In addition to being the home of Tabasco, Avery Island is home to Jungle Gardens, a 170-acre semitropical garden that stretches along Bayou Petite Anse. Jungle Gardens was created by Edward Avery “Ned” McIlhenny. Born on Avery Island in 1872, Ned was an arctic explorer, naturalist and conservationist.
Today, Kathy & I are in Lafayette, Louisiana where we toured the Tabasco plant in Avery Island and took a swamp tour, then capped off the day with a visit to a roadhouse with Cajun music and fresh seafood. Louisiana is an interesting place!
This past Friday, Kathy & I visited the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. While there we toured various NASA facilities including the Control Room at the Payload Operations Integration Center at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. This is where all of the communication with the International Space Station regarding the payload and experiments takes place. It was very interesting to see.
While we were there, the astronauts aboard the space station were returning from a space walk. We were able to see live video of them returning to the ISS through the airlock and beginning the process of removing their suits. Quite an unexpected treat!
Kathy and I are currently roughing it on Symphony of the Seas, at this time the largest cruise ship afloat. A couple of weeks at sea doesn’t suck!
Photos when we return home.
Kathy & I are in Florida for a few days trying to escape the (relative) cold of home. We’re currently in Captiva Island waiting out a wet and windy day. But I’m not looking for sympathy – even at a chilly 62 degrees it’s a lot warmer here than at home, and even warmer than those of you farther north!
Getting close to the end of this visit, probably the best sunset so far, other than the one with the boats. Toss-up….
This one is for my buddy Monte – wishing nothing but the best for his upcoming adventure. Hoping for no complications and a complete and speedy recovery! 🙂
A little chilly and windy today, so we stayed close to the ground. Not Ohio or Minnesota chilly – 50’s – but chilly for the beach. 😉