Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
82, accompanied by stands of ancient live oaks on its way to Creole, where it veers
sharply northward on Rte. 27, then follows Rte. 14 north and west to Lake Charles.
6.
Avery Island
Saucy scenery lies south of New Iberia on Rte. 329 at Avery Island, a lush island of green-
ery in this region of swamplands. A toll road bisects plots of the peppers used to make Ta-
basco sauce—a mixture of vinegar, red pepper, and salt that was first bottled in 1868. The
company offers tours through glass-walled corridors, which eliminate all but the faintest
whiff of this sinus-clearing concoction, a staple of Cajun cuisine.
Secluded paths and gravel roads loop among the compound's more-than-200-acre
JungleGardens,whichfeatureanegretrookerybuiltonbamboopiers.Onceprizedfortheir
showy feathers, egrets were hunted nearly to extinction. In 1892 the Tabasco company's
founder,E.A.McIlhenny,helpedintheirrecoverybycapturingandnurturingsevenyoung
birds, which in 25 years increased to 20,000—the largest egret colony ever established in
America.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search