Historic Travels For Two.com - Bay Town Inn Bed & Breakfast

	UPDATE: On August 29, 2005, as Hurricane Katrina vented her fury on the Gulf Coast, Bay Town Inn was destroyed by the huge storm surge. Owner Nikki Nicholson and her faithful Scotty Maddie had chosen to ride out the hurricane in her bed and breakfast along with some friends. The historic home had withstood all previous hurricanes including Hurricane Camille.

Nicholson told a CNN news crew that she and Maddie were swept out into the protecting arms of the historic mamouth live oak in the front yard of Bay Town Inn. They clung to the powerful branches as she watched her beloved Inn turn into toothpicks by the storm surge.

We were able to contact Nikki by email after the storm, and she was at her Father's house in St. Louis, planning to rebuild Bay Town Inn. To our knowledge, neither she nor Maddie were physically injured in the terrible ordeal.

Gordon and I are especially fond of Bay Town Inn, Nikki and Maddie. We hope to bring good news in the future about Nikki's return to Innkeeping. She has a true gift in this area.

Bay Town Inn is the style of house many of us would love to own. Fresh white woodwork and verdant green shutters, the old home whispers "Southern Charm" even before the visitor walks under the jasmine covered entrance arch to the front yard.
The next best thing to owning a charmer like this is staying in this bed & breakfast for a visit more potently refreshing than any medicine.

Bay Town Inn B&B
Bay Saint Louis, MS.
Story and Photos by
Gordon & Penny Fikes
We arrived at Bay Town Inn Bed and Breakfast at night, and the house seemed alive and happy. The windows glowed golden in many of the eight suites, the white front porch and the welcoming rocking chairs beckoned in the soft light, chandeliers twinkled through the old glass, and calming music floated over the lawn to greet the weary traveler.

A mamouth live oak tree stretched her massive arms over the sidewalk and yard in the front of the house, illuminated at night to lend a warming hug to the guests.

One almost can feel the open warmth of Ovenia "Venie" Word de Montluzin, the mistress of this home from 1910 until her death in 1956.

Venie's story was framed on the wall of our suite in a diary-like account of how she married Rene de Montluzin when she was 22 and came to live in this home under the piercing gaze of her 76 year old mother-in-law.

A year later, Venie was mistress of the home overflowing with her husband's two brothers and the frequent visits from Venie's family. Venie comes to life in this framed biography of motherhood, helpmate to her pharmacist husband, frugal manager in the Depression years, pragmatist mother in the World War II years of deprivations and separations, and bountiful grandmother in the post-World War II years when the house was brimming again with three generations of Venie's family.

Venie would be very proud of Nikki Nicholson and how she has brought fresh life to this house. The rooms we saw awaiting their late arriving guests had unique character.

Bay Town Inn looks out over the peaceful bay of Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi. Gigantic live oak trees line the street encouraging a restful stroll along this street of beautiful historic homes.

Owner Nikki Nickolson's personality is as soothing and comforting as her tastefully restrained decorating style. In our suite, I especially loved the stripped pine doors, the abundance of Battenburg lace, the embroidered pillowcases and pillows and the framed story of the house ( to the right of the window). The bed by a delicious down topper that soaked up all the stresses of real life.

Our suite was creatively crafted from a back hallway and the former house-keeper's room The daybed has its own little room, swathed in Battenburg lace and embroidered pillows.

Suite Number Three was a sanctuary of battenberg lace curtains, hand-stitched pillowcases, antique stripped pine doors, and personal touches like the happy yellow fresh daises and handfuls of seashells on a few tabletops.
I delighted in some of the tiny touches like the seahorse door pull and tiny sewing stand complete with thread and needles. There were enough pillows for even a Pillow-a-holic like myself, and the softly starched hand-embroidered pillowcases brought back wonderful memories of my grandmother patiently teaching me to embroider.

The Breeding of a Southern Lady can be found in the small touches of hospitality in her home. The embroidered pillowcases found in each room were freshly pressed with that nostalgic scent of light starch. This attention to the tiny details is what makes Bay Town Inn one of our favorite bed and breakfast inns.

Fresh flowers in each room, a handful of sea shells casually tossed as if collected that day on the bay, lace and crystal and an intriguing guest book that spoke of how many people ahve been moved by Nikki and Maddie's hospitality.

The distant whistle and rumble of a train whisked me back to 1909 imagining Venie's first weeks in this house, acclimating to the sounds so close to the Bay. A muffled "wuff from a nearby house added to the neighborhood warmth of the inn.
While the Inn was full the night we stayed, we did not hear a distinguishable human sound except out own, and the stresses of the week melted away as I pondered the name of the color of the pale yellow-green walls and studied the intricacies of a new-to-me knitting stictch. If Venie were here, she could probably show me just how to master this stitch!

The tiny little sewing ches in the corner of the room was one of those intriguing touches that caused a mind to ponder who last searched for a needle or stored some left over thread from an embroidery project. Did Vinnie express her artistic nature in her embroidery and sewing skills as a young girl...only to focus those talents on mending clothes and sewing buttons as she ran a busy household?

The mundane purpose of a door pull is uplifted to a flight of fancy in this sea-horse shape. Nikki's whimsy can be found in the most unexpected places around Bay Town Inn.

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