation is a good idea). I ordered the Pain Perdu, which is French for "lost bread," and is similar to French toast.
After checking out several of the shops that were open on Sunday, we headed to Lake Charles, passing MANY purposefully-flooded rice fields along the way.
Our favorite meal in Lake Charles was at Steamboat Bill's on North Lakeshore Drive. New to us, but very delicious, was an appetizer called a Pistolette loaded with crawfish etouffee. YUMMM! A pistolette is a lightly-fried roll, by the way. A lady seated near us ordered a plate of boiled crawfish, and I couldn't resist asking her if I could take a photo. She graciously consented. :)
Our goal for Monday morning was to check out at least a portion of the Creole Nature Trail All American Road before heading on to Baton Rouge. We began by visiting the Creole Nature Trail Adventure Point in Sulphur, LA, where a couple of very friendly and helpful staff members gave us great tips and directions. We headed south and spent a good bit of time exploring the Pintail Wildlife Drive and the Cameron Prairie Pintail Boardwalk. We loved spotting birds, alligators, and wildflowers.
Lunch was at Lighthouse Bend in Cameron, LA. We loved the blackened redfish, and the manager gifted us with their Lighthouse Bread Pudding (apparently for driving so far to eat there). :)
Interestingly, Cameron's normal population in 2020 was 315 people. HOWEVER, 12,000 -- YES, TWELVE THOUSAND -- people have come to the area to work in the natural gas industry. There were travel trailers parked EVERYWHERE, and we counted NINETEEN chartered buses bringing workers in from nearby towns in time for the shift change. Astounding.
The area was full of many sights, impressions, and situations that are different from what we are accustomed to seeing at home.
An insightful quote from Saint Augustine says, "The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page." And Henry Miller once said, "One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things."
Let me encourage you to travel, in order to observe and learn.
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