We started the day by doing something we planned to do the day before. We went to Avery Island (http://www.tabasco.com/avery-island/) where they make Tabasco sauce. It was only about 20 minutes from our hotel.
When we got there, we drove over by the Tabasco factory. The smell of the Tabasco was overpowering first thing in the morning. They offer tours (for a fee), but we decided to explore the Jungle Gardens instead. The Jungle Gardens (http://www.junglegardens.org) are are set on 170 acres alongside Hayes Coulee.
We drove through a stand of Spanish moss covered Live Oak trees that are hundreds of years old. They provide natural air conditioning as the breeze blows through the leaves.
We stopped at a Marsh trail and walked for a bit. We saw a small snake in the water, and as we walked further, Sarah spotted a water moccasin next to the trail. We almost turned around, but the snake went into the marsh. On the way back, the snake was in the same spot again. Once again, it went into the marsh. We also spotted an alligator in the water. We almost did not see it, it was so well camouflaged.

We left Avery Island and headed to the Marriott Courtyard in Houma. It was a pretty long drive to Houma. We drove through Morgan City in St. Mary Parish. That city and that parish are my least favorite places in coastal Louisiana. When I worked down there the people in Morgan City were nice to me as long as they thought I had money to give them. When they found out we did not have grant money, they were actually quite rude. I know I should not judge the entire Parish by a few people, but these were the leaders of the Parish, and their actions left a bad taste in my mouth. It has been 20 years, and it still bugs me.
When we got to Houma, we checked into our hotel and brought in the luggage. Then we drove down to Cocodrie along Grand Caillou. We stopped at Ceana’s Cajun Cooking for lunch. It was another great fried feast. Sarah had a shrimp po-boy, Kate had a catfish po-boy, and I had a bowl of chicken and sausage gumbo.

Yesterday it was fun to see where we used to live and work, but today was much more interesting. We drove through part of the Creole Nature Trail (creolenaturetrail.org) starting south of Sulphur. We drove through Hackberry and into the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge.
Our first stop was a small recreation area where people were fishing. There was not much to see there, but Sarah got a chance to see some open water and a lot of marsh.

The next stop was the Blue Goose Trail. There was an observation deck at the trail head where you could see miles of marsh. We walked to the end of the trail and back. The only wildlife we saw were a couple of rabbits and a snake.

​Our next stop was the Wetland Walkway. It was about a 1.5 mile trail through the marsh. Part of it was on a boardwalk built out over the marsh. This walk is where we saw our first alligators. Most of them were pretty small, no more than three feet. We also saw a turtle and a small snake.

​Near the end of the trail, we saw a big alligator. It was at least 8 feet long, probably more like 10 feet. Fortunately it was on the other side of a small bayou so we were able to see it from a safe distance.
At the very end of the trail, we saw an older couple looking at birds. They had spotted a scarlet tanager and were very excited about it. We told them about the big alligator just a little ways down the trail. They were not interested in alligators, only birds.

​From there, we went down to Holly Beach. It looks very different than it did 18 years ago. Hurricane Rita pretty much destroyed everything there. From the looks of it, they just started from scratch.
Holly Beach was one of the communities where I did an economic valuation of infrastructure 18 years ago for the Coast 2050 report. I drove around, took pictures and did an inventory of the infrastructure including roads and power lines. When I was there, the streets were numbered, 1st, 2nd, etc. There had been so much erosion, 1st and 2nd street no longer existed. All of the homes had washed into the Gulf.
Today, the streets are named after birds. There is a large beach providing buffer between the Gulf and the homes. And, many of the homes are quite nice. When I was there before, most of the places were either small shacks or trailers up on pylons.

As we drove down the beach road toward Cameron, we saw miles of snow fence that was placed to help build sand dunes. They have done a lot there to make things better, but there are still no trash cans on the beach.

We drove on to the Cameron Ferry. Even after all these years, they have still not built a bridge. You can only cross the shipping channel by car ferry. When we arrived, there was a delivery truck waiting to cross. The ferry began loading the cars and the driver came out to talk with the crew. He was upset because he could not take the ferry across. Apparently, the normal ferry had been damaged, and the ferry they were using that day was smaller. It could not accommodate the truck. It was interesting to see a little drama as we waited to cross.
The ferry ride is less than ten minutes, maybe even less than five, but it is the only way to get across. The truck driver was going to have to drive two hours out of his way to make his delivery.
​We found a little restaurant in Cameron called Anchors Up Grill. It was very good. Sarah and I had shrimp po-boys, and Kate had a catfish po-boy. We also got an order of fries and an order of onion rings.

From Cameron, we drove to Creole to find a couple of cemeteries with Sarah’s biological ancestors. The first cemetery was attached to Sacred Heart Catholic Church. The church itself was quite interesting. The bell tower had four gargoyles, one on each corner. We were able to find most of the graves that were there. I also saw a place where they buried eight unidentified victims of Hurricane Audrey in 1956. That part was sad.
The next cemetery was the Chenier Perdue Cemetery. We did not have an address for it, just a general area. We stopped at a little store in Creole to see if anyone knew where it was. When we told the woman we were looking for the Chenier Perdue Cemetery, she said, “You are not! That’s where I live.” She was able to give us excellent directions directly to the cemetery. She also told us how to pronounce Sarah’s ancestor. It is spelled Baccigalopi. We were pronouncing it Bass’ i gu lo’ pee. She said it is pronounced Bass’ u gal’ upee.
On the way to the cemetery, there was a marsh and a ditch alongside the road on the passenger side. There were a lot of nutria in the ditch. Sarah was very excited, because she had never seen nutria. Unfortunately, she was not able to get a photo of them.
At the cemetery, Sarah found many of the graves she and Kate wanted to find including Bartholomew Bassigalopi. (He was the original, and the tombstone was spelled with “ss” instead of “cc.”) Bartholomew came to Louisiana as a stowaway on board a ship (probably a pirate ship) in the early 1800’s. The captain got mad at young Bart and threw him overboard along the coast of what is now Cameron Parish. Bart swam ashore and was found by a local family who let him move in with them.

​When we finished looking around the cemetery, we headed to New Iberia. We had planned to go to Avery Island (where they make Tabasco), but it was too late, so we headed to the hotel. The GPS took us down a gravel road for about eight miles before we connected back to the main road. We had to drive slowly, but it was a very pretty drive. Marsh and small bayou were visible most of the way. We saw hundreds of birds in the marsh and the bayou. We also saw quite a few small alligators.
We got to the main road and headed to New Iberia. The route took us through miles of rural roads. It also took us through Abbeville. It would have been nice to spend some time exploring Abbeville. It is a beautiful old town. However, that will have to wait for another time.
By the time we got to the Hampton Inn in New Iberia, we were all pretty tired. We looked for a restaurant close by and found a Vietnamese restaurant. We all love Vietnamese food. Sarah ordered a pho (soup) with shrimp and crab. Kate and I split a grilled shrimp Bun. It is a salad made with rice vermicelli, bean sprouts, lettuce, and other veggies. The dressing is made with fish sauce, oil, and peppers. We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner! It was not cajun, but it was a wonderful treat we have not had in a long time.