December 14-15, 2011

We drove out to Avery Island, the only place in the world Tabasco sauce is made. Still in the family for over 100 years. The jungle Garden was built by the family, including an egret refuge-which were endangered at the time.

The Tabasco plant

the bottling plant, the pepper mash is put in these barrels for 3 years to age. The barrels come from Jack Daniels, they can only use the barrels once, so Tabasco uses them over and over afterwards. They put a layer of salt, from the salt mine on the island over the top so that the gases and fermentation can escape, but no contamination can get in.

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John in the gift shop with a Tabasco Christmas gift, scenes from the area, a hot pepper express, Tabasco users parking only, a Tabasco fish, Tabasco Ave and a personal holster so you can carry the sauce with you at all times.

John at the picnic area on Jungle gardens, on Avery Island, a gator

a great blue heron, mossy oak

two egrets

camellias from the garden around the Buddha temple

Camellias with moss, John floating out of the Buddha Temple

 

water plants from the egret nesting area, duck weed and I don’t know what the bigger one is, and a fall oak with moss

armadillo, and gaters

another gater, and Suep with the Cleveland oak

Sue leaving the Buddha Temple, you can almost see the Buddha behind me.  An oak forest with moss

the Conrad Rice mill, the oldest rice mill in the US, built in the 1920’s, Suep with 50 lbs. of rice at the mill store

they have full security at the mill and John with 50 lbs. of rice at the mill store

Shadow on the  Teche Plantation house, John welcoming us on the front porch and the back. It was a huge sugar cane plantation. It was a big crop then and now, they called it white gold

view of the garden from the balcony, and the family grave yard. You can not bury caskets under ground here, too wet

The Evangeline oak. Rumor has it(and Longfellow wrote a poem about it) that Evangeline was separated from her lover when the British purged the Arcadians from Nova Scotia. He settled in Cajon country. He thought he would never see her again, so he married. She finally arrived in Cajon country and he embraced her under this tree, then told her he was married and she died of a broken heart. A piggly wiggly-we are in the south!

Lard Oil Company and our Louisiana Christmas RV tree.