Dear Jake & Amelia,
On a whim, we visited Avery Island, home of the famous Tabasco sauce. The island is a salt dome where Tabasco peppers are grown. The salt is used in fermenting their juices into the flavorful sauce. We also found gardens and an aviary for egrets. We arrived during mating season. Egrets have a distinct set of white feathers that only develop at this time of year. These showy feathers were used to adore women's hats in the early part of the 20th century. The birds almost became extinct. Edmund McIlhenny, son of the creator of Tabasco sauce, brought several pairs of egrets to the island and placed them in a flying cage in his garden. At the beginning of the next migratory season, he removed the cage. The freed birds returned to Avery Island to mate. Now thousands return every year. 

Nancy & Peter

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