April 30, 2008

April 30, 2008

Our target this morning is just south of Lafayette, LA, Avery Island, a hill in the midst of this swampy land. Once we get there we learn that Avery sits atop a salt dome bulging out of the earth. That is when I remember salt mining is big in southern Louisiana. I just didn’t realize the salt bulges up out of the earth.

Avery Island is the home of the McIlhennys and their family Tabasco factory. This is where they bottle the world’s supply. We take the factory tour where we learn that the pepper sauce is a vinegar solution of fermented Tabasco peppers. The tour was short, thankfully so, because we were accompanied by a hundred screaming middle school students on a field trip. Afterwards we head to the company store to taste the various varieties, and browse the logo merchandise. Amazingly they sell Tabasco Sauce in gallon jugs! Unfortunately after being Tabasco sauce devotees for years, we recently found we like Louisiana Hot Sauce a lot better.

Also on Avery Island is the Jungle Garden, a beautiful park of huge live oaks draped in Spanish moss and crisscrossed with alligator-laden bayous and ponds. One lake has thousands of snowy egrets resting on it.

From Avery Island we head southeast further into Cajun country, passing lots of antebellum homes perched along the bayou. We spend the night in a crummy RV Park outside Houma, LA.