Driver was here to pick us up for Plantation Tour at 7:45 a.m. and what a great tour it was! The drive out of the city was interesting and took the better part of an hour. we drove past bayou swamps and cypress groves, through Cajun country (deported Acadians from Canada), over a 24 mile bridge (all over water), along/over one of the largest lakes in the USA, and right up to the front door of our first plantation tour stop - Oak Alley.
This antebellum (pre-war) home built in the greek style was the fancier of the two that we would see today and although the house was quite lovely...it was the grounds and the "alley" of oaks leading up to the house that really took my breath away.
Our guide at this home was dressed in period costume and fit right into the flavour of that 19th century era. An interesting tidbit we learned was that guests might come to stay for a few days or a few months - depending on where they had travelled from. Typically, guests would be greeted each morning with a cut pineapple awaiting them...on the day that they were greeted with an uncut pineapple they knew, their host was telling them it was time to move on. We also learned that the average man was only 5'4" and the average woman was under 5' tall.
An interesting bonus for me was that ....Our tour group included a woman from Ireland and in conversation with her I discovered that she is familiar with Derrygooney - the town in Ireland where my cousins live. As it turns out, the original mistress at Oak Alley was also from Ireland. And.... if you can believe this....she also came from another small town about 20 miles from where my cousins still live today! This fact may not mean much to many of you reading this blog but....for those of you who are familiar with Derrygooney and how small it is and how many tiny towns dot the countryside of Ireland....this really is an amazing coincidence! The Irish link gave me some additional perspective and appreciation for this part of our tour.
From Oak Alley we were off to a completely different plantation. This 12,000 acre farm was called Laura and the home was built in a west indies style for the two Creole (any combination of African, European, and Native American) families who would live here for the next 200 years. This plantation is unique as it was run exclusively and successfully by women (VERY unusual for the times). In true Creole fashion, English was never spoken in this home until recent years when it was opened for tours. Our tour started under the house where we saw roman numerals carved into the virgin cypress beams. The numbers related to the overall design and size by addressing the number of pegs (or posts) that would support the building. Everything for the home came from the property and the slaves who built it spent almost two years cutting and drying the timber and making bricks. Once everything was ready....the whole house took only 11 days to erect - the original pre-fab home! The house was simple but comfortable and in Creole tradition whenever anyone came to do business they would be received by their host into the male or the female meeting room (a part of the bedroom) before they'd ever be invited to come into the sitting room. This Creole cultural norm ensured that everyone understood that although social interactions are valued and important, having the business connection preceed any socializing kept the door open to do business at any time. There were as many as 250 slaves living on this property at it's busiest. We also visited the kitchen gardens that were more than 20 acres in size when the plantation was fully occupied. And on the food front....slaves were only given a light breakfast and a main midday meal but nothing in the evening! During the sugar cane harvest, slaves were also expected to work the fields 20 hours per day leaving them only 4 hours/day for sleep between September and December.
And last but not least....although there have been a couple of translations and re-writes.....Laura is the original home of Uncle Remus, Br'er Rabbit, and crew.
On the way back to the city we saw an aluminum smelter (everything was covered in some kind of orange powder/pollution, drove past oil refineries, and sugar processing plants - lots of industry here!
Super interesting sight/tradition along the 35-40 foot high levees that line 600 miles of the Mississippi River. Every year at this time young locals build timber towers (maybe 15-20 feet tall) that will be lit as bonfires on Christmas Eve to light the way for Santa to help him find his way. Sounds like lots of fun and from the look of it everyone is excited to participate in the building.
All in all the Plantation Tour was amazing! 6 full hours and only $60.....we all feel like we're getting good value for our dollar :)
By the time we got back into the city we were all hungry again so headed around the corner and down a couple of blocks to a place called Mothers where we had home-style local cooking. My turnip greens were AMAZING!! and the peach cobbler was a highlight.
Tonight we're off to do our ghostly tour with Lord Chaz so better run for now....till next time.....
Lorrie-Mae
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