Hot Sauce
Avery Island - Home to Tabasco & Jungle Gardens
Nothing says Louisiana like hot sauce, so the place to go is Avery Island, home to Tabasco. Avery Island is actually a salt dome that rises above the flat Louisiana landscape. The island is named after the family that settled there. Later, Edmund McIlhenny married into the Avery family and began producing Tabasco sauce on the island.
The island is open to visitors and for a small fee you can take a self-guided Tabasco factory walking tour. While it is called a factory tour, you do not actually go into the factory, though some stops have a window view into the factory. The stops on the tour include a museum that explains the history, a small green house showing some various pepper plants, salt dome diorama, and a view into the warehouses and more. In total there are 8 stops plus a country store (with free tasting samples of different varieties of Tabasco) and a restaurant.
Self-guided tour direction sign
pepper plant
aging barrels covered with salt
Not listed on the tour directions, but well worth the detour, is a grove of bamboo. It has a short path through very tall bamboo. The path makes a loop through the bamboo and only adds a couple of extra minutes of walking.
bamboo grove
While most people come to Avery Island to learn about Tabasco, you don’t want to leave without also visiting Jungle Gardens. The gardens are included in your admission fee at the Tabasco Visitor center. The garden is a drive through area (though one spot does have height restrictions if in a bus or RV) with plenty of stops to get out and explore including some short walking paths. If you download the app travelstorygps, you are able to have a narrated self-guided tour with the use of your cell phone. There are many stops along the way including the Buddha, the sunken garden, and the Bird city (a rookery of Egrets) to name a few.
Buddha house
Cleveland Oak tree
Egret inflight by the rookery
You definitely want to take your time and explore, you never know what you might see.
Alligator
Ribbon snake
Ribbon snake
You can visit the Tabasco factory and Jungle Gardens in either order, and most people usually do the factory first. We chose to go to the gardens first as there were several school trips at the factory when we arrived. You probably want to wait and make your decision on the crowds upon your arrival. Tickets can be purchased online or at the visitor center.