Today was a short drive day. About an hour and a half down to Breaux Bridge La. Just outside of Lafayette. We are staying at the Cajun Palms Rv Resort, a rather large park that apparently is packed in the summer time, but they are definitely on the off season at the moment.
We decided to stay here so that we could go visit the Tabasco bottling plant. That little red bottle that contains the fiery hot sauce. Of course being our usual dawdling selves we almost did not make it down to Avery Island in time for the last tour. As it was we had to choose between the tour and the Country Store, with the tastings and the all things Tabasco. We were good tourists and choose.... the tour.
The island is a huge salt dome that rise up out of the surrounding area. The founder had brought some peppers from Mexico or so it is thought and experimented with them and eventually came up with the now famous red brew. Tabasco sauce is sold in over 160 countries today.
They crush the peppers, remove the seeds, add a little salt, grind them up, put them in pre-used Jack Daniels whiskey barrels (all booze removed) and let them ferment for approx 3 years before the sauce is mixed with what ever and bottled. Today's batch was bound for France.
After the factory tour we took a quick drive around the gardens and bird sanctuary the family has built on the island. We crammed what should have been an entire afternoon into about 1-1/2 hours. Not good.....
Finished off with a pleasant meal at a local restaurant. Good Cajun music, not bad Cajun food. Food could have been a bit better but had to balance that with the atmosphere of the place. Miss R had her picture taken in a "real" phone booth. Once of those aluminum and glass things that used to sit on every street corner almost......
Tomorrow we shall head out again...
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