From Lafayette, our first stop this morning was the (hard-to-find) McIlhenny Tabasco Factory at Avery Island.
Some of the original items from the earliest days of the factory were on display, plus the barrels (recycled from the Jack Daniels whisky distillery in Tennessee!) that are still used to "ferment" the Tabasco. The peppers are crushed, then mixed in with a secret liquid, covered with salt (which absorbs the juices that bubble out) and left for months.
In the Gift Shop, there were Tabasco golf club protective covers, shrimp-shaped paper holders and water plants in vases.
The before- and after-effects of Tabasco sauce, as demonstrated by the Louisiana State Bird on this T-shirt.
A (slightly-larger-than-life-size) model of the Louisiana State Bird hovers menacingly above the Cash Till in the Tabasco Gift Shop.
In the nearby Jungle Gardens (owned and created by the McIlhenny family), there were several areas to park up and go on short but interesting walking trails.
There was a large nest of bees in a crack in one of the trees .... and almost as scary was the frog hat in the Gift Shop, being modelled here by Andrea.
Time for another short walk ?
In the lake just below the tree that this kid was climbing over ....
.... Andrea could have reached out and touched this baby alligator ....
.... who was patiently waiting for his next meal ....
.... he likes children, but could he manage a whole one ?
One of the main reasons why McIlhenny created the Jungle Gardens was to provide a nesting place for the then endangered Snowy Egret ....
.... who thrive here on these specially-constructed breeding platforms in the lake.
From Jungle Gardens we drove on to ....
.... Bayview Point at the end of the peninsula in the Cypremont Point State Park.
Many of the houses appeared to be holiday homes for rent, but there was evidence of crab fishing in the village.
More typical houses - the one on the right is for sale.
How about a Cobra powerboat to go with our SVT Cobra Mustang ?
We then drove on to the Days Inn in Morgan City (156 miles, 09:00 - 17:30, US $ 45,25 / Euro xx,xx)
