Day 5 - Trip to Avery Island!!

Ken and I were up by 7 and we got ready for our trip to Avery Island!  We made our cooked breakfast complete with delicious fresh fruit.  It was foggy, so we went over to Chuck and Melissa and sat inside chatting until 10:30.  Lots of good laughs!  

We drove together in our CRV to Avery Island, wich is really a little hill in the wetlands of Louisiana that was created by the upwelling of ancient salt deposits. The salt deposits are as deep as Mt. Everest is tall! Avery Island is the home of world famous TABASCO brand Pepper Sauce.  It is manufactured by McIlhenny Company on the very site that it was invented in 1868 by Edmund McIlhenny.  Even today, McIlhenny Company is owned and operated by his direct descendants.  After watching a short film on the background of the company and what goes into the making of the sauce, we were able to tour the factory via a glass walkway.  It was so interesting.  In April the peppers are handpicked and then mashed at the factory with a little Avery Island salt.  The mash ferments and ages in Jack Daniels whiskey barrels for three years.  Finally, the aged mash is mixed with special premium vinegar, stirred for a month, strained, and poured into bottles.  What a process!  From there we went to the store where you can sample all the different types of Tabasco Sauces, and other products they make including Tabasco flavored Coke, ice cream, pickles, condiments, and jellies.  It was a fun thing to do.

The factory is a beautiful brick building that is a lot larger
than you see in this photo!

The plant in operation 24 hours a day Monday through Thursday
and they bottle 700,000 bottles daily!

The wooden barrels used to store the mashed peppers.  There
is a hole on top of the barrel and salt covering the top.  The hole
allows the gases to escape!

So many varieties of Tabasco!

The ice cream was good, but I don't think I will be buying it!

Dim and Dimmer looked "cool" in their doo-rags.

From there we went to Duffy's Diner (a recommendation from one of the workers) for lunch.  Ken wanted to try some cajun type food so he and Melissa had crayfish etouffe, Chuck had fried catfish and shrimp gumbo, and I had the sausage po-boy.  The food was very good, except for the shrimp gumbo that Chuck thought tasted rather "earthy".  (Sort of like a base of mud!)

Really a 50''s type place!

Ken liked his crayfish etouffe!

After stopping for gas and at Wal-Mart for a few groceries, we were back to the CG by 4.  Ken decided to unhook the sewer and water in preparation for tomorrows trip for San Antonio.  I packaged the Progressive Surge Protector to send back to the company again!  We took a walk around the park and checked out one of the many slot machine casinos in this area.  Didn't spend a cent!!!!

Saw this sugar cane field during our travels!

First time we saw a camping trailer on "stilts".

We had a late lunch, so didn't bother with dinner.  Went to Chuck and Melissa's at 7:30 for some card playing!  What a great 1st day with our traveling buddies!