Gulf of Mexico fishing boat
Tabasco bottling at Avery Island LA
Resurrection fern growing on a Live Oak Tree
March 2,3: Gambling and Music
We took two long day drives; one north to Alexandria and the other south to the coast on Tuesday and Wednesday. To the north we found nothing too much but woods. We did stop at one of the many local “casinos,” the name given to small extensions to gas stations where there are video gambling machines. We tried video poker, but the games were totally rigged in favor of the casino. You couldn’t win at poker without 3 of a kind (not even 2 pair), and then only get your money back. We used the 5 cent machines so spent only $6 to get an hour of entertainment and second hand smoke!
Wednesday we went south and stopped at the Cajun music hall of fame. All the musicians who had been chosen and pictures and biographies on the wall. Lots of old fiddles, accordions and a very nice woman tour guide told us about the history of Cajun music (the music from the white French settlers) versus Creole (Black) music and Zydeco, a more modern version of Creole.
We also went to Avery Island, a salt dome hill in the edge of the Gulf of Mexico. Genuine Tabasco pepper sauce is made there in the Tabasco factory since 1868. They grow peppers on the island, mine salt there and have a huge factory to make the stuff. The whole area smelled pleasantly of Tabasco!
Lots of oil wells along the coast. Some of the running and others not. Most of the activity is in the Gulf with oil drilling platforms in the ocean.
March 4th: Our 38th Anniversary! We plan to try Crawfish for lunch!
