It’s still the Gulf of Mexico to us!

Our Harvest Host in Saskatoon, SK (oh, that was such a long time ago!) recommended we visit southern Texas, rather than hanging our hats for a month or two somewhere in Florida. “Everything is cheaper in the towns along the Texas Gulf Coast,” he said. “The weather is beautiful, and the sights are, too!” Well, why not?

He was right… the Texas coast on the Gulf of Mexico is beautiful. With only a hint of what was to come, we took the ferry to Mustang Island and drove through the seaside town of Port Aransas (or Port A, as the locals call it) along a road carved through sand dunes, arriving at the long stretch of sandy white Port Aransas Beach.

We marvelled at the views - 18 miles of uninterrupted shoreline - as we drove along Beach Road. Never mind the views, the road was fascinating in itself. It was just like any road you would drive on, but it was “paved” in hard-packed sand! Okay, no stop lights, or even stop signs, but very busy with traffic - cars, trucks, motorhomes, bikes, pedestrians, and of course, ATV’s. (Because everyone who lives on the beach in Texas drives an ATV.)

The really cool thing about the beach at Port Aransas, is that if you have an RV or trailer, you can camp for up to three nights at a time. You need to purchase a permit, which was only $12 USD, but you can pull up pretty much anywhere right on the beach! It wasn’t very busy, as the weather was rather  cold (and rainy), so we had the beach almost to ourselves for two nights.

Our 'campsite' for two nights!

Good day for flying kites at the beach!

Cute little 'Chapel on the Dunes' built in 1938

Murals in the chapel depict stories from the Old Testament

Yarn bombing the bollards at Port Aransas Beach

Cotton Pickin’, or is that Pickin’ Cotton?

Throughout our travels in the south, we noticed large fields of ripe cotton. Autumn is harvesting time, and there was cotton everywhere - it looked a bit like snow on the side of the road from excess falling off the trucks as they drove away from the fields.

Cotton ready for picking

A standard bale of cotton weighs about 480 pounds

Throughout the southern states, cotton is king - it’s one of the largest growing crops in the country, and the USA is the third largest cotton producer in the world.

In Texas, cotton is a really big deal. Texas produces more cotton than any other state, and it’s been that way for a really, really long time.

We decided to take a detour to Burton, a small town (population 282) about 90 minutes west of Houston, to visit the oldest working cotton gin in North America - originally built in 1914 - and  learn how cotton is processed. (By the way, ’gin’ is short for ‘engine’.)

'Lady B' - the Burton cotton gin

Sadly, we did not get to see the cotton gin in action. “Lady B”, as the engine that runs the mill is fondly called, is now only started up once a year during the Burton Cotton Festival in the spring. However, we did learn a lot about cotton and cotton processing. I found it interesting that nothing of the cotton boll goes to waste - the lint is used to make fabric and other cotton products, the seeds are pressed for food grade oils used in many household items, and the bur (the outside shell) is used as a natural fertilizer.

The Burton Cotton Gin facility

The Battery is where the cotton lint is pulled off the seed by saw blades

The Condenser presses the cotton lint into a bat, or bale

A home-sized version of the cotton gin

Cotton lint naturally comes in many colours

So many uses for the cotton plant!

That evening, we stayed at a nearby Harvest Host - an Alpaca farm! We had a brief lesson from the friendly owner on breeding and raising Alpacas and how to harvest their fleece to make wool. We even got to visit with the Alpacas. They each had their own personality, just like a dog or a cat! And did you know many farmers also keep donkeys? Donkeys scare the coyotes away and prevent loss of livestock. Who knew?!

Alpaca fleece - it was so soft!

The farm had miniature goats too, that demanded all the attention

Spaced out

Although we’d already been to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida - and thought we’d seen the best - we decided to visit the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas since we were in the area.

We toured the Mission Control Room where history came to life as we listened to the actual recordings of the Apollo crew’s 1969 mission to land on the moon, and watched on the screens  the actual video footage and computer data outputs - exactly what the control room staff would have seen on that day. They did a really good job of recreating the feeling of excitement and pressure that filled the air during that historic launch. 

Mission Control

We walked through some of the astronaut training facilities, and got up close and personal with the Apollo Command Module and the Space Shuttle Atlantis. After viewing some entertaining and informative videos, and visiting numerous interactive displays, we were totally spaced out, but quite impressed with what we had seen. There was even an opportunity to have breakfast with an astronaut, but we didn't arrive early enough.

We had planned to spend just a few hours at the center, but we were there almost the entire day! It was well worth it.

Space Shuttle Atlantis

Canadarm 1

Inside the astronaut training facility

A sewist's table is always messy, even at NASA!

The closest we got to an astronaut

Saucy hot!

 

So, where do you think Tabasco comes from? If you guessed Mexico, you’re wrong! It’s Avery Island in Louisiana, about an hour and a half drive southwest of Baton Rouge. We stopped to tour the production facility, and learned everything we ever wanted to know (and maybe some things we didn’t) about Tabasco.

Here’s some of what we learned:

• Edmund McIlhenny started making Tabasco in 1868 in response to a growing demand for flavourful sauces
• the company is still owned by the McIlhenny family
• Tabasco sauce is made from tabasco peppers - a type of chile pepper
• tabasco peppers are named after the Mexican state they are grown in, not the sauce
• the pepper mash is aged for 3 years in white oak barrels before being made into sauce 
• the mash has a distinctive, somewhat unpleasant, aroma that you can smell throughout the property - yes, it stinks
• it takes 28 days for the blending process, where the pepper mash is mixed with vinegar and salt, and other ingredients (depending on the blend)
• the original Tabasco sauce is made with just three ingredients- aged tabasco peppers, salt, and distilled vinegar
• the salt used in Tabasco sauce comes from the salt mines on Avery Island
• Tabasco is sold in 195 countries around the world
• more than 700,000 bottles of Tabasco are produced EVERY day
• the methods for making Tabasco have not changed much in over 150 years, nor has the recipe

The historic buildings of the Tabasco facility

Pepper mash is aged for three years in oak barrels covered in salt

The mash is transferred to large steel tanks for mixing and further aging

Bottling

It was early in the day - not at 700,000 yet!

Musical Revival at the Dew Drop

 

After satisfying our craving for jazz and New Orleans-style music, we drove north across the 24-mile bridge over Lake Pontchartrain to Mandeville, home to the world’s oldest unaltered jazz hall.

The Dew Drop Jazz & Social Hall might not win any beauty contests—it looks more like a barn on stilts and doesn’t have indoor plumbing or heating—but it’s hard to expect much more from a building built in 1895, the very year traditional jazz was born. Despite its modest appearance, some of jazz’s biggest legends have graced its stage, including Buddie Petit, Buddy Mandalay, and Louis Armstrong.

Today, much like in the past, the Dew Drop’s monthly shows are packed, with standing room only. Inside, there are wooden benches for around 100 people, and those who don’t arrive early enough have to stand outside on the steps. The large barn-style windows are flung open, and the side yard is filled with more people sitting on lawn chairs. During intermission, the ladies from the church next door serve up fresh, fried catfish dinners right before your eyes. It doesn’t get much more Southern than that!

We were treated to a spirited performance of holiday tunes and gospel hymns by the Northshore Gospel Choir, followed by the headliner, New Orleans jazz singer John Boutté. The energy in the crowd was so electric, it felt like a church service. What an unforgettable experience!

Toques and down jackets required inside!

Northshore Gospel Choir

John Boutté and friends

The 24-mile long Lake Pontchartrain Causeway - no end in sight!

Plantation Life

 

I wanted to tour a real southern plantation, if for no other reason than to quell the ideas in my mind of what plantation life was like in the south (think Gone with The Wind). 

On a cool, sunny day in December, we visited Destrehan Plantation, just outside of New Orleans. Destrehan was established in 1787, and is one of the oldest (still standing) sugar plantations in the Lower Mississippi Valley.

Destrehan Plantation has a varied story - it was once one of the largest sugar producing estates in southern Louisiana, and was also the location of the largest slave revolt in US history, where over 100 slaves were killed. More recently, the plantation house and surrounding buildings have starred in movies like Interview with a Vampire and 12 Years a Slave, and in numerous TV series like NCIS - New Orleans and Ravenswood.

Jim, our informative guide, dressed in period costume

Learned the story of house slave Marguerite, who when purchased from another plantation, was only allowed to bring 2 of her 5 children with her. She likely never saw the other 3 again.

Beautiful period furnishings

A well-equipped kitchen

The massive Southern Live Oak can live up to 800 years, and it will send branches out to the ground, not to root, but rather for additional stability as they age and grow. 

Spanish Moss, which grows on everything in the South, is not Spanish, nor is it moss!

The fibre inside Spanish Moss is sometimes called Horsehair

Jim, our guide at Destrehan, not only provided an engaging historical view of Destrehan and life at the time in the South, but also answered a lot of our questions about the flora and fauna of the area. Did you know Spanish Moss is not actually moss? Nor does it come from Spain! And the fibrous thread found inside the moss is also known as horsehair, and was once used to stuff household items like mattresses and furniture cushions. And I always thought my mother's antique sofa was stuffed with actual horsehair!!

And have my views of plantation life changed at all after visiting Destrehan? In fact, I think what I learned only (sadly) solidified what I already knew.