bugsy running on lone rock beach with the airstream and f-150 in the background

One night in Lafayette, LA (visit #2)–Tucson for Christmas trip

We were in Lafayette in January 2024, as part of our Tucson for Christmas trip. Read about our previous visit in 2017 here.

enjoying the patio at Desi Dhaba
we loved Desi Dhaba!

The drive to Lafayette from Austin is a pretty crappy six hours: all interstate, and traffic gets snarled up around Houston. BUT! We finally got to stop at a Punjabi dhaba and that made all the crap driving worth it!

Bugsy at Desi Dhaba in Winnie TX
Desi Dhaba is the best!

Desi Dhaba in Winnie, TX is fantastic! There’s tons of parking, a spacious outdoor picnic area, cozy indoor seating, and the friendliest people. We ordered three curries to take with us for dinner that night, and samosas to snack on while there.

samosas and chai at Desi Dhaba
samosas and chai at Desi Dhaba!

The samosas arrived with delicious chai tea. What a gem! We’ll be sure to stop at Desi Dhaba every time we’re driving I-10 in east Texas!

Campground

the Airstream at Scott KOA
our campsite at the KOA in Scott, LA

We stayed at the same KOA we stayed at last visit, just outside Lafayette in Scott. It’s a big campground centered on a pretty little lake. Our campsite was at the far side of the campground because we’d read about the road noise from the adjacent interstate, and it was quiet with good enough wifi for J to have a Zoom meeting in the morning.

Bugsy walking around the lake at Scott KOA
walking around the lake at the KOA

Billy’s Homemade Boudin and Cracklins, a huge meat market selling Cajun specialties, is next door to the KOA. I tried to get J to go sample some goods but he wasn’t in the mood for heavy pork products. Sorry we can’t report back, readers!

Exploring Lafayette

Lafayette mural
one of the many murals in downtown Lafayette

Because of J’s meeting, Bugsy and I had a couple hours in the morning to explore Lafayette on our own. Based on our research, we were interested in:

the cathedral in downtown Lafayette
Lafayette’s cathedral

So we headed into downtown on a weekday morning; it was totally dead, but full of cute storefronts and fun murals. Spoonbill restaurant looked neat for next visit. Jefferson was the most interesting of the downtown streets we explored, and Parc Sans Souci was a bit sketchy when nobody else was around.

strolling Jefferson St in downtown Lafayette
Bugsy at the Lafayette letters in Parc Sans Souci
posing in the giant letters in Parc Sans Souci

We tried to park near the University but found it impossible, and we wanted to go to Cypress Lake but ran out of time while trying to find parking. Those two destinations are at the top of the list for next time we’re in Lafayette.

Food and drink

another Lafayette mural
Bugsy wondering when we’re hitting a restaurant

“Lafayette is said to have more restaurants per capita than any other American city,” says a Louisiana tourism website. Hmm. It didn’t feel that way to us, and it’s hard to compare food scenes when we were coming from Austin, but it’s an impressive stat if it’s true!

Oyster poor boy from Old Tyme Grocery
oyster poor boy from Old Tyme Grocery

J did some in-depth research on the drive to Lafayette to find the best po-boy in town (I think he was trying to make up for not getting a po-boy at Turf N Surf in Austin). He chose Old Tyme Grocery based on ratings and the fact that they really specialize in po-boys, or as they call them, poor boys. Our shared oyster poor boy was enormous and scrumptious; we took it to go, but the shop’s dining area with old-school booths was sweet.

beers at Parish Brewing
the humans enjoying Parish Brewing

Last time in Lafayette, J had really wanted to go to Parish Brewing, but we were having too much fun with our friends downtown to venture out to the brewery in Broussard, just south of Lafayette. This time we made it a priority and J was thrilled with his IPAs and pale ale.

Bugsy at Parish Brewing
the canine enjoying Parish Brewing

I had a sour flight and the flavors were nice but they were too sweet for me overall. The small taproom is dog-friendly inside, which was great for us on a rainy and extremely windy day.

Maxie’s Campground is very close to Parish and we considered staying there rather than the KOA for that reason. The KOA ultimately won out because we thought they’d have more reliable internet for J’s meeting. We may stay at Maxie’s next time and spend more time at Parish.

bagel sandwich and latte at Coffee Dash
breakfast at Coffee Dash

In the morning, we wanted to get some computer time at a nearby coffeeshop and chose Coffee Dash, a big bright space good for working. They serve bagel sandwiches and pastries, and fun espresso drinks, and the people were super nice. For next time, Coffee Depot in downtown Scott looked charming.

my favorite Lafayette mural

From Lafayette, it’s a reasonable two-hour drive to New Orleans, where we went on a quest for allllll the king cake!

Comments

2 responses to “One night in Lafayette, LA (visit #2)–Tucson for Christmas trip”

  1. […] We visited Lafayette in January 2017 as part of our Winter Loop to Austin trip. Read about our second visit in 2024 here. […]

  2. […] Other breweries we considered: Druid City and Loosa Brews (not technically a brewery but has lots of different craft beers on tap). We also had Session Cocktails on our list, but after Black Warrior we headed home for the last of our Indian food from Desi Dhaba. […]

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