Avery Island | Hottest place on the Gulf
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Now, New Iberia is south of Interstate 10 in Louisiana, and when you go south of I-10, you are in the heart of Cajun country. The ride down Interstate 49 was smooth for a Saturday morning. It was 277 miles and four hours from Shreveport to our destination. In Lafayette, we took St. Evangeline Throughway to Highway 90E to get there. There wasn't much traffic and the sky was clear blue, with white, puffy clouds. We were excited for a weekend void of obligations and responsibilities, and I was also looking forward to getting some really great photos. In South Louisiana they talk different, they dance and sing different, and they eat different. And it's all pretty awesome to watch. Only they can truly understand some of the things they say and EVERYTHING ends in "eaux" — Boudreaux, Thibodeaux, Geaux Tigers. You can tell a real Cajun by listening to him or her. There's a Cajun "assent," true French-Canadian (aka Cajun or Creole), and other variations of the Spanish, French, Acadian, African-American and Native American languages that came together centuries ago on de bayou. On the way in, we saw this cemetery packed with above-ground tombs. It was St. Peter's, and some of the buried played a big part of Louisiana's history, as well as America's. St. Peter's Cemetery in New Iberia, Louisiana, is the resting place of many who formed the history of the Iberia Parish. (Photo by Kate Stow) When it's supper time in the bayou, there is no limit of places that serve real Cajun food. The authentic mom-and-pop places are named after the owners, like Beaux's Gator Tails or Jamie's Jambalaya. Since we were there on Labor Day weekend, several of those good places were closed. We settled on Chili's. The whole reason Elaine wanted to come here was to see a Cajun band, Tommy G and the Showstoppers, she had been watching on Facebook and YouTube. So we went to their gig at SoCo's Sports Bar and Grill a little later. It was standing room only, and the music was definitely real Cajun, with the saxophone, accordion and washboard. I was glad I brought my camera cause I saw some dances I can't describe otherwise. We headed back to the room about midnight or so. We needed to rest before tackling Avery Island. The island is 11 miles south of New Iberia, and the southernmost tip is just three miles from Vermillion Bay, which opens into the Gulf of Mexico. The island is only 2,200 acres and sits atop a deposit of solid rock salt that goes down roughly 40,000 feet — deeper than Mt. Everest is high. This type of deposit is called a salt dome. It was here that E. McIlhenny was given a handful of pepper pods from a gentleman named "Gleason" from Mexico. He ate one or two and planted the rest on Avery Island. During the Reconstruction era after the Civil War, food was bland, so he developed a sauce recipe using the peppers and salt mined from the Island. McIlhenny declared it "Tabasco Sauce" and the on-site plant now manufactures 70,000 bottles of it a day that are distributed worldwide. Tommy G and the Showstoppers put on a jumping zydeco show at SoCo's Sports Bar and Grill in New Iberia, Louisiana. (Photo by Kate Stow) While Elaine had the etouffee and declared it good, I ate my pepperless salad, only to realize the dressing had Tabasco sauce in it. I then tried the pie, which was scrumptious — until I was two bites in and my gums were tingling. Tabasco sauce was in it, too. I gave up and ate it anyway. For a whole week afterward I was smelling and tasting it. Down the road from the Tabasco plant is Jungle Gardens and Bird City. We decided to tour the Gardens, rather than the factory. to see what kind of wildlife they offered. I was determined to get a photo of a real Cajun alligator. I've seen plenty of lake gators around Shreveport, Bossier, Caddo and Texarkana, but they are different from their Cajun relatives. The gators that far south are saltwater gators, and they live in the briny marshes and swim in the Bay as well as the Gulf. As we slowly drove through, lo and behold, I saw a gator. Elaine promptly stopped so I could get a better camera angle. I was on the inclined bank, many yards from it, so I zoomed in for the shot. I got several before the gator looked up at me and started coming up the bank. I backed up quickly, still taking shots, until it seemed he was just a few feet away. I panicked, took the camera from my eyes, and realized I was on zoom and he was nowhere near me. That wasn't the only gator we saw, though. They were literally everywhere on that island, along with some of the most interesting history I've seen anywhere. Among the centuries-old live oak trees, the bird sanctuary (which was empty at this time), the houses and the smell of Tabasco sauce thick in the air, there sits a 900-year-old statue of Buddha overlooking a beautiful lagoon. Behind the huge Buddha was a small bridge over a creek. A sign beside it said "Kate's Bridge." I'll take that as a sign meant just for me. ADVERTISEMENT Latest headlines Local doctor accused of over-prescribing opiates Woman pleads guilty in child sex-assault case |... Fence Goes Up at Grim Sevier County voters approve new hospital Housing the topic of bi-city meeting TWU billing error affects Texas-side water customers Image released for this year's Main Street Christmas...