Day 72 8/9 Saturday, Hot, hot, hot to Lafayette

We left the busy, bustling and fun city of New Orleans heading for the city of Lafayette. On the way we called into the beautiful Avery Island that the McILHENNY family own and set up the famous Tabasco factory on. 150 years ago they started this world famous business and it is the only place in the world where Tabasco sauce is produced. We decided to take the tour of the factory and it was a great learning experience. It was interesting to learn that it takes 5 years to produce the sauce but it is a pretty simple procedure. The chillies are crushed down, a small amount of salt is combined with the crushed chillies and then the mix is then put into barrels. The barrels are sealed with a thick layer of salt and are left anywhere from 3 to 10 years. Vinegar is then added and it is then strained and left for 3 weeks. The tour was a self-guided one with many short videos and interactive displays. At the conclusion of the tour we were able to do some tastings. Rob was brave and started with a very mild sweet and spicy sauce which he managed very well. He then decided to be very brave and try a little bit of a hotter sauce and it just about killed him. It took him about 15 minutes to recover. I tried “Scorpion” sauce which was the hottest they had and I survived. I impressed a few people. We continued on to our beautiful accommodation just out of Lafayette. It is on large acreage and we are surrounded by trees and a small water ways. The evening was spent in the town of Lafayette. The town is known for its Art, music and culture. There were markets with all sorts of artisans and all of the small galleries were open and people and families were out and about doing “Art-walks”. Bands were playing a mix of jazz, blues and rock. The town was really alive and it was a nice way to finish the day.