Probably repeating myself, but, if you're ever in the Baton Rouge area or traveling along I-10 in Louisiana (it's south of Lafayette), taking the tour of the Avery Island salt dome where they used to grow all the peppers and mine the salt for Tabasco is super cool . . . if you're into that kind of thing (and if you are, scheduling the guided tour is worth it). The last time I was there they still grew all the seed stock for their peppers on-site! It's a semi-protected bird sanctuary now with lots of wildlife, too, and if you go there from Baton Rouge you get to drive across the Atchafalya river/basin, a pretty unique area . . . which one day will be the new path of the Mississippi (possibly in our lifetimes).
It's kind of surreal seeing Avery Island rise from the delta like a low bubble as one gets closer.
It's kind of surreal seeing Avery Island rise from the delta like a low bubble as one gets closer.