The next morning we enjoyed our breakfast in the shade by the fountain in the courtyard, while we planned our day.

Cuz: We watched other guests of the Cornstalk peer at us from the behind the curtains of their rooms... we had the only spot of shade in the yard and they WANTED their breakfast bad. We Yankees do tend to dawdle.

We are leaving New Orleans today, but before we go... we wanted to see the Aquarium of the Americas. Gypsy LOVES to see fish!

This is a magnificent aquarium... not the the biggest, but surely one of the best. We loved the sea horses and jelly fish especially. And we got to pet a shark. They look soft and cuddly, but they feel like icy sand paper. Not soft and definately not cuddly!

We are off down the highway.... adjusting our itinerary as we go to account for the fact that so many places are closed on a Monday. We're flexible.

We arrive in Morgan City to visit Brownell Park and Carillon Tower. Luckily for us, just as we arrive the chimes start to play and play and play. It was great. I wish I had an audio of this for you to enjoy; but I haven't so don't bother looking for one. You will have to use your imagination.

On the trail we found some immense spiders in webs in the trees. Boy they were huge.. big as your palm. We don't have anything like this at home! While Gypsy was standing with her mouth open watching the spiders, about a million ants attacked her foot. Boy! That Gypsy sure can dance!

Next we visited Avery Island to learn all about Tabasco Sauce. You probably think there is nothing to learn about Tabasco, don't you? One of the most impressive things we learned there was how expensive their gift shop was. They did give us a teeny tiny little bottle of sauce, though.

Gypsy tried all sorts of samples of Tabasco products... whoever knew there were so many kinds of hot sauces made there... wow... SO many. Later, Gypsy would pay for this folly; but that is another story.

Our next stop was Shadows on the Teche. A lovely old sugar plantation home. This home, fortunately, was left intact to the National Historic Trust. What a treasure it is. Gypsy really learned something here... She always thought a bayou was a swamp. But a "swamp" is a swamp. A "bayou" is a river. Gypsy was amazed at her own ignorance. Oh come on, now... stop snickering; YOU aren't all that smart, either!

Next on our list of things to see was the Konrico Rice Mill. We have never seen a rice mill so this was another interesting stop. We watched rice being milled and packaged. And these places are very good about allowing you to browse in their gift shops and spend as much money as you want. Gypsy sorta wanted to buy some of the rice blend products... but didn't know what they were like... and was confused as to what to buy... so the heck with it... let's go on to the next stop.

Ah...one of the highlights of our trip. Rayne, Louisiana, The Frog Capital of the World. Really! I don't make this stuff up. I think they really did catch frogs for market.. and this place is famous also as the setting of a Saturn commercial. That's what I read... I never saw the commercial, myself. Interestingly, Rayne was originally named Poupville, and I am not going to touch that one! However, the thing that really tweeked our interest was the frog murals.

They are everywhere. They were not as "everywhere" as I had been led to believe from my research... but nevertheless... they were there to be found. Yes, we liked them. Yes, we were even impressed. Yes, it fit well into our "funk and junk" travel format.

Here, now, was the Longfellow-Evangeline State Historical Site... where they had an old Cajun cottage furnished in period as well as a lovely museum. All these old places are so nicely restored... and quite livable... well, running water would be an asset. Bill, our guide, enjoyed giving us the tour and afterwards we all sat in rocking chairs and discussed life and times in those days. Bill needed a little smartening-up there on historical women's issues and lifestyles. He was a great guide and had interesting insights on the people of those times... none of which Gypsy necessarily agreed with.

In Lafayette we visited the Alexandre Mouton House. This is a real gem. Yes.. we want to live here too!! We just can't help ourselves. This lovely home was slated to be destroyed but fortunately was saved by twenty-four determined women of Lafayette. They purchased the house and oversaw the restoration. Ladies, we don't know who you are... but we thank you for your dedication.

Next we saw Vermillionville, by the side of Bayou Vermillion. This is a restored and reconstructed Cajun village, a living history museum. A lovely old Cajun lady in costume took us on a tour of the houses. Some of the homes had demonstrations... the first we saw was a spinning demonstration. We got to see exactly how the mechanics of the spinning wheel worked.... and got to practice our cotton carding. Gypsy needed a lot more practice than she got!

We learned that there is a local brown cotton grown... (but not widely as it cross pollinates with the white hybrid crop cotton)... that does not need to be dyed. Imagine how popular THAT was with these hard working women! The reason that the brown cotton isn't grown commercially is because it has a short fiber and we all know what that means... fabric pills.

We also learned about some of the natural items that were used to dye the cotton, like nut shells, onions, indigo, and lichen. Hmmm... this gives me some ideas.. I wonder how colorfast that stuff is?

Here they had a sweet one-eyed kitty that Gypsy petted. Oops! The cat attached itself to Gypsy's ankle and had to be smacked off... but it just came back for more. You know what happens once an animal tastes human blood; perhaps Gypsy tastes like Tabasco. Poor leg... it and its foot have been scraped, blistered, bitten, scratched, and punctured. Will it suvrvive the trip?

At another house, we see a cooking demonstration. Costumed black ladies... wearing bandanas... cooking in huge black pots over an open fire. Yum... tasty stuff, too. I wish I could take one of these ladies home.

Before we leave Vermillionville, we stop in for a cooking lesson at the Cajun Cooking School. Another first. Well, this Cajun cooking looks pretty easy... and the food was sure great. In fact, Gypsy and the Cuz had so many samples of some sort of corn stuff that we didn't need any lunch. That worked out well.

In the town of Jennings, we visited the W.H.Tupper Museum. This was a hoot. All the inventroy of a general store was packed away when the store closed in the 40s. Then recently, it was all unpacked and set up again as a store museum. This was a lot of fun... since we are old enough... just barely... to remember some of these items. There was also a telephone museum attached, and we raced through that in a hurry... telephone museums are so boring. Cuz didn't even stop to read the plaques.