I would like to start off with a big thanks to a couple of awesome bloggy friends - Michelle @
Ms. enPlace and Marguerite @
Cajun Delights. They were so helpful with suggestions and links. I think we did almost everything they sent! We left a day early and stopped in Beaumont for the night, headed for New Iberia. This allowed us to arrive at our destination early without leaving home before the crack of dawn. Headed down I-10 we spotted a sign for the Gator Chateau.
We had to pull off and hold a baby gator!
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See if you can spot the thief!
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From here we headed a bit further until we got hungry. I don't remember the name of the little town we were in but we ended up at the Boudin King. We both opted for their seafood plate.
4 Fried Shrimp, 1 Stuffed Shrimp, Catfish Fillets and Fries - not bad for only $8! We arrived in New Iberia around 1 and luckily the hotel was able to accommodate an early check-in. We got our stuff unpacked and headed out for Avery Island. We toured the Tabasco Plant, bought a few things at their store and headed over to Jungle Gardens.
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| Gator 1 |
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| Gator 2 |
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| Closer Pic of Gator 2 |
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| The Boat House |
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| Bird City |
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| Survey Tree |
That evening we headed out to Landry's - Not The Chain - Cajun, Seafood and Steakhouse! Since it was Friday they had there Grand Buffet going.
The food was awesome and there was plenty of it! Then back to the hotel to relax for the night. Wow, what a first day! The next morning we decided to head to McGee's Landing for a swamp tour. We called ahead and reserved a spot on their 1pm tour. We arrived around 11:30 so that we would have plenty of time to enjoy lunch. We ordered an appetizer of stuffed jalapenos. We expected the typical jalapeno stuffed with cream cheese, what we got were jalapenos filled with this amazing stuffing that included crab and all sorts of yummy spices, then breaded and fried!
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| Gator Shaped Fries |
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| Sign Outside McGees |
We then shared a Seafood Platter which included stuffed shrimp, grilled shrimp, grilled gator, grilled catfish, another type of shrimp, fries and a hushpuppy. Every place we went the food was sooo good we said we'd go back, but didn't make it back because we had so many other places we wanted to try, lol. Now, with full bellies and happy hearts we headed out to tour the swamp!
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| Our Guide |
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| Old Train Bridge |
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| I-10 Bridge - Second Longest in America |
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Duck Blind
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After the tour we headed to Lafayette to visit the Festival Internatiional de Louisiane! We wandered around listening to music and people watching for a bit. Then we were off again, headed south - just driving, enjoying the scenery. After a nice long drive we headed back to the hotel, to relax and just hang out. We didn't feel like going back out so ordered Papa John's, we don't have a Papa John's in Brownwood so this was a treat for us! Thus ended day two and with that I will end this post!
Shared with:
Cute baby gators! I'm so glad you enjoyed yourselves, Terry. And I'm happy you got to tour Avery Island. It's something I've always wanted to do, but never have. Maybe a staycation is called for?!
ReplyDeleteLove your pics.
When he was little, my son got the biggest kick out of those gator fries.
Can't wait for Part 2!
Loved the jungle gardens. Really neat, they'd be worth the trip.
DeleteLooks like you had a great time! Wow, ya'll really packed it in! So glad that you went to the Atchafalaya Basin. It's one of my favorite places and I end up there quite often. And the food, well it is FAB, isn't it? LOL Looking forward to Part 2! Cheers, cher!
ReplyDeleteThe first two days were our busiest, we slowed it down the rest of the week. It was awesome! My husband thinks he would like to live there now, lol.
DeleteI am enjoying your photos and will have to return to really spend time going through them. Now, I have to get to work. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWill have more pics on part 2 soon.
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