You Might Be A Cajun If ... You Work On Avery Island

April 21, 2013
This beautifully clear day Jim and I had a good breakfast at the super 8 and rode six miles to Avery Island to visit the Tabasco Factory. Interesting place and I believe everyone living / working there are Cajuns .... at least they all have the Cajun accent, even the young girl who was our tour guide.

We paid our dollar entry fee to the island and the gate keeper lifted the toll gate, telling us the factory was on the left and to the right is the "Jungle Garden," apparently a tropical landscape we were told had a couple of alligator ponds and some snowy white egrets to look at.

The near half-mile leading to the Tabasco factory is gravel ... big, gnarly gravel of the possible tread puncturing variety.  It was a relief to finally arrive at the small parking lot with air still in our tires.

The downside of our visit is they only operate the factory (bottling part that is) on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. It is Sunday so we only got to "see where" they do all that. Nevertheless, we learned a lot about the origins and scope of the Tabasco Operation.

In a nutshell, Tabasco sauce was invented by the McIlhenny family 130 or so years ago right here on Avery Island. It is made no where else in the world but is distributed worldwide from here and members of the McIlhenny family are still involved in raising the Tabasco peppers and refining the sauce.

I learned Baton Rouge means "Red Stick". It is what they use to check and see if a Tabasco pepper is "ready". They hold the "Baton Rouge" next to the peppers on the bush and compare colors. Not all peppers ripen at the same time.

After the tour, we followed other tourists to the "Country Store" and bought souvenirs. It's the law. While stowing purchasees in our bikes a couple arrived on a new Harley Ultra-Classic. Naturally we traded riding stories, learning this was their very first bike, recently acquired and they were on their "maiden voyage" .... just 40 miles from home in Houma. The man spoke with a heavy Cajun accent, his wife slightly so.

We rode over to the "Jungle Garden", agreeing if the three-mile road winding through it was like the gravel road to the factory we wouldn't do it. Yes, it was gravel and has an entry fee of $8 each. But it is small and tight gravel, promised the young Cajun manning the gate. We decided against it. 

Turns out the most interesting thing at the Jungle Garden was a 72-year-old man who arrived on a Ducati (aka crotch-rocket) with his wife on the back. This man lives and breathes motorcycles, saying he's been riding them for 50 years and has owned many, including a Harley Road King and every BMW that has come out .... except one like Jim's ... a GTL K1600. He was like a kid at Christmas when Jim showed and demonstrated most of the hi-tech features on his bike.

Explaining his choice for the Ducati the man (his wife called him "Jerry") said it is only 450 pounds but has 160 horsepower and is very easy to handle (that's when he told us he was 72).

Jerry, who spoke with a Boston accent but lives in Florida, mesmerized us with one story after another. He discussed everything from his army days in Korea to his plans to ride to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska in 2015. Currently, he and his wife are roaming west to Utah in their 23-foot motorhome with the Ducati on a lift on the back.

Speaking of Jerry's wife, she was wandering aimlessly, taking pictures, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Jerry had spent the better part of an hour talking with strangers about motorcycles when they arrived there to visit the Jungle Garden. Apparently she's used to it.

Tabasco Factory Parking Lot

Reading The Tabasco Factory History

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To The Country Store

Hooked On Tabasco

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Tabasco Country Store

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