{"id":3843,"date":"2016-03-07T21:13:12","date_gmt":"2016-03-08T03:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=3843"},"modified":"2016-03-07T21:13:12","modified_gmt":"2016-03-08T03:13:12","slug":"cajun-vacation-day-3-avery-island-and-gator-cove","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=3843","title":{"rendered":"Cajun Vacation: Day 3 Avery Island and Gator Cove"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, we had a bit of a slow start.\u00a0 After breakfast at the hotel, we headed south to Avery Island.\u00a0 For Rick, we were doing a tour of the Tabasco plant.\u00a0 He so loves this stuff.\u00a0 I do believe he puts it on just about everything he eats.\u00a0 Rich had been in the area almost 30 years ago while working for Motorola on a Louisiana system.\u00a0 He highly recommended the Jungle Gardens on the island.\u00a0 So we were off to tour and wonder around.<\/p>\n

I stopped in the New Iberia tourist information office once we got off the highway.\u00a0 The man there gave me a lot of ideas for things to see and do.\u00a0 He said that that the azaleas were in full bloom so the gardens would be full of blooms.\u00a0\u00a0 I love azaleas!<\/p>\n

Down the road, we got into the swamps and crossed the bridge into Avery Island.\u00a0 The brick buildings were ageless and had been standing for quite a while.\u00a0 Walking up to the ticket office, I noticed the Tabasco sign and had to have a picture of the guys in front of it.\u00a0 It was perfect.<\/p>\n

In the museum, we went through all of the exhibits that told us the story of Tabasco.\u00a0 Pretty amazing that one guy started something because he lost his job.\u00a0 He knew pepper sauce and figured why not.\u00a0 It has been a family business for many generations now.\u00a0 The tour goes from the nursery where you see the different types of pepper plants, to the cooperage, to the mashing, to mixing and fermenting, and then on to bottling.\u00a0 The line we watched was bottling garlic Tabasco for the Chinese market.\u00a0 They are in just about every country of the world!<\/p>\n

After the tour, we stopped by the Country Store to see what souvenirs were available.\u00a0 Rick picked up a shirt and some sauce he couldn\u2019t normally get.\u00a0 We sampled the different sauces and some of the products made at the plant.\u00a0 I most certainly don\u2019t have the taste buds for the hot stuff.<\/p>\n

We ambled down the road to the Jungle Gardens.\u00a0 Rick ran in for a map and then we made our way down to the first stop.\u00a0 This is bayou country back here.\u00a0 With that, we came looking for gators.\u00a0 Most of the ones we could spot were small.\u00a0 We got a lot of great pictures.<\/p>\n

The road led around through the Southern oaks hanging with Spanish moss and blooming trees and bushes.\u00a0 We walked several trails.\u00a0 There was a lot of timber bamboo growing in groves in the garden.\u00a0 The estate uses it for railing and for bedding on the The Rookery for the storks.\u00a0 We saw one of the oldest know trees in the state.\u00a0 The Survey Tree was a large, overgrown tree back in 1810 when one of the settlers used it as a marker.\u00a0 It was a rather larger and pretty heavily damaged tree as we looked it over.<\/p>\n

One trail led back to a Buddha set up in a temple on a small rise.\u00a0 The plaque says that the statue was pillaged from a temple in China when the Chinese Empire fell.\u00a0 The rebel general scavenged the statue and sent it to New York to be sold.\u00a0 A friend of the McIlhenney family told them about it and it was purchased and brought to Louisiana where it has resided since.\u00a0 I\u2019m surprised that it was not required to be returned to China.\u00a0 It is beautiful and the hilltop is peaceful over the lagoon.<\/p>\n

We took lots of pictures and walked all of the trails that we could.\u00a0 We had plans to go to Gator Cove for lunch.\u00a0 Rich wanted to do a crawfish boil.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the Cove was closed and wouldn\u2019t be open until 5:00.\u00a0 Dinner it is then.<\/p>\n

We stopped by the Blue Dog Caf\u00e9 and had another round of seafood.\u00a0 Rich had the crawfish enchilada.\u00a0 Rick went for the crawfish pasta and I had gulf shrimp with more of the corn macque chow.\u00a0 There was dirty rice with boudin sausage.\u00a0 I love that stuff.\u00a0 The flavor is so wonderful.<\/p>\n

After our late lunch, we went over to the Acadian Village.\u00a0 This is a collection of homes and businesses from around the area with ties to the Acadian people.\u00a0 The lady in the country store was wonderful to talk to.\u00a0 Her father grew up with the Acadian version of French.\u00a0 She said her mother was Cajun (non-Acadian) and learned to speak French to communicate within the family group.<\/p>\n

The houses all have history and each one is devoted to some aspect of life within the Acadian settlement.\u00a0 There were lots of things to see and look at.\u00a0 The village is arranged around its own version of a bayou.\u00a0 It was nice to walk through and take our time.\u00a0 Stopping into the offices, Rick and I went through the local art gallery.\u00a0 I even had a conversation with one of the artists as she volunteers there.\u00a0 She was so interesting.\u00a0 From her speech and word choices, she was definitely Acadian.\u00a0 It was bonus to talk with her about her art.<\/p>\n

One the way back to the hotel to rest, Rich decided he had to have some of the local coffee to take back home.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t had any yet, that I know of, to judge if it was worth the trip to find some or not.\u00a0 We passed a grocery and stopped in to see what we could find.\u00a0 There were a couple of types in whole bean.\u00a0 This was good enough for Rich.<\/p>\n

Now we are back at the hotel resting up and waiting for dinner time.\u00a0 Then it\u2019s off to Gator Cove to enjoy a crawfish boil and probably get some of the BBQ to go with it.\u00a0 More to come later.<\/p>\n

Okay, I\u2019m back.\u00a0 The road outside of our hotel turned out to be a main road for everyone in Lafayette.\u00a0 We turned the other direction and hoped that the Navi would come up with better directions.\u00a0 It did.\u00a0 We took a left and followed the road to the next road going east.\u00a0 This road turned out to be directly across from the frontage road where I needed to go for the restaurant.\u00a0 That was cool.<\/p>\n

We drove down the hill and around the back of the building.\u00a0 Hurrahs went up as the Open light was lit.\u00a0 Time to get some crawfish boil.\u00a0 I did stop the guys from going right in.\u00a0 We just had to take a picture with the front doors.\u00a0 The gators and crawfish were so cool.<\/p>\n

Inside, the young lady at the podium had a great accent.\u00a0 We heard y\u2019all a bunch of times.\u00a0 We got seated and ordered drinks.\u00a0 When she returned we had figured out the order we wanted.\u00a0 Then she threw a wrench into the order.\u00a0 Do you want 3 lbs. or 5 lbs.?\u00a0 That was the question.\u00a0 Rich made the decision for 5 lbs of crawfish, some sausage, corn, and potatoes.\u00a0 We ordered boudin and pepperjack cheese as an appetizer.<\/p>\n

The appetizer came as eggrolls filled with goodness.\u00a0 I so love boudin sausage.\u00a0 It has such flavor without a lot of burn.\u00a0 I do see that it is different from each person that you order it from.\u00a0 Our waitress returned soon with a big black container.\u00a0 When the lid came off, it was full of red bugs topped with corn and potatoes.\u00a0 This was the moment for pictures before we delved in and learned the skills to twist the tail and pull out the sweet meat.<\/p>\n

I had our waitress show me on one of the bugs first and show me how it was expertly done.\u00a0 She deftly twisted the tail.\u00a0 It came away easily with the outer shell attached.\u00a0 Peeling off the shell, the tail was exposed and ready for dipping.\u00a0 The dip was more like Russian dressing, but you could add hot sauce or horseradish.<\/p>\n

We began digging into dinner.\u00a0 Pretty soon, 5 lbs of bugs was down to just a couple.\u00a0 Rick and I had reached the end.\u00a0 I still wanted dessert.\u00a0 Rich took care of the leftovers.\u00a0 At the back of the room where sinks where you could scrub up and remove the seasoning.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t really burn the skin much, but the lips were on fire a bit.\u00a0 It was highly recommended that the guys wash up good before going to the bathroom.<\/p>\n

By the time I got back to the table, the dessert tray had come and gone.\u00a0 I heard there were great things on it though.\u00a0 The waitress came back with the tray and it was scrumptious.\u00a0 I ordered the strawberry and dark chocolate cheesecake.\u00a0 Rich got the bread pudding with whiskey sauce.\u00a0 Rick got the Butterfinger cake.\u00a0 Yes, it was all heavenly.<\/p>\n

Time to pay the bill.\u00a0 I just had to get t-shirts from the place first.\u00a0 The guys got gray shirts that say Got Crawfish on the front with the Gator Cove logo on the back.\u00a0 They were really nice.\u00a0 We talked to the owner for a bit.\u00a0 I guess all of the good seafood was being shipped to the Northeast since Sandy to meet demands and good money.\u00a0 That was sad.\u00a0 I guess they had seen better days with all of the restaurants that had opened in the area.\u00a0 This was type of place that I really look for when I go to an area.\u00a0 It has atmosphere and great food.<\/p>\n

Well, dinner was over and we were so full.\u00a0 It was time to head back to the hotel and settle in.\u00a0 I can finish this blog and post it along with pictures from the day.\u00a0 It was definitely a great day on vacation.\u00a0 Tomorrow, we head to New Orleans for a couple of days.<\/p>\n

\"Rich<\/a>
Rich and Rick outside of the Tabasco Factory<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"Barrels<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Vats<\/a>
Vats of pepper pulp and vinegar fermenting.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Rick<\/a>
Rick with his favorite one<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Certified<\/a>
Certified sign from the Queen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Spanish<\/a>
Spanish moss in the Southern oaks<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Gators<\/a>
Gators on the bank<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"It's<\/a>
It’s just a baby gator<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Azaelas<\/a>
Azaelas in bloom<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Double<\/a>
Double beauty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Heading<\/a>
Heading down the<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Buddha<\/a>
Buddha in the garden<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Purloined<\/a>
Purloined Buddha in its pagoda<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Doing<\/a>
Doing limbo under the oak tree<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Pink<\/a>
Pink camelia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"More<\/a>
More cameilas<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Rick<\/a>
Rick versus Massurat the gator<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lizard<\/a>
Lizard chasing a moth<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Visit<\/a>
Visit to the Acadian Village<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Rich<\/a>
Rich feeding the fish and turtles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Two<\/a>
Two big kids feeding the fish and turtles.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Welcome<\/a>
Welcome to the Gator Cove<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Crawfish<\/a>
Crawfish boil with Rich and Rick for dinner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Rick<\/a>
Rick getting a lesson is twisting the tail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Rich<\/a>
Rich is the expert at getting to the meat of things<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, we had a bit of a slow start.\u00a0 After breakfast at the hotel, we headed south to Avery Island.\u00a0 For Rick, we were doing a tour of the Tabasco plant.\u00a0 He so loves this stuff.\u00a0 I do believe he puts it on just about everything he eats.\u00a0 Rich had been in the area almost […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12,13,15,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3843"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3843"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3843\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3871,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3843\/revisions\/3871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}