Sort of another busy day here at work--happens sometimes...anyway, had a chance to browse the internets before cutting out of here, and came across this Pravda article about the McIlhenny Company, which makes Tabasco out at Avery Island...which is, oh, about ten miles or so from where I grew up.
The "island" is the raised ground off in the distance. No, that's not the view from my house, but it's damn close to being the view from where I worked one of my very first paying jobs: loading hay bales onto flatbed carts as a teenager. If I remember right, I made almost a hundred bucks, woo-hoo, and experienced any number of genuine hayrides.
Anyway, the article notes that the Tabasco plant came awfully close to being put out of commission...by Hurricane Rita, which caused unprecedented flooding. Fortunately, the water stopped rising about four inches below the factory floor.
As a kid, I remember seeing the old plant--a beautiful, white-washed stucco structure, and in my mind I can still taste and smell the eye-watering, almost-strong-enough-to-pass-out aroma in one of the aging rooms. Yow.
Avery Island is also home to Jungle Gardens/Bird City, a small nature trail that has local and exotic flora and fauna. Near the end of the trail is a small lagoon: in season, you can see alligators. Or, if you prefer, this is available for viewing year-round:
The Buddha statue and glass case/small pagoda, surrounded by live oaks with spanish moss.
Unfortunately, pictures really don't capture the genuinely stunning beauty...and of course, miss completely the sounds, textures, smells, the overall atmosphere, and so on. There's a certain, well, I don't know...
Oh, and then you've got things like salt, oil, agriculture, fishing, etc. A beautiful region that's also a working region.
This is what Gulf Coast naysayers are all too willing to chunk out with the garbage. Damn.
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