Travelog - Day 29, Mar.1

Another dull and dreary day, overcast & bits of rain every once in awhile. I have taken some more pictures of the campsite so you can appreciate the efforts that have gone into the landscaping. Our immediate neighbours (2 spots away) left yesterday so we have tons of visual space. The park remains very quiet despite the presence of the mysterious & matching trailers. I must ask at the office.

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?searchtype=address&country=US&addtohistory=&searchtab=home&formtype=address&popflag=0&latitude=&longitude=&name=&phone=&level=&cat=bayou+wilderness+resort&address=&city=&state=LA&zipcode=

Today I am typing on the new laptop with MS Streets & Trips (ST) in the background. So far we are following the same route as yesterdayOnly thing I can’t find is the slot for the flash card of so until I know better will have to continue to use the card reader plugin. I am attempting to use the finger mouse with not a great deal of dexterity meaning my cursor still ends up in unexplained places. The keyboard keys are about the same, so I must blame these happenings on the road which is more than a little bouncy.

#90 (soon to be #49) south takes us through downtown Lafayette on a 3-lane one-way road. As I said yesterday we are on our way to New Iberia (south of I-10 that I complained about yesterday). We pass by semi-industrial areas accompanied by a railway track. Residential areas, Maxie’s campground alongside, then the usual shopping stops which are new. We turn east at Sugar and given Mill Park which features giant gears mounted vertically. Painted in primary colours and resembling a train, it’s one of the few bright spots this morning. Mysteriously a 2-track, railway line is on my right again.

Houses are nearly always bungalows and vary between newer brick ones and much older wood structures with mobile home & trailer parks in between. The one thing many have in common is a very low roof pitch. Don’t neesaled barrrels, a d to worry about the weight of snow. Ccar ports are very popular too.

It seems you can’t drive very far anywhere without enountering Walmart, McDonald’s, Family Dollar, Burger King, even in the smallest of communities.
http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?formtype=address&country=US&popflag=0&latitude=&longitude=&name=&phone=&level=&addtohistory=&cat=&address=&city=new+iberia&state=la&zipcode=

We enter New Iberia and are distracted by an older cemetery which is surrounded by chain link fence (ugh!). The main entrance is an elaborate grill work gate and locked, but a little distance away there is a discrete gate and it is open.

We get bogged down in the one-way streets. A sign indicates Avery Island
http://www.marin.cc.ca.us/~jim/ring/tabasco.html
and we change plans. We’ll come back later. Of course wee miss the left hand turn, but more importantly see the Visitor Centre where I am hughly welcomed. At the toll booth & bridge (so tiny I don’t notice) to Avery Island we are greeted in French and Al engages in a lively conversation. Reynold’s is the place to go for music and food. The tour of the Tobasco is short, consisting of a video (infomercial) showing how the sauce is made & a long glassed2:45 we are heading hop corridor exposing the bottling process. At the end, a small exhibit with salted barrels, a machine mixing the vinegar & peppers, & display case showing the development of the Tabasco label and bottle.

Our next stop is Jungle Gardens, also on the island and developed by the same McIlhenny who invented Tobasco sauce. Over 750 varieties of camellias and 100 of azaleas are in bloom, not in nursery-like rows, but scattered about the park in groupings. Aligators cruise the lakes protecting the snowy egret breeding nests which,h due to present day numbers (250,000+), have had to be supplemented by double-decked bamboo structures. It was back in 1892 that McIlhenny captured 7 egrets and went on to rescue the nearly extinct bird. The park contains too many plants and trees (statuesque live oaks dripping with Spanish moss, Chinese Timber Bamboo… to name.

As the afternoon is still young, we return to New Iberia where we cruise the main street which is filled with historical buildings. The walking tour is worth returning for.
http://www.cityofnewiberia.com/walkingtour.html

At 2:45pm the sun finally decides to come out.
Tonight we dine out at Prejeans http://www.prejeans.com/
which comes recommended by yesterday’s potter. I’m having crawfish. What about you?