Yes, food again. Lots and lots of food. How did we not know what real fried food was before now? Honestly, we didn’t know what we didn’t know until we had some real fried chicken, fish, shrimp, and hush puppies in a small local restaurant in Shreveport. Right away, I could tell this state was going to test the stretchiness of my stretchy pants to their fullest, and we weren’t even close to New Orleans yet. 
As we moseyed on down this beautiful state, we tried a few hole in the wall food stops, and each was delicious. Before we could fall completely in love, we started noticing some of the signs posted near many of the beautiful waterways. Nothing changes your mood quite like a reminder that there are snakes waiting to ruin your day. 
We had been told by many that we HAD TO go to Avery Island, so away we went to the birth place of Tabasco sauce. The factory tour was fun and interesting. It was cool too see the parts of the process that haven’t changed over the years, like aging the product in barrels, combined with a state of the art production facility, that cranks outs an amazing number of bottles each day.
Naturally, when we discovered the full array of sauces they carried, we had to stock up on a few new ones, as well as sample some of their yummy creations in their cafeteria.
After the factory and our hearty lunches, we strolled through the Jungle Gardens. The enormous oak trees were very distracting. Every few feet, we’d stop to take more pictures with the light coming from a different direction. 
In addition to those beautiful trees, there were Camelias everywhere, and they were huge! We could never grow them like this at home.
The weather was perfect for us, but too chilly for the gators, so they were all hiding during our stroll. We didn’t mind. There was plenty of time to see critters later.
As we continued south, we fit in a little swamp tour. We saw lots of turtles, a few little gators, and some snakes. Overall, a pretty awesome afternoon.
Finally made it to NOLA. To say the food was awesome is a gross understatement. Of course we had to go to Cafe Du Monde for a breakfast of beignets. They were served hot and under a mound of powdered sugar. We decided to go on a food tour, and tried so many yummy treats. It was a great way to try multiple options and flavors in one day.
Some very nice security guards told us about a lunch special at the city’s oldest restaurants, Antoine’s. Established in 1840, it is the oldest family run restaurant in the United States. Weekends and evenings are crazy busy and rather spendy, but during the week, you could get a three course lunch for about twenty dollars. Thanks to their tip, we were able to enjoy world class food that fit our budget.
The bartender at Erin Rose gave us a list of “the 12 bars of Christmas” that we and a group of new friends set out to find. Some did not allow photography in them, but they were all fun. The most unique was probably the carousel bar, which not only rotated in the room, but the bar tenders had to leap over the bar to get in and out. The people watching there was awesome.
We had so much amazing food, it is hard to narrow down what to include here. Another amazing meal was at Jacques-Imo’s Cafe. This one isn’t in the french quarter, but it is so worth making the trip. We went in the middle of the week, and it was packed for dinner. The wait wasn’t too bad, and the food was incredible. You gotta try it. Seriously.
We had so much fun in Louisiana, and especially New Orleans. We met great people, ate incredible food, enjoyed awesome Christmas decorations, and spent a day at the WWII museum, too. Another place we could spend a year and still not see everything there is to see (or eat).
Traveling Team Fischer 