After the drive from Austin to Lafayette, it was time to stay put for a little bit. My uncle was going to show me around the area. We started our morning with eggs, bacon, and sweet potato pancakes.
The bacon was homemade by my uncle from venison that he hunted. It was very lean and meaty. It had a good flavor to it. The sweet potato pancakes were Bruce's. Bruce's is made around the corner in New Iberia, LA.
After eating, we went outside to plan the day. The dogs ran around a little bit as we talked.
The clouds looked kind of like there was supposed to be rain, but it cleared up fast.
The weather itself was pretty nice!
It was definitely warmer than Austin!
My uncle and I soon hit the road. We drove down some of the narrow roads and took in the scenery.
All this driving made us thirsty. Our first stop of the day was Parish Brewing Company.
I decided to get a Cane Brake. This was one of the best wheat beers I've had! I'm really hoping they bring it to Texas.
After having a couple beers and touring the brewery, it was time to hit the road again. Our next stop was going to be Avery Island, the place where Tobasco is made. There were several billboards along the way advertising it.
Since it is on an island, it is prone to flooding. As we got closer to it, we saw a lot of houses on stilts.
We made it to the guard shack and then drove inside. We headed towards the plant so we could take a tour.
We parked and then went inside to get our tickets to take the tour.
After the tour of the Tabasco plant, we headed over to the Jungle Gardens and Bird City. This is the conservation area of Avery Island.
Once we got done checking out Jungle Gardens, we hit the road.
We headed to a place called Rip Van Winkle Gardens. This is another scenic area that my cousin Amber got married at.
The drive through Rip Van Winkle Gardens was quick. We were soon back on the road again.
I got to see some oil wells tucked in the scenery.
We then headed past an area referred to as "Lawyer Row." Every single billboard was an advertisement for some sort of lawyer.
Lawyer Row wasn't too much of a tourist attraction, so we headed back to my uncle's house. We cracked a beer and sat outside. The weather was really nice!
The dogs must have played a ton while we were gone. They were pretty much zonked out.
Later that night, we hit the road to get something to eat.
We stopped at a pizza joint called JJ's Pizza.
After chowing down on shrimp queso and all the great pizza offerings JJ's had, we headed over to my cousin Shannon's house. From there we hung out a bit and had a couple more beers. My uncle had some quality Grandpa-Granddaughter time with Isabella, Shannon's daughter.
Their favorite song to sing together is The Ballad of Curtis Loew by Lynyrd Skynyrd. They sung it loud and proud for us.
After visiting for a while, it was time to go back to my uncle's and get a good night's rest.
We stayed up and talked a bit and then I went to bed. The next day I'd be hitting the road and heading further east.