Last day in New Orleans and on to Lafayette

Beth lived outside of NO when she was in middle school.  Her dad had worked for the Border Patrol and he had to check the paperwork of the men on the ships as they came into the port of NO.  The family lived in Marrero, just on the other side of the Mississippi.  We found the house, and, other than having been painted white (Beth has pictures of it with red brick), the house is much as she remembers it and the neighborhood looked very good as well.

After this we went to the Lafette National Park natural area.  This was the area where he ran his pirating operations.  This was a swampy area with typical cypress trees and hanging Spanish moss.

We returned to NO to pick up the RV and head out of town.  We were able to get a birds-eye view from the expressway.  Our RV is the one closest to the gate.

We left the Big Easy at noon and drove to Lafayette, which is to the west of Baton Rouge.  This is roughly in the middle of the Cajun area of Louisiana.  The "Cajun" people are roughly descendants of French-speaking Acadians from Canada.  They had been expelled by the British in 1765 or so, as part of one of the many wars between England and France.  We visited an Acadian cultural center and starting playing some Cajun tunes on local instruments!.

For dinner we went to a local place and let some professionals provide the music.

The next day we drove to Avery Island, home of Tabasco sauce!  We had a tour of the factory and spent a good deal of time in the gift shop, sampling the seven flavors of Tabasco as well as Tabasco flavored mustard, salsa, pickles and ice cream!  Yummy.

 This picture says they were doing labels for Belgium.  They sell Tabasco in 160 countries.

As we drove there we asked ourselves why we were doing this.  What kind of people go to a food factory?  Well, it was interesting and educational (and we got some food!).  The guide said that during the busy season they have over 800 visitors per day, so I guess we are not so unique in our interests!

We also visited St. Martinsville, a little town that is said to be the place where the story that inspired Longfellow's poem of Evangeline took place.  This is the story of a young couple who were separated when the Acadians were forced to move to Louisiana.  Evengeline and her fiancee were on different ships. She spent years looking for her fiance (Gabriel) and eventually located him in this town.  But years had passed he he was already married, with children.  Yikes! There is an "Evangeline oak tree" and a statue or two.

To complete our trip to this section of Louisiana, we took a swamp tour in a small boat.  We were able to see lots of wild life, including alligators and a nutria (an animal related to the rat, from South America).

 As we travel, we try to expose ourselves to the "local culture," both high and low.  Around Lafayette, the local favorite food appears to be something called Boudin.  This is a mixture of pork and rice and spices in a sausage casing.  There are "Boudin and Cracklin" stores all around the town so we just had to stop in and sample the food.  Here is Matthew enjoying the "local culture."

Two thumbs up on the Boudin.  Thumbs down on the cracklin'!  It's pig skin and fat, fried in oil.  Ugh.