February 18-22

We moved onto Faussee State Park near Jeanerette, LA, where we took a delightful tour of a museum and learned about the growing of sugar cane. We were then directed to a bakery that makes the best French Bread and Ginger Cake. At Avery Island, near New Iberia, we took a tour of the Tabasco Company. This is the only plant in the world, but the red pepper which is only hand-picked when it is a perfect red, is grown here on just 50 acres, plus South and Central America. If you look on the bottle, you’ll see the name McIlhenny – he invented the product, and Avery Island, L.A. or New Iberia, where it is made. We drove to Sam Houston Jones State Park at Lake Charles, where we can bike ride through cypress groves (uniquely beautiful), swamps, bayous, and also hike. Oh, and we got to experience Crawfish Etoufee (a stew) at Steamboat Bill’s – twice, because it’s so good!