Places We’ve Been – Page 29 – Keep Up With The Joneses

Tabasco Factory Tour

November 24, 2018 Anna Comments 0 Comment

We spent a sunny afternoon visiting Avery Island and learning all about how Tabasco hot sauce is made. We started out with a yummy lunch in the Tabasco Cafe with, of course all the dishes had Tabasco in them. Our tour began in the Tabasco Museum where we learned all about the McIlhenny family and the history of the world renowned and earliest recognized hot sauce. The McIlhennys moved to Avery Island and began producing Tabasco sauce there since 1868. The family still runs the environmentally friendly production and keeps the island as a natural habitat.

We learned a lot about peppers, aging and storing. We could smell the peppers and the aged whiskey barrels in the storage area. Peppers are mashed and mixed with salt then aged in used Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey white oak barrels for 3 years. After that the mash is strained to remove seeds and skins then the remainder is blended with vinegar and periodically stirred for a month in huge vats. Feel the burn in the air!

We were lucky to be touring on a day the production line was busy bottling several varieties of Tabasco. The end of the tour was the gift shop with a Tabasco tasting area. Feel the burn! We left with a new appreciation for Tabasco, along with several bottles and a t-shirt. Enjoy our pictures below.

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Swamp Tour

November 22, 2018 Anna Comments 1 comment

While staying in Lafayette, LA we went on a swamp tour. Definitely something on my bucket list! We chose a small family run business called Champagne Cajun Swamp Tours on historic Lake Martin in Breaux Bridge, LA. On a rare clear day while we were here, we enjoyed the drive thru the historic area with french creole names on about everything, soggy fields of tall sugar canes and muddy swamp land everywhere. The landscape is so different from the rocky, rugged Texas hill country covered in cactus, oaks and cedar trees we are used to.

Our tour guide was Bryan Champagne. He and his wife have been running the tours for 20 years. When we were chatting before the tour he told me he also manages 600 crawfish cages which he baits, catches and sells to local restaurants, when the price is right! He has guided many documentary and international television crews, etc. thru these swamps and been written up in several travel magazines. Also about the big gator that lives around the dock and how dogs are his food of choice. He says in his lazy cajun accent, “I can jump in do boat repairs no problem but if a dog jumps in he grabs him right away don’t ya know.” Glad we didn’t see that!

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Pontchartrain Landing

November 15, 2018 Anna Comments 2 comments

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Site Quality: Gravel roads with gravel pads. There were both pull thru and back in spots.
Type: Commercial
Access:  Take exit 239A (Almonaster Blvd E) off I-10 and go to France Rd. Left on France Rd and the park is on the right in about 1.5 miles. France road goes through an industrial area and it was very rough with potholes and puddles.
Staff:  All staff we met were friendly but the office area stayed quite busy.
Amenities: Full hookups, swimming pool and hot tub, laundry, bath house and restrooms.
Cellular/WiFi:  AT&T and Verizon 2 bars without amplification. Data rates were pretty good on both.
What we liked: Buddy sites. Great restaurant on site with live music on Friday and Saturday nights. Clean showers. Good store with a variety of items. Seemed safe although the security gates in and out of the park remained open throughout our stay. Shuttle service provided to and from the French Quarter for a small fee.
What we didn’t like: It rained before and during our stay and there were large puddles and mud everywhere. The park is in an industrial area which wasn’t very pretty. Some night time noise from nearby train tracks and a busy non-commercial airport.

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Escapees Rainbow’s End

November 7, 2018 Jerry Comments 2 comments

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Location: Livingston, Texas
Site Quality: Asphalt roads with gravel pads. There are both pull thru and back in spots. More than half are 50A with the remaining being 30A. Each site has a picnic table.
Type: Commercial
Access:  From Livingston go South on 146 about 8 miles to the park. The turn on to 146 is a bit tight.
Staff:  All staff we met was friendly and will go out of their way to help.
Amenities: Full hookups, swimming pool, laundry (2), bath house and restrooms (2). There is also a dump station and dog park on site.
Cellular/WiFi:  AT&T and Verizon 4 bars even without amplification. We got about 6 Mbps on AT&T and Verizon although I was getting 21 Mbps on my cell phone. The data from the Mobley and MiFi was a bit intermittent even when connecting directly to them.
What we liked: This is where our mail service is located so getting mail was convenient. Lots of daily activities including movies. Pull thru sites were long and roomy. Lots of full timers here – some with really nice trucks!
What we didn’t like: Not the prettiest of settings although there are a lot of trees around the edges. For a weekly rate with 50A and a premium site the price was only about $27 per day so that made up for it.

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Cedar Breaks COE

October 30, 2018 Jerry Comments 2 comments

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Location: Georgetown, Texas
Site Quality: Asphalt roads and pads. Each site has a covered picnic table, grill and fire ring.
Type: COE
Access:  From Interstate 35 in Georgetown take either Highway 29 or Williams Dr. West to DB Woods Rd. Go South from Williams Dr. or North from Highway 29 to Cedar Breaks Rd. then go West into the park.
Staff:  We had good experience with the park attendants which was a relief since there was an encounter with a park attendant that went viral on Youtube just after we booked the reservation. The person involved is no longer associated with the park.
Amenities: Water and Electric only, bath house and restrooms.
Cellular/WiFi:  AT&T and Verizon 4 bars even without amplification. We got about 8 Mbps on AT&T and 8.5 Mbps Mbps on Verizon.
What we liked: Pretty, well kept park surrounded by lots of cedar trees, with lots of space between most sites which helped with privacy.
What we didn’t like: No sewer hookups. Cedar trees drop sap in the spring but unlike pine sap cedar sap can be washed off.
Nearby Parks: Jim Hogg COE – A nice alternative to Cedar Breaks if not just a bit farther to Round Rock where our doctors and friends are. Might be a good choice for the April/May visit as we could probably get a site that isn’t below cedar trees that drop sap. Good sites for us: Lower loop (50A sites) – 2, 4, 6, 12, 17, 22, 26, 28, 30, 34, 36, 40, 42, 44, 47; also sites 66 and 76 might be ok. Upper loop (30A sites) – 88, 89, 94, 97, 106, 116, 118, 126, and 142. Sites 105, 127 and 129 also might be ok. The top loop sites should only be selected as a last resort.