After an hour in the office, we took off for Avery Island and the Tabasco Factory and Basin Landing in hopes of beating the odds seeing gators. The Tabasco Factory is always fun, but we ended up doing the tour with a busload of tourists from France, and our Tabasco guide was more interested in the Frenchman who was interpreting than what she was supposed to tell us. Good thing we've done this at least 4 times so we could fill in the missing pieces. Today's Tabasco was being bottled for South Africa--one of over 100 countries that sells Tabasco. I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but this is the only bottling factory in the world.
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| 1-Bronson and Arlene (Is the 12 year old son supposed to be 6" taller than his mom?) 2-Ryan inspecting the product 3-Bronson enjoying the labeling process 4-A few of the Tabasco products. My personal favorite is Raspberry Tabasco with Sweet and Spicy running a close second. |
When we made our reservations for the swamp tour a few weeks ago, we knew that the possibility of seeing the alligators at this time of the year was slim. But the weather's been cool to warm without freezing so we were keeping our fingers crossed. Usually they're hibernating in their dens by now, but today we hit the Jackpot! Some of the young 'uns had been pushed out of the den by mama gator, so about 12 - 1 1/2 year olds were hanging out together in an area of vegetation with their 4 year old big brother watching them.
Next stop was by one of the dens where there must've bee 20-25 babies born in the spring. This isn't a great picture, but there are at least 6 little gators one the band. Some of them are black with little yellow stripes.Tucker, our favorite guide, was kind enough to hang out at both locations to allow us time to watch the happenings. Bronson was so happy--not only with the alligators, but also with the spiders, ladybugs, frogs, and anything else he could get his hands on. (That doesn't include the gators.) Gavin sat up by Captain Tucker and assumed the role as co-captain. We all had a good laugh while we were watching the gators and Gavin hit the horn. Capt. T said Gav jumped about 2 feet out of his seat.
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| The basin looks more like a spooky swamp this time of year. There's a lot of gray trees and Spanish moss that makes the whole area look very eerie. |
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| Bronson in his glory--Mother Nature's best friend. He loves all God's creatures, large or small. |
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| I love the root system for the Cypress trees, and some day I fully intend to learn about it, but not tonight! |
Added on Tuesday: The feature that bald cypresses are really known for is their “knees.” This a special kind of root. The technical term for the knees is “pneumatophore,” which means “air bearing.” Pneumatophores grow from horizontal roots just below the surface and protrude upward from the ground or water. Since bald cypresses often grow in swampy conditions, it’s thought that the pneumatophores function to transport air to drowned roots underground. They also might help to anchor the tree.
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| Gavin, the Co-Captain |
When we made our reservations for the swamp tour a few weeks ago, we knew that the possibility of seeing the alligators at this time of the year was slim. But the weather's been cool to warm without freezing so we were keeping our fingers crossed. Usually they're hibernating in their dens by now, but today we hit the Jackpot! Some of the young 'uns had been pushed out of the den by mama gator, so about 12 - 1 1/2 year olds were hanging out together in an area of vegetation with their 4 year old big brother watching them. 
Next stop was by one of the dens where there must've bee 20-25 babies born in the spring. This isn't a great picture, but there are at least 6 little gators one the band. Some of them are black with little yellow stripes.Tucker, our favorite guide, was kind enough to hang out at both locations to allow us time to watch the happenings. Bronson was so happy--not only with the alligators, but also with the spiders, ladybugs, frogs, and anything else he could get his hands on. (That doesn't include the gators.) Gavin sat up by Captain Tucker and assumed the role as co-captain. We all had a good laugh while we were watching the gators and Gavin hit the horn. Capt. T said Gav jumped about 2 feet out of his seat. 
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