We were going to leave Sunday with Ron & Roberta and Tom & Heather for Texas. Ron & Roberta did leave but we stayed put due to lots of rain and bad weather.
Monday we did depart and traveled 301 miles to Breaux Bridge, LA were we caught up with Ron & Roberta. We had dinner at a Cajun place called Poche's and Judy and I (along with everyone else) had some crawfish stuff. It took me 69 years to have my first crawfish meal and it will be another 69 years until I have my second one.
Patches likes it here and can stalk the ducks...........
Tuesday was a busy day, it started with a swamp tour.
I'm not sure if we saw more trees or alligators. LOTS of alligators.
Is that enough Alligators? We saw LOTS more and they allowed us to get very close.
Birds? Yup, lots of birds too. Wood ducks below.
A blue heron.
Here's an osprey by it's nest.
Roseate Spoonbill
Nesting egrets
We saw lots of cypress trees but only this one "barrel" tree, very rare. Guys would climb in the barrel and use it as a duck blind.
That was the morning, an excellent swamp tour. In the afternoon we went to the Tabasco plant for their tour. We were here last year but the tour has changed and we can see more of the Tabasco making process. But first lunch........no crawfish.
Unfortunately we didn't see the peppers being mashed and ground up. Here the sauce fermenting in barrels for up to 3 years. Salt is on the top to seal the lid closed.
These are mixing vats that will also eliminate the skins and seeds before bottling. Tabasco spend a couple weeks in them.
And finally the sauce is bottled.
And shipped around the world.
Yes, it was a VERY busy day.
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