Lafayette, LA

That's pronounced Laugh-fee-et, ya'll. What a fun couple of days in the deep, hot, humid swamps of the southland! I flew into New Orleans and drove 2 hours west to Lafayette for a conference. I just loved how everyone called me Miss Ann, they are so polite there and I could listen to them talk forever! I must have some southern belle in my blood cuz I love that whole gentile way the south works, I love the way the ladies talk, the way the men take care of the ladies and the fact that fried chicken and biscuits is a daily meal.

One afternoon after the meetings were over I headed south to Avery Island, home of Tabasco sauce. Of course I was more interested in alligators, so I took a drive through the park there winding through the lagoons and gardens alongside the river and boy did I see alligators, I screamed every time I saw one, the hair on the back of my neck was at full attention.


While I was keeping a close eye on the gators, I took some pictures of the great oak trees covered in moss, I was walking backwards in the one picture and stepped on a piece of moss that I thought was a gator. Good thing I was the only one in the park because I let out a scream like I was dying! Talk about being a nervous wreck!

Further into the drive I came across this serene garden and the budda. The story of the budda is that it was stolen from a palace in Tibet and years later sold on the black market. Someone bought it as a gift for Mr. Avery, the Tobasco mogul and it has rested peacefully in the garden ever since. It was a very beautiful place and had it not been for the gators in the water, I would have stayed and meditated, but frankly I had a rough time closing my eyes and letting it all go while I was worrying about loosing a leg or something!


I wish I had more sunlight and a little more time to explore the area, I stayed until it couldn't see anything else and by then it was too late to get pictures of the Tabasco factory (it's just a big building anyway!) But I took this on the ramp at bird city just as I was leaving the island.

Fun trip and one of the gals I met at the conference offered to take me out on their boat into the swamps and the Gulf next time down, so that is one adventure I will be looking forward to and planning for, maybe in December!