I'm running out of ways to say how great our days have been and how beautiful everything is that we have seen. Today was fantastic. We're in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana and it is quickly becoming one of my favorite states. It was in the low 80's today and yesterday. Lousiana reminds me of Florida but more rural and swampier. The small towns are charming and have so much character. The people are great. They smile and wave like they know you and I love the Cajun accent. I love the Cajun music and food, too. We might come back here later this winter after we get our motorhome.
We had lunch at a really cool restaurant in Breaux Bridge called Cafe Des Amis. It is part restaurant, part art gallery and the food was terrific. From there we drove about 45 minutes to Avery Island. Most of today's pictures were taken there.
Avery Island is home to Tabasco. It is a salt marsh and the peppers are grown there and the factory is there. We could have toured the factory but we didn't as we were mainly there to visit the private wildlife sanctuary and gardens that were established there by Edward McIlhenny, the founder of Tabasco.
McIlhenny was a naturalist and conservationist who pretty much saved the snowy egret from extinction. He imported and bred hundreds of plants on Avery Island and turned it into a bird sanctuary. Each year, thousands of herons and egrets migrate there in the spring and 20,000 herons are born there every year. As the lady in the visitor center said to me, "If I were a bird, I would want to live here." Here are just some of the things we saw today...
This is the Bayou Petite Anse...
Some alligators we saw, sunning themselves...
These beautiful old oak trees were everywhere...
There is something blooming on Avery Island year round. In the spring it is azaleas and wildflowers but right now it is camellias. I wish I could add smell to this blog so you could smell the grove of camellia trees. I think this was my favorite part of the island...
Last, but not least, we saw lots of herons and egrets...
We extended our stay here another day and may end up staying Friday, too, in order to avoid the Black Friday traffic. We're only about 400 miles from where we plan to go in Texas so, hopefully, we'll be looking at new motorhomes by Monday.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving.
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