CAJUN COUNTRY -- 6

SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA

Listed first after each destination is the approximate cost for three days, two nights including lodging, six meals, park admissions and gas money to drive between attractions.

Cajun Country — $420-$500

• Breaux Bridge, breauxbridgela.net

• Café des Amis (breakfast from $10, lunch/dinner entrees from $17); 337/332-5273, www.cafedesamis.com

• Poche’s Market Restaurant and Smokehouse (plate lunches for $12); 800/376-2437, www.pochesmarket.com

New Iberia, www.cityofnewiberia.com

• Longfellow-Evangeline State Historic Site (admission $4); 888/677-2900, www.crt.state.la.us/louisiana-state-parks/historic-sites/longfellow-evangeline-state-historic-site

• Maison des Amis (rooms from $125); 337/507-3399, www.maisondesamis.com

• Staybridge Suites Lafayette (suites from $140); 800/238-8889, www.staybridge.com

CAJUN COUNTRY -- 5

SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA

St. Martinville, about 15 miles from Breaux Bridge, pays tribute to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s epic poem, “Evangeline,” about the heartbreaks encountered by the Acadian people’s expulsion from Canada and grueling resettlement in Louisiana.

The Longfellow-Evangeline State Historic Site visitor’s center has outstanding accessible restrooms. The first floor of Maison Olivier, an 1815 plantation house, is wheelchair accessible. 

The entire Attakapas Trail, named for the Attakapas Native Americans that inhabited the area before the Acadians, is paved and accessible.

Maison des Amis as limited access in one of its rooms.

The grounds of this bed and breakfast right next to the historic district are accessible. 

For a 100 percent accessible room, book one of three rooms with roll-in shower at the Staybridge Suites in Lafayette, about 11 miles from Breaux Bridge.

CAJUN COUNTRY -- 4

SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA

New Iberia, about 25 miles from Breaux Bridge, offers the accessible Bayou Teche boardwalk between Weeks Street and the Duperier Street Bridge — behind the Shadows-on-the-Teche historic attraction. 

City Park has a new, accessible deck on the water. 

Main Street itself is packed with historical buildings, served by accessible sidewalks with curb ramps. 

Spanish Lake, just a few miles out of New Iberia’s center, features five accessible fishing piers on its main levee road.

Bayou Carlin Cove in Delcambre, about 15 miles from New Iberia, has a new boat dock/fishing pier constructed to be wheelchair accessible.

CAJUN COUNTRY -- 3

SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA

Breaux Bridge is the Crawfish Capital of the World and Café des Amis serves ‘dem mudbugs in eggs for breakfast, in po boy sandwiches at lunch and as crawfish pies and platters of half etouffe/half fried crawfish for dinner.

For less formal dining in a barrier-free setting, head to Poche’s Market Restaurant and Smokehouse for spicy boudin, cracklins, fried catfish, fried shrimp, crawfish etouffe and weekend barbecue plates.

CAJUN COUNTRY -- 2

SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA

Saturdays mean zydeco breakfast, from 7:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., every Saturday except those that fall on a major holiday.

They don’t take reservations at Cafe des Amis, so come early. 

Crowd in on the sidelines and drink a dirt cheap, stiff Bloody Mary while watching a great harmony of sweaty bodies dancing up a storm to zydeco, a purely American music that started in rural Louisiana in the early 20th century.

Twirl to the sounds of accordion, fiddle, drums, guitar, bass and vest frottoir – a percussion instrument fashioned from pressed, corrugated steel and worn over the shoulders.

Beignets, biscuits and andouille cheese grits highlight a menu that also features couche couche (Cajun cereal made of cornmeal and milk with syrup and sugar) and the inimitable oreille de cochon (boudin-stuffed beignet dough shaped like pigs’ ears with powdered sugar) —  mmmm. 

After breakfast, roll over to swampy Bayou Teche. 

Check out the 19th century buildings and visit Breaux Bridge Antique Mall. It’s your typical musty, shelf-stuffed place — with some aisles accessible and a few too narrow to negotiate by wheelchair.

CAJUN COUNTRY -- 1

SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA

Cajun doesn’t get any more authentic than life in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana.

Named for the wooden footbridge built over Bayou Teche by Acadian pioneer Fermin Breaux, the tiny community is famous for music and food. 

Both can be had every Saturday morning at Café des Amis, in the center of town. 

A ramped entrance leads into a decent-sized bar, restaurant, stage and dance floor. Zydeco is the big draw, as it has been for years.

TURKEY TRAVEL PLANNER WEBSITE EVEN UNDERSTANDS WHEELCHAIR ACCESS

Sidewalk: not easily accessible.../TTP foto

BEST ONLINE GUIDE TO ACCESS WE'VE EVER SEEN THAT'S WRITTEN 
BY AN AUTHOR WHO DOES NOT USE A WHEELCHAIR FOR MOBILITY

Tom Brosnahan is my new email friend.

A veteran writer of guidebooks, he's my new guru of travel writing.

My wife and I have contributed travel stories, often focusing on wheelchair access, for more than a quarter century.

For us, it's easy, because my wife uses a wheelchair for mobility -- so she knows first-hand whether the curbcuts are graded properly, the roll-in shower functions without flooding, the promised shuttle with access really has a wheelchair lift, the airline follows federal law and allows onboard stowage of her wheelchair rather than letting it get broken in the cargo hold.

For others, we see a lot of well-meaning, but frankly lousy attempts at seeing the world through a wheelchair user's eyes while walking the streets at 5-10 height, with the ability to walk up short steps, walk around obstructions and generally not notice the barriers that prevent wheelers from maneuvering so easily.

Tom, who is brilliant on several counts, has managed to deliver the goods.

The link below leads to his advice on Istanbul access.

We've never been to the world city.

I'm planning on visiting soon, to scout wheelchair access for my wife.

Our dream is to return, for at least half a month, on our 30th wedding anniversary.

Tom has already advised me on a unique, family owned and operated property that has an outstanding room with 2 beds, roll-in shower and more.

The Turkey Travel Planner website author also knew that a property's location is as important as its on-site access.

Tom knows that a great property, located at the bottom of a steep hill, or several blocks of bumpy ride to main attractions, or isolated for accessible public transport -- is as bad as a property with substandard ramps, showers and general access within its grounds.

Few get it.

Tom does.

Visit his site

charming..but inaccessible/TTP foto