Lousiana Girl Trip

How time flies! I can't believe it's already been a week since this trip ended. Every spring my mom, sister, aunt, cousin and I go on a trip on some sort. It started as our spring break trips when we were in school and we've gone everywhere - from the mountains of North Carolina to Disney in Orlando. For about ten to fifteen of those years, my mom has been saying she wanted to tour the Tabasco factory in South Lousiana. This year, that came true.

In true McNeil fashion, the early morning start began with Bloody Mary's. We got a kick out of mom trying to mix them on a bumpy interstate.

After lunch in Ponchatoula, we made our way to Carville, home of the country's former leprosarium. If you've ever read the book In the Sanctuary of Outcasts, you'll know what we're talking about. This place was very interesting.

There was even a room where you could pull "files" on patients and learn about how the disease had affected them.

But, the main portion of our trip was spent in New Iberia. This is one of the places you could stay on the property where we stayed.

This was actually where we stayed. We were skeptical when we pulled in, but it ended up being great. It was right on Bayou Teche!

New Iberia has some gorgeous homes downtown.

Ah, Tabasco land. Mom was really excited. To be honest, there wasn't much to photograph of the actual factory, but the grounds were very pretty. (Mom has some great info on her blog about the trip!)

Also on Avery Island was Jungle Gardens, land conserved by the family, which included all kinds of themed areas. This house held a Buddah from 1100 AD.

After that, we all needed a sandwich... fast. We were all getting hangry and turned into a diner with a packed parking lot (usually a good sign). They had good poboys that you could get a half of, but double the meat. Here's mom's overstuffed oyster poboy.

We also toured a rice mill in town and the start of the show had to be the factory cat. She knew how to get what she wanted.

While a the rice mill, the tour guide told us about crawfish fields and what to look for. On the way back home, we stopped to see what they were all about. 

And no trip through Baton Rouge is complete without a trip to Trader Joe's. My pantry was very happy.