L is for the Louisiana Hot Sauce Expo and the Louisiana Renaissance Fest -- #atozchallenge

The Louisiana Hot Sauce Expo happens this weekend, April 16-17. The website calls it "a celebration of hot sauce and spicy food."

I found this photo on their Facebook page. Apparently, this man makes hot sauce and wins awards!

When I think of hot sauce, I usually think of Tabasco. A few years ago, I toured Avery Island, where they make Tabasco. Read that post here. We visited again recently, when Bob's sister and brother-in-law visited us. I can tell you, they have made some wonderful improvements. If you haven't been there in awhile, I encourage you to visit again. Jungle Gardens, adjacent to the Tabasco Factory, is worth the trip, too.

Lately, our son Andrew has me enjoying Sriracha sauce.

And I also think of a Dr. King White, a Lake Charles cardiologist. He has a hobby of making hot sauce from peppers he grows in his backyard garden. I had the pleasure of meeting this man when I wrote a story about him for Lagniappe magazine several years ago. And I'm still using the bottle of hot sauce he have me!

L is also for the Louisiana Renaissance Fest in Hammond, La. Andrew attends Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, but we have not attended this medieval festival, which takes place every weekend in November and the first two weekends in December. 

See their website for more terrific photos! I had a hard time choosing a few. 

Have you been to a Renaissance festival? What was your experience? And do you have a favorite hot sauce?

Acadian Village -- Lafayette, LA

There are so many destinations on my Louisiana "bucket list." We scratched one off this past Friday. We went to Acadian Village to see the popular Christmas light display. (Can anyone tell me what LUS stands for?)

Acadian Village is open year around as a historic landmark depicting life of the early Acadian settlers. During the holidays, the site transforms into an enchanted Christmas wonderland. "Noel Acadien Au Village."

This year's theme is "A Blue Christmas." Everyone loves Blue Dog.

We ate funnel cakes.

And warm freshly roasted peanuts. This is Victor. The big green machine behind him is a old time peanut roaster.

Vic says the roaster is over 100 years old. He found it in a dump near Alexandria 27 years ago. He fixed it up and has been selling peanuts since then. Vic is the official peanut vendor at University of Louisiana at Lafayette sporting events. He can also be found at festivals, and apparently, he is a fixture at Acadian Village during the holidays. As we were leaving, I overheard a woman who just arrived say, "I want to get my peanuts before we do anything else."

In the midst of all the lights, there is this lovely nativity scene.

For the kids, carnival rides . . .

Strolling through Acadian Village, we immediately got into the Christmas spirit. We couldn't help singing along with the holiday music playing in the background. For my Pittsburgh readers, it's like a walk-through Hartwood Acres, back in the day. Don't you all miss that?

Special thanks to my dear husband for his photography skills. (I'm in between cameras.)

Merry Christmas, everyone!