I had really great intentions to workout this morning so snuck out of the hotel room and down to the fitness center in our hotel. Spent 10 minutes trying to operate either of the two treadmills for a quick run with no luck. By the time I finished that I only had 10 minutes before it was time to awaken the rest of the family. So I jumped on the elliptical trainer for 10 minutes while I watched the QVC channel (I couldn't operate the TV and remote either). *sigh*
We ate another delicious breakfast at the hotel (I should have worked out longer) and circled the wagons with the other three families we are traveling with. Soon we were on the road to travel south to Avery Island, Louisiana - home of Tabasco sauce. There is a 150-acre jungle garden and wildlife preserve on the island. It's a bit of a tourist trap but well-worth the $6.25 per person to travel by car through the natural wetlands and swampy areas of the Louisiana backwaters. The boys were thrilled to get within 5-feet of alligators and even fed them some Teddy Grahams! We have lots of photos. The gators ranged in size from 18-inches to over 4-foot long. We also saw snapping turtles with moss on their backs, a black squirrel, many egrets and blue heron, a huge yucky spider and several large (2"+) grasshoppers.
We took photos at the largest, oldest live oak tree on the island, the bird sanctuary, the buddha pagoda and gater pond.
Aunt Amy danced from one fire ant hill to another as they marched up her legs and bit her in several places. Grammy had Benedryl that she applied to the bites right away, which helped remove the sting.
The men toured the Tabasco plant while the ladies shopped at the country store which included just about anything you can imagine, everything had the Tabasco logo on it. I finally found a rice cooker cookbook! It has several recipes with Tabasco sauce as the ingredient but also rice, soup and pasta recipes. I didn't need another cookbook but it's a guilty pleasure! I also bought a great CD with authentic cajun and zydeco music on it. We kept our toes tapping in the car this afternoon. I wish I knew how to two-step. Then again, I can't even master the chicken dance!
Then we began our trek back north. We've already logged over 1,300 miles in four days! The boys rode with Grandpa and Grandma for most of the drive today.
A few hours of driving brought us to Bass Pro Shop, just north of Baton Rouge. Corbin was in his glory as Ben took him through the store (which I think is nicer than Cabela's!) and spent some time with him picking out a new fishing pole and bait. He finally found his Banjo Minnow kit! We took several photos throughout the store, especially at the live fish tank. Uncle John says Corbin is going to be an outdoorsman for sure. When we asked Corbin what he was going to do when he grew up (because outdoor hobbies cost a lot of money!) he said he was going to go around and collect money from people for popsicles. hmph...
We drove another four hours and turned in for the night in a nice Holiday Inn in Grenada, Mississippi. We decided to order in pizza and eat it around the outdoor pool while the boys swam but the pool was closed! It closed at 8 p.m. It was 8:30 p.m. So all 11 of us walked to Shoney's for a greasy meal.
Tomorrow is a big day, we'll drive 100 miles north to the Memphis Zoo and spend the day there. From there the plan is undetermined...
No comments:
Post a Comment