It's another grand day in Louisiana. A bit chillier than I would like, but I hear it is that way back home too. Apparently the South is being hit with crazy cold temperatures for this time of year. We'll just make it work --- it's all about attitude, ya know.Last night at dinner, Lacey gave us a recommendation for coffee this morning. That is first up on the agenda is Java Square Cafe, housed in an old bank building. One of the reviews we read said, "Perfect little off beaten coffee shop. . . used to be an old bank . . .they have precious seating in the vault . . walls laced with nostalgia settled in downtown Opelousas among street murals and oak trees." Yep, spot on.
Okay, time to roll. We are heading towards Avery Island this morning and hoping to learn a bit, enjoy a lot, and see fun stuff. On our way, sugar cane is being harvested everywhere we look and the roads are full of trucks heading off to the mill.
Avery Island - "The island was named after the Avery family, who settled there in the 1830s, but long before that, Native Americans had found that Avery Island's verdant flora covered a precious natural resource - a massive salt dome. There, Native Americans boiled the Island's briny spring water to extract salt, which they traded to other tribes as far away as central Texas, Arkansas, and Ohio." In 1818, John Craig March of New Jersey purchased the island and operated a sugar plantation there. His daughter, Sarah, married Daniel Avery in 1837, thus uniting the Marsh and Avery families. In 1855 Daniel became the sole owner of the island.
Salt evaporated from brine springs on Avery Island since 1791. On May 4 (my birthday, hahaha), 1862, workmen enlarging these springs to produce more salt for the Confederacy hit solid salt at a depth of 16 feet. Mining operations, the first of this type in North America, were begun and continued until destruction of the salt works on April 17, 1863, by Union forces.
"During the Civil War, a mine of pure rock salt was founded on Avery Island in May 1861, which subsequently produced more than 22 million pounds of salt for the Confederacy. The mine had been well-protected until the Union began a push up Bayou Teche. After an all-night march, they advanced to the beautiful little island and, without opposition, burned eighteen buildings, smashed the steam engines and mining equipment, scattered six hundred barrels of salt awaiting shipping, and brought away a ton of gunpowder left behind."Yes, salt is still being mined there today and the steam hoist is the oldest still operating in the United States and has a history of ninety years of continuous use on the same site.
The present day population of Avery Island reflects the region's complex history. "Before the Civil War, Edmund McIlhenny joined the Avery family, by marrying May Eliza, daughter of Daniel and Sarah." Although the McIlhennys and their Avery cousins are Anglo and Scots-Irish in ancestry, one can find many Island residents of French and Acadian (Cajun) descent. many locals also trace their heritage to colonial Spanish settlers, explaining the abundance of surnames like Romero, Dartez, and Miguez on the Island. The Island is also home to a notable African-American population. Some of these African-Americans spoke French and were Roman Catholics, but most spoke English and were Protestants - the Island being for many generations an English-speaking, Protestant enclave in an otherwise French-Catholic region.
In 1868, he founded McIlhenny Company and began manufacturing TABASCO Brand Pepper Sauce."
THAT is our first stop today.
Roughly 150 years of tradition and three simple ingredients - aged red peppers, natural vinegar, and a dash of Avery Island-mined salt - produce the distinctive, spicy flavor that is TABASCO Original Red Pepper Sauce. The process by which TABASCO Sauce is made has remained virtually unchanged since McIlhenny created his first commercial batch in the late 1860s. Still a family-owned business today, McIlhenny Company uses only one variety of red pepper, which is significantly hotter than the cayenne pepper commonly used in most other hot sauces. This is a walking tour and our first stop after the information in museum is the Greenhouse.But first, some funny history. Edmund McIlhenny never recorded how he obtained the peppers from which he made TABASCO Sauce and after his death surviving family members held opposing views on the subject. According to one family tradition, Edmund acquired his peppers from a Mexican-American War veteran, sometimes identified as "Gleason." A 1938 newspaper article conveyed this version of events when it noted, "In 1852 a man by the name of Gleason came to New Orleans and, white there gave to Mr. E. McIlhenny teh seeds of some peppers, which he said had an especially fine flavor, and grew in the State of Tabasco, Mexico. These pepper seeds were planted at the Avery family plantation and the quality of the peppers was so good that he continued to grow them year by year in the kitchen garden for table use, as both he and his father-in-law were fond of highly seasoned food. A rival family tradition, however, holds that Edmund actually obtained his peppers from a Confederate soldier. Rather than surrender at the end of the Civil War, this soldier fled to Mexico, only to return to the United States through the port of New Orleans. There he ran into Edmund and gave him some peppers from Mexico." Which is true, no one knows.
McIlhenny Company teams with planters worldwide to grow the majority of its tabasco peppers. Most of their fields are less than five acres in area and are managed by small farmers or farming co-ops. From Avery Island the seed stock - taken from plants chosen by a McIlhenny family member - is entrusted to growers in Central America, South America, and Africa. All pepper mash produced by these international sources is shipped to Avery Island to age for up to three years, after which it finally becomes TABASCO Sauce.
The pepper is picked at the perfect shade of red, then immediately crushed, mixed with salt, and aged in white oak barrels for up to three years. These "Le Petit Baton Rouge" (little red sticks) have helped workers harvest only those peppers ripened to the proper shade of fiery red.Next up is the Barrel Museum. The barrels are repurposed from various distilleries around the country and made of white oak. When they receive the barrels, they are and we are able to watch a video on how they have to open them up, remove the char and wash them out before rehooping with stainless steel rings.
Once the mash is placed inside, the barrels are covered with a salt pack on top and left to sit.
You can tell that some have been aging for a LONG time.
Onto the next stop. I'm trying to be brave and running around without a jacket, but the wind is pretty chilly. As we pass a grove of bamboo, the breeze is creating a wonderful son. Listen.
Once it is blended with high-quality distilled vinegar, it is stirred periodically in 1,800 gallon wooden vats for two to three weeks. Before it is bottled, the skins and seeds are removed and lab tests are done on samples to determine desired consistency, color, and heat levels among other qualities. Only after it passes these rigorous tests is the sauce released to the factory floor to be bottled.
These vats are crazy huge.
The finished sauce is now ready to be bottled, capped, labeled with the diamond logo, and shipped to markets around the globe. The tabasco pepper and unique aging process are what give TABASCO Sauce its distinct taste. As we watch, a bit of a problem erupts and the line is stopped. The labeler wasn't working properly or had run out of labels and several bottles had to be hand labeled, then boxed and sent on their way before the entire system was brought back up again.
So, here is a funny little tidbit. The rooms in part of the building are painted Pantonne 032C, TABASCO Red and they actually ad a few drops of the Sauce to spice it up. Love it.This light fixture is pretty cool as well. This was a very cool tour and one I would highly recommend. It's inexpensive and really awesome at letting you see the entire process up close and personal. A few last pictures of these cool buildings as well. First, my sweet man doing his thing.
And, his thing.
Back to the gift shop we go. I am not a spicy food fan, but my love is and they we are able to try all the different offerings made here. Mister decides on a couple that can only be bought here on location, while I manage to discover that the TABASCO mustard is soooo good so a bottle of that comes home with us as well.When purchasing tickets for the tour, a combo is offered. It includes the Jungle Gardens, a drive-though, semi-tropical area that covers over 170 acres. It was on Avery Island, where salt and pepper meet (hahaha, aren't I clever?), that Edward McIlhenny helped save the snowy egret from extinction. In 1895, when the bird was being hunter for its plumage, HcIlhenny built an aviary on the Island, and then captured and raised eight wild egrets. After they had raised their hatches and were ready to migrate, McIlhenny freed them. The egrets returned the next spring and every spring since then egrets and herons have returned by the thousands to the rookery now called "Bird City." Jungle Gardens is also home to a large collection of camellias. Thousands of plants represent some 600 varieties, including imports from Japan and France, as well as some that were developed here. The azaleas are also well represented and both would be lovely at a different time of year. We are going to just take our time and enjoy the drive. The first area consists of so many wonderful Live Oaks. The sun is peeking out and everything is glowing.
Look at these magnificent creatures.
Next up is the Bayou Petit Anse/Marsh Trail. If we are going to see an alligator it will be along this section, but it's dang cold out so they may not be very active. Mister stops and shows me one out in the water. It just looks like a floating log, but then we see him move on. I wish we had a better view, but, hey, I saw an alligator in the wild. I'm happy.
Just past that, Mister spots some flowers along the water that he wants a photo of. A quick stop and off he goes. Right past the spot that says, "CAUTION ALLIGATORS." Since I've already spotted one, I'm a wee bit nervous as he takes off over the water. The picture is achieved and he is soon back in our nice warm car. I am LOVIN' the seat warmers.
Along our route, we are stopped by down branches. I know there are cars behind us so the place is traveled, telling us this is a new problem. Off he goes to move them from the road.
A slight walk is required for the next attraction along the way. Off we go.
Ooooh, a few remain.
There is a hidden lake/pond back here that has a Buddha overlooking it.
The view is simply breathtaking. Look at all the Spanish moss flowing with the breeze.
Below the Buddha, there is this crazy cool plant growing out of the rocks, off the tip of its base and cascading down the side.
Ahhhh, a photographer's delight. My sweetheart is not the only one taking advantage of this light -- others are set up in various spots. How can you not find this beautiful?
One more little step out as we move along the road --- this time for a Sunken Garden, which turns out to be in need of some fall cleanup and really not picture worthy. The Golden Bamboo, however is glistening in this amazing light and hard to pass up. I do love bamboo -- someday, I'll plant some. I know I've said that before and it hasn't happened yet.
And just like that, our time on Avery Island comes to an end. Remnants of a pier as we cross back to the mainland. It's a huge crossing. I'm laughing as I type that because the bridge crossing the water is barely 6 cars long.
Making our way north again, we come to New Iberia. The Episcopal Church of the Epiphany towers near the road as we go by, causing a quick stop. What a beautiful edifice.We are DEFINITELY in sugar cane land. Some older structures tell of it's prominence in this area for many, many years.
As we are driving, a tractor carrying sugar cane is in front of us. At this point, it becomes obvious that he is not going to drive that for hundreds of miles so a mill MUST be close by. Thus, the decision is made to stalk the tractor and see where it leads us.OH WOW. Right to a LARGE mill. I'm in heaven, but so wishing we could go inside. I've already looked online and tours are not offered, but . . . .it doesn't change the fact that I WANT to. We go closer.
Across the road are "ponds" with large amounts of steam rising as the water in them is cooled with sprinklers.
I've looked up a flow chart for a typical sugar mill, but it doesn't show these ponds so I'm just not sure what's happening here. Back at the main plant, trucks are entering and exiting non-stop. Mister pulls over to the side of the road and we just settle in to watch for a bit.
It doesn't take very long before we figure out the first stage. The trucks to into this area to be unloaded and depending on the type of vehicle, a different spot is used. Look waaaaay at the back and you'll see that a semi is almost vertical as the cane is emptied from it. Crazy.
Each step along the way has methods for unloading, some including dumping and others requiring a large claw that comes down and collects a large quantity to drop nearby.
Raw sugar is in the back being loaded for delivery elsewhere. This has been so fun to watch. Yep, I'm just that easy to please.
Harvesters working dot the landscape as well.
Next up is St. Martinville. The city was developed c 1795 - c1890 through an unusual semi-feudal arrangement where town property holders paid an "annual and perpetual" rent to the congregation of St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church. Hmmmmn. Mister makes a few loops around the main area and we come upon the Evangeline Oak. Longfellow's poem "Evangeline" immortalized the tragedy of the Acadian exile from Nova Scotia in 1755. This oak marks the legendary meeting place of Emmeline Labiche and Louis Arceneaux, the counterparts of Evangeline and Gabriel.
Feeling the need for food, we stop in at Kajun King. Hey, we're up for new things and although it's a strange time of day for lunch (2:30) and the place is empty - we're gonna give it a try. Naturally, this place has a cool history too. How lucky are we?
The first floor was constructed in around 1857 after the fire of 1855 when most of the old part of Main Street burned. It is not clear what type of retail business was here until 1931. It was then purchased by the Foti's and that is when the 2nd floor was added as a place for them to live and raise their children. They then operated a Grocery/General Merchandise store on the 1st floor for approximately 70 years. They were also the 1st Pecan wholesaler in the area and operated the first electricity powered ice plan around, which was on the premises behind the store. It operated until the invention of the household refrigerator. In 2009 it was sold to the Broussards after the Foti's abandoned it. Guy Broussard then opened the doors to the Kajun King in 2012. They do not scrimp on food here. Mister's poboy is the size of my hand and my burger and fries will likely be the only I'll need today. Additionally, my burger costs $5.00. What?
Right across the street --- although it is freezing out --- Mister leads me to Saint Martin de Tours. It is one of the oldest Catholic churches in America and the third oldest in Louisiana. Founded in 1765 by a group of Acadian exiles who arrived that year, the first of many of the unfortunate refugees driven from Canada by the English, who came to Louisiana over a period of some twenty years. It was these exiles who established the Acadian culture and traditions that have left an indelible imprint on the state of Louisiana. I am letting him lead the way because if its not open, I don't want to walk all the way back to the car. I'm cold and no, I'm not whining, but I want to keep it that way. Amazingly enough, it is open. Scampering over, I'm soon in the door and loving it all.
In nearby Broussard, there is a brewery. Yep from church to beer -- it's how we roll.
A stop for one -- yeah, not our favorite, satiates the need and on we go. It's getting dark and we are still almost an hour from Opelousas and our home base. Deciding to take a slightly different route so that we can stop at Port Barre and Bourques's super store. Crazy?? I know, right? However, our first night in Natchitoches, Bill told us about the bread pudding here and claims it is the best ever. Mister must give it a try. With our bread pudding in hand, back "home" we go to relax for the rest of the evening AND I have some much needing binding to do on a couple of quilts. Both take place. He and his pudding - me and my binding.
TA-DA --- Two quilts ready for our little granddaughter arriving in less than a week.
And with that, it's lights out for us. What a GREAT day!!! This has just been so much fun to spend this time together. Sparkles are in the eyes again.
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