This time, we visited the home of Tabasco on Avery Island, immersed ourselves in the WWII museum in NOLA, and got swept up in a Mardi Gras parade, despite the fact that we’ve always sworn we would never, ever go to New Orleans during Mardi Gras.
Hot Stuff In Cajun Country: All About Tabasco
I don’t know about you, but we have a bottle of vintage Tabasco sauce in our fridge. I think I brought it from home when we started our travels five years ago. (Does anyone ever use up a bottle of Tabasco?)
Avery Island is home to the Tabasco factory, where 68 million bottles of hot pepper sauce are made each year. The spicy condiment was created in 1868 by Edmund McIlhenny, a banker bankrupted by the Civil War who happened to be a gardener and food lover.
It’s a simple recipe—a special variety of hot pepper, salt, and vinegar—fermented for three years before bottling. Conveniently, Avery Island sits on a mountain of rock salt that’s mined for the hot sauce.
The small museum is fascinating (there’s a whole sub-culture devoted to Tabasco), the self-guided tour is interesting, and the restaurant has a make-it-yourself Bloody Mary bar that begins with a 2-ounce pour of vodka and includes an elaborate array of garnishes. That may have had just a little influence on the good time we had.
Avery Island Tabasco Factory
Tabasco pop culture
Tabasco barrel aging; the intensity of the fermenting peppers is overwhelming. The mashed peppers are covered with a thick layer of Avery Island salt and fermented for three years.
Taste-testing at the Tabasco Flavor Lab; kind of surprising considering that Eric hates spicy food.
Giant bottles of Tabasco plotting to take over the world
The souvenir glass reads: “Making day drinking socially acceptable since 1868.” Photo taken after olives, pickled green beans, celery, and bacon garnishes disappeared.
The Beautiful Gardens Of Avery Island
There’s more to Avery Island than hot sauce, though. Edmund McIlhenny’s son Edward was a passionate conservationist, and he created extensive botanical gardens and a sanctuary for wildlife on the property.
Concerned about the devastation of Snowy Egrets (who were being hunted to extinction for their beautiful plumes), Edward hand raised eight chicks. The egrets grew up, flew away, and then came back, bringing their friends. There’s now a colony of tens of thousands that return each year in early spring to nest and raise their young.
We walked the four-mile path through the gardens, through ancient oaks festooned with Spanish moss, past ponds with alligator eyes watching us, and through gardens that come spring, are lush with foliage and flowers.
We were there in late January, too early for either birds or flowers. Still, it was beautiful.
A magical moment in the gardens on Avery Island
Entrance to the Buddha Garden
The Buddha Temple
Buddha in the garden. The statue (circa 1100 AD) was a gift to Edward McIlhenny in 1936.
Enjoying A Cajun Music Jam
The little town of Breaux Bridge is in the heart of Cajun country. We’ve learned to plan our visits so that we’re there on the weekend to catch the traditional Cajun music jams. Our favorite is Saturday morning at Joie de Vivre, a cozy café in downtown Breaux Bridge. It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but inside, it’s a colorful melange of music and community spirit. (You can see a video clip of a music jam from a previous visit here.)
The bridge to Breaux Bridge
The Saturday morning Cajun music jam at Joie de Vivre
The Cajun accordion
Fiddles, mandolins, and guitars round out the jam
Colorful artwork by local artists at Joie de Vivre
About The RV Park
Every time we’re in the area we stay at Poche’s Fish’n’Camp. The park offers level concrete sites situated around picturesque fishing ponds, with full hook-ups, good Verizon, a laundromat, and peaceful surroundings. You’re in the heart of Cajun Country (the park is about 5 miles from Breaux Bridge). With Passport America, it’s a bargain at $20 per night.
Campsite at Poche’s Fish’n’Camp
The sunsets are always beautiful over the ponds at Poche’s
New Adventures In New Orleans
In the past several years, we’ve been twice to New Orleans in April for the French Quarter Festival, a music and food extravaganza that we absolutely loved (and would go back to again). This time, traveling through in late January, we anticipated a much more low-key visit, with the opportunity to do a couple of things that we’ve wanted to do for a while.
We planned a visit to the National World War II Museum, which our friends Pam and John told us we must not miss. And we planned to spend more time on Frenchmen Street, the local’s hangout for great music. We figured that visiting in late January, we would be clear of the city before the insanity of Mardi Gras began.
Breakfast In Algiers & The Ferry To NOLA
As always, we stayed across the river at Bayou Segnette State Park. It’s an easy 15-mile drive to the charming town of Algiers, and a quick 10-minute ferry ride across the Mississippi into the French Quarter. Breakfast at Tout de Suite, a neighborhood café in Algiers, is a tradition on our visits to New Orleans.
Colorful homes in Algiers
Breakfast at Tout de Suite: Crawfish étouffée with poached eggs, served over creamy corn grits.
The little ferry to New Orleans crossing the Mississippi
We much prefer the ferry to driving into the city. The weather in January in NOLA can be a bit chilly, but we’re talking a comfortable mid-60’s during the day and mid-40’s at night.
It’s fun to see the festive decorations in the French Quarter, but we never intended to be in the city for Mardi Gras.
Visiting The WWII Museum
New Orleans seems like kind of an odd choice for a war museum until we discovered that this is where the Higgins boats, the famed amphibious landing crafts credited with helping to win the war, were built.
Visiting the National World War II Museum is a total immersion into the sights, sounds, and experiences of the war, both overseas and on the home front. It’s like stepping into a time machine, where you’re whisked back to 1939 and the dawn of events that over the next six years, changed the course of world history.
Of everything, I found the personal artifacts to be the most poignant. So many letters from soldiers to loved ones at home…and so many telegrams informing families that their loved one would not be returning. So many medals of courage, so many stories of sacrifice beyond belief. If you go, be prepared for a deeply emotional experience.
The museum is enormous. Know going in that there is NO way that you can read everything, watch every film and inspect every artifact. Neither Eric nor I are war history buffs. But we were both fully engaged in the experience, and felt like it was well worth the expense ($23-25 per ticket) and the investment of time. Even trying our best to be selective, we ran out of time the first day and ended up going back the next day (for an additional $6). And we still didn’t see everything.
Outside of the National World War II Museum; this is not even half of the museum.
Inside the museum; a Douglas C-47 transport plane hangs from the ceiling.
The U.S. planned never again to be at war after the First World War. Our attention was focused on surviving the Great Depression, not building a military force. Thus, we were frighteningly outnumbered on the military front at the dawn of the war.
The bombing of Pearl Harbor changed sentiments overnight, and the entire country rallied to join the war against the Axis powers. Here, Clark Gable enlists in the Air Force.
One of the famed “Flying Tigers” used in the fight against the Japanese
The Road to Tokyo is a journey through the war fought in the islands and jungles of the Pacific
The Road to Berlin is a journey through the war fought on the European front, replete with snowy forests, bombed out villages, and desert scenes
Although personal journals were officially forbidden, many soldiers found solace in writing and kept hidden diaries of their war experiences. This journal was crafted from metal salvaged from a Japanese plane that had been shot down.
Music, Food, Art, & A Taste Of Mardi Gras
Our New Orleans experience wasn’t all about the war. We spent lots of time walking (our favorite way of exploring and to recover from the museum), discovered a couple of new places where we had delicious casual meals, hopped on the streetcar to visit the beautiful Besthoff Sculpture Garden in City Park, enjoyed some great music on Frenchmen Street, and experienced a bit of Mardi Gras, which turned out to be a lot more fun than we anticipated.
A tasty lunch to fortify ourselves for another day at the museum at the lovely little St. James Cheese Company, just a couple of blocks from the WWII Museum.
Hopping on the Canal Street streetcar delivers you to City Park, a beautiful green space in the city and home to the sculpture garden, botanical garden, and art museum.
The Wanda and Sidney Bestoff Sculpture Garden offers a tranquil space in the midst of the city
More than 60 sculptures are in the garden. I often wonder how people come up with their ideas.
An afternoon on colorful Frenchmen Street, the best place for music in New Orleans
An evening at d.b.a. New Orleans with Meschiya Lake, our favorite local jazz/blues artist.
I never realized that in New Orleans, Mardi Gras is celebrated for weeks before the actual date with dozens of parades on weekends. We happened to be enjoying an evening on Frenchmen Street when the Krewe de Vieux, a parade known for wild satire, adult themes, and political comedy, rounded the corner. We didn’t find it too outrageous; not sure what that says about us!
We joined the party outside when a parade appeared on Frenchmen Street. The marching jazz bands are nothing like your usual hometown parade (as you can imagine).
The Krewe of Underwear, one of the only blog-appropriate groups in the parade
Float celebrating “300 Years of Ineptitude” for NOLA’s tricentennial
We had a couple of great meals at St. Roch Market, a “Southern Food Hall” and totally cool space that showcases a variety of excellent food vendors. Here, coconut curry shrimp; all shrimp should be served with the heads on because really, it’s more delicious that way.
About The Campground:
We always stay at Bayou Segnette State Park when we visit New Orleans. Although it’s a 15-mile drive to Algiers followed by a short ferry ride across the Mississippi to get to the city, we much prefer that to driving and parking in the city. Plus, we enjoy Algiers.
The campground is peaceful and the sites are spacious with good separation from neighbors. Paved sites, water and electric hook-ups, free laundry in the restroom complex, and good Verizon coverage. (It looks kind of blah in the winter compared to spring, when it’s lush.)
Campsite at Bayou Segnette, winter version
So glad you made it to Avery Island, it instantly became a favorite spot as we explored the gardens. Isn’t the Buddha area wonderful? Your pics are lovely. Still bummed we missed the music in Breaux Bridge, but we’ll be back for sure!! We were just telling friends about the rave reviews John and Pam gave the WWII museum in NOLA and how we’ll have to see it next time. Loved seeing it through your eyes as well, and I didn’t remember it was so big. How fun to experience a true NOLA night time parade on top of great music. We must return to this unique area.
Jodee, I’m so glad we finally made the time for Avery Island, too (after four trips to Breaux Bridge!). I had forgotten that you were there, but I just went back and looked at your post, and your photos are wonderful of the gardens! Somehow, I accidentally deleted all of the photos I took of the gardens so I only had a couple from Eric to work with (and he wasn’t taking many photos that day). I’d love to return in spring to see all of the egrets.
Laurel,
I love Tabasco! I always put a dash of it in my guacamole when I make it. It adds a little heat, but doesn’t take away the taste of the avocado (in my opinion). It’s very cool to know how it’s made, and there aren’t a lot of additives.
We’ll have to compare notes on Mardi Gras. I went twice in my twenties, and that was plenty for a lifetime.
See you soon,
Sheila
Sheila, I’d love to hear about your Mardi Gras experiences! The way we did it (unknowingly) was really fun. Kind of the “mellow” neighborhood version of Mardi Gras.
The Tabasco tour was interesting. I enjoy a dash of Tabasco here and there, too, although a bottle does seem to last an inordinately long time so I must not use very much of it. :-)
LOVE…LOVE….LOVE this posting. Glad you got to visit the WW2 memorial. Our son’s best friend from the Army’s Dad retired early to design that museum. He was a veteran and career Marine. Awesome job and he thoroughly enjoyed his stay in that city until they moved to Boone, NC.
Julie, how interesting that you have a personal connection to the designer of the museum! It really is an extraordinary tribute to all those who served, both in battle and on the home front. So glad you enjoyed the post.
“300 years of ineptitude” Ha! Love it!
You know we love New Orleans and these posts just go to show how much there is to see and do there. We’ve visited twice and have probably seen about 10% of what’s there. You really found some fantastic spots. Speaking of which, that dish of crawfish etoufee with the egg…?? O. M.G…. Why can’t we eat that stuff every day?? (Because we’d have a stroke, I know… but seriously? Yum!!)
We too didn’t realize the Mardi Gras parades went on for weeks before the actual day, but we were just a tad too early when we visited a couple years ago. I think your experience was perfect – take in the parades, enjoy the fun, but get out of there before it turns into total amateur hour.
Breaux Bridge is now on the list for us as is the Tabasco facility. Any place that starts with a Bloody Mary bar is ok in our book!
Glad you had such a terrific visit!
Laura, we ended up (inadvertently) doing Mardi Gras just right for us. A taste of the festivity without the stupidity. That particular parade was hilarious!
You guys will really enjoy Breaux Bridge and Cajun country. And if you ever get the chance to go to the French Quarter Festival in New Orleans in April, it’s a blast!
And yeah, that crawfish etouffee…that’s why you see salads in our other New Orleans culinary adventures, haha!
I don’t recall seeing those giant Tabasco bottles during our visit. But we did see hundreds of Snowy egrets then. We love Poches and we intend to stay there next year on our way back to the west.
I agree with you shrimps should be served head-on, and I like to suck on its delicious juices.
Glad you attended the Mardi Gras for us, I’m not sure if I would enjoy the crowd and or any outrageous outfits.
MonaLiza, we enjoyed our visit to Avery Island, but I wish we had been there when the egrets were nesting! It must be an amazing sight. Now we have to return (no problem, since we love the area).
I think you would have been fine with the little bit of Mardi Gras we experienced. Not too crazy at all. :-)
We stayed @ Poches a couple of years ago when we went through Breaux Bridge. We loved the area but weren’t there on a weekend. Next visit we’ll have to time it better. I would have loved to see that parade too. I’m busy planning our winter trip out west- hope we can meet up on your way through—
Pat, we’ve found the weekend is the best time for catching music jams in Breaux Bridge. And Joie de Vivre is the best (in our opinion). I hope we can meet up in our travels again, too!
Lived in the area for 3 weeks…via the Army…Returning back from Viet Nam!
Then back to Ft. Hood TX.
I hope you enjoyed your time in New Orleans, Bob. That was a while ago! I’ll bet some things have changed since you were there.
Wow !!! Love your pics! We want to join you next time. Thanks for sharing your fun fun fun adventures! Love and miss you guys.
Thanks, Judy! We want you to join us next time, too! Bring your pink wig and your zebra pants. We can be in the parade. :-)) We miss you guys! oxoxo
I am so sorry we didn’t take time to visit Avery Island. I don’t care for Tabasco but I love seeing things made. And everyone enjoys it. Now I am really disappointed we didn’t take the time. Maybe next time!
I’m so glad you made it to the museum and enjoyed it. I am not a history museum person either but this museum was so well done.
New Orleans has so much to offer. We just might need to return:)
Pam, if you ever get back to Cajun country, you would really enjoy the Tabasco factory. I had no idea that we could spend a couple of hours immersed in the culture, history, and production of Tabasco…but it was really interesting! As for New Orleans, we’ll definitely return. I love visiting that city!
We, too, were impressed with the WW2 museum and the size and scope of the displays. One day was enough for us, though, since we found it rather depressing.
You were lucky to get a taste of the Mardi Gras experience without the huge crowds. New Orleans is such a fun city!
Gayle, although our first reaction to realizing that we were in the middle of a Mardi Gras parade was “Oh NO!” we ended up really enjoying it. As you said, we were lucky to get a taste of the experience without the insanity. New Orleans is a blast!
Never say never. HA! Hope this comes through despite the lack of signal here in Shenandoah. Not a fan of Tabasco but then not a fan of hot sauce or hot period so taste testing would be out for me. Eric is braver than I am. This is probably the only tour I’ll get. Thanks! I do love the giant bottles with you two in the pic Love the story of the snowy egrets. Thank goodness for caring people like Edward. Wow to the number of musicians at Joie de Vivre. Campground sounds great and what a sunset.
Bayou Segnette has been on my list for years. SIGH………..And you’ve been to NOLA multiple times. ENVY! The WWII museum is probably the only war museum I would ever visit since I think it is the most recent war that had to be fought. Though I did visit with sorrow the Vietnam memorial. Laughing that you had to censor the parade for your blog. Fun times!
Sherry, I should know by now to never say never. :-) We had a good time at the parade, and aren’t afraid of Mardi Gras anymore.
Keep Bayou Segnette and New Orleans on your list. You’re going to love it when you get there! And while you’re at it, make sure you go to Breaux Bridge and Avery Island.
The food would be enough to entice us to go to these places. Add the music and it is even better. Breaux Bridge looks like our kind of place.
Debbie, there’s great food and great music in both New Orleans and Cajun country. We enjoy every visit there.
New Orleans is definitely a special place. We were there years back with our youngest son who was at the time interested in attending Tulane University (which did not happen) but nonetheless we got a terrific introduction to this unique city.
Love the story about the egrets and how saving a few chicks has led to a much larger conservation. The jam session looks terrific. Just up our alley!
Peta
Peta, this is such a culturally rich part of the U.S. and so unique, as you said. We were taken with the story of Avery Island and the egrets, too. It’s extraordinary what one person can do if they decide to take action. Very inspirational. :-)
I loved everything about this post Laurel. We have yet to visit New Orleans and I so want to go. We are kicking around the idea of doing a road trip back to the midwest this fall, visiting family and friends in OH, IL, IN, and OK. I would love to push further south and go to New Orleans but our timeframe would probably still fall within hurricane season, which might not be too wise.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the post, LuAnn. You will love New Orleans—and don’t miss Breaux Bridge! If you’re doing a road trip, I wouldn’t let worries about hurricanes stop you. I must admit, we always think of hurricanes when we’re heading to Florida, but there’s so much advance notice of storms we figure we can always reroute our journey!
How fun to be back in New Orleans again! We haven’t made it to either the museum or the sculpture garden and I’m placing them both on “the list” for next time. We found ourselves in the midst of an unusual Mardi Gras parade once. It started out as the Krew of Barkus but devolved into another thing altogether, definitely NOT blogable but very fun and eye opening!
Your cajun breakfast is right up Dave’s alley, he’ll drool on the lap top when I show it to him. Shrimp served with their heads attached, not so much. When I was a little girl I wouldn’t eat anything that sounded like what it was alive, chicken, fish, etc. My mother got very creative in naming her dishes and it was a long time before I realized what I was actually eating! I still have problems making eye contact with my food.
Sue, I don’t think we’ll ever tire of New Orleans, and we always discover something new. I know you’ll enjoy the sculpture garden! Your Mardi Gras experience sounds like fun. You’ll have to tell me more details when we get together. :-)
Still laughing that you don’t make eye contact with your food…
We went to Avery Island about the same time of year as you, which is good because I am allergic to peppers and probably couldn’t be around when they are harvesting. Like you, we missed the birds, but hey, we did manage to get a selfie with an alligator that crawled out of the water! Great photos, as usual! P.S. So sorry we are missing each other in MT. So close!
Linda, I can’t imagine visiting Avery Island with a pepper allergy! Those fermenting peppers were intense. I guess you don’t use Tabasco. :-))
I’m assuming you didn’t get too close to that alligator for your selfie, haha! We’re bummed about missing you guys, too, and are still trying to figure out if we can make it work to see you.
Fingers crossed! We’re flexible and have Toadie, will travel! :)
“We didn’t find it too outrageous; not sure what that says about us!” … that you are open minded to all kinds of experiences.
We enjoyed a couple of weeks in NOLA the first year we were fulltiming. First time visit, which we enjoyed quite a bit. We stayed across the river like you did, but at the military base. The ferry from Algiers certainly was the best way to cross over to enjoy NOLA without having to deal with traffic and parking.
Like you we are not war buffs, but have visited our share of war-themed museums. Considering the theme, enjoy is not the best word to describe the experience, but we’ve appreciated our time at them. The personal memorabilia are always my favorite part of the exhibits … so much history, love, sadness.
Erin, I appreciate your comment and your observations. We seem to share very similar views on life experiences.
You’re absolutely right—”enjoy” is not a word I would use for any war museum. Visiting the WWII museum felt like an honoring of those who sacrificed so much for peace and freedom. The tragedy is that the same kind of insidious evil that the Axis promoted still exists, just in a different guise.
The museum looks amazing. Someday, I’ll go to New Orleans. Probably without Morey. Lol. Not his cup of tea.
The museum was really fantastic, Brenda. New Orleans has a lot to offer. Eric didn’t like New Orleans the first time we visited about 15 years ago…but I dragged him back again, and now he loves it! Maybe Morey would be surprised and enjoy it, too? :-))
Wow, Avery Island is one of my favorite places and you did it justice even with a few photos. Born and raised in Louisiana and any visitor got dragged to see the Tobasco factory and watch dumb tourists inch closer and closer with the lens of their cameras in “sleeping” alligators faces. Never saw a tragedy, they keep them well fed.
Watching the egrets and all the other birds land at dusk is unforgettable and my favorite sight. The bamboo! The gardens! The history! It’s a beautiful place. I go through lots of bottles of Tobasco. All the other flavors they made after the original aren’t actually very hot.
The words, “doesn’t like spicy food”, I don’t comprehend that statement. What is there left to eat?
Mardi Gras starts January 6th. It’s much more fun to be in a parade than to watch. Just join in.
Next time you have to go dancing at Fred’s in Mamou Saturday morning, starts at 8am. Actually, Mamou is a wonderful place to go to Mardi Gras too. Also St Francisville, so pretty.
We just finished 100 days living in our motor home. I thought 5 years, what is there to do for all those years? Now I know. I see 10 in our future…
So much fun to hear from you, Nancy, and to hear of your experiences and your love for Cajun Country! We will return, for sure—I’ve made a list of your suggestions for our next visit. Maybe we could meet up there?
Congratulations on your first 100 days in your motorhome—how exciting! If you’re keeping a blog, please send updates. We’re thinking 10 years, too. :-))