Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve in Florida view from our balcony now.

Woke up to a pod of dolphins feeding, we can see them but the camera couldn't.

Have a great Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Maria & Bill 

Natchez to Lafayette Mississippi November 2013

Well here we are at the Mississippi River in Natchez having completed the Trace. This would have been the place most of the old travelers would have started the long walk.

Farther down the river are a collection of  Paddle Steamers most of these are Casino's.

There are a few that still take you boat trips.

Back through the city, which still has a few older buildings.

Out of the city across the Mississippi River.

Houses on the move.

Once they have harvested the crop they burn off the fields  

Ours is the next junction.

This is the Visitors Welcome Center  in Lafayette. It is located on the central reservation (U.K.) or Median(U.S.) of a dual carriage way in the centre of the town.

Getting some exercise after a day in the car and make space foe food..

Todays special Cat Fish with Crawfish Sauce, steamed Veggies  and Baked Potato (fully loaded).

What a great sunset on the way to the motel.

Hot Stuff November 2013

This is Avery Island the home of Tabasco Pepper Sauce.

The island was named after the Avery family, who settled there 1830s, but long before that, American Indians had found that Avery Island was a precious natural resource  - a massive salt dome. It is about 3 miles inland from Vermilion Bay, which in turn opens into onto the Gulf of Mexico. It is surrounded by marsh and swamp.

This is the village store run by the company.

Where you can buy a wide selection of products that contain Tabasco sauce including ice cream an a selection of caps and aprons.

A range of different flavors and of course half gallon and gallon jars.

They are purveyors to the Royal Family.

This is the only factory in the world that makes Tabasco and they ship to  165 countries

Todays peppers grown on the island are used to produce seed stock, which is then shipped to foreign growers primarily Central and South America.

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In this display the man is holding a small red stick in his hand it's color represents a ripe pepper, they only pick peppers that are that color.

The peppers are ground down and place in old Jack Daniels barrels which have been cleaned and scrapped to remove the whiskey

The barrels are covered with a salt crust to seal the barrel. The salt comes from their own salt mine which is one of the biggest salt mines in America.

The barrels are then aged for 3 years before they bottle the sauce.

No bottling today as they only work 4 days a week.

Well time to hit the road and find some food.

Thats an unusual load.

A starter with Onion rings and Jalapeño.

Followed by steak and mashed potato.

Of course if your still hungry you could  always have these Pigs Lips.. 

No we didn't buy any we were full thank goodness.

Even took a doggie box for the steak & mashed potato.

This is considered a delicacy round here, Yuk!