This morning we were heading to south Louisiana to visit Oak Alley Plantation. The brochure said it would take just under an hour to get there so we knew we had limited time. It turned out to be about an hour & a quarter driving time & it took 20mins for the valet to bring our car to us even though it was parked in a garage across the road. The valet service here is atrocious.
We could feel the day was going to be hot when we were at breakfast. By the time we got to Oak Alley it was very hot & humid.
We drove past a couple of other plantation homes before reaching Oak Alley but none of them had the spectacular alley of oak trees out front.
Once you pay the admission fee, you can self tour the grounds for as long as you like. Guided tours of the house are run on the hour & half hour. The bell tolled & the front door was opened by a girl in a period dress. She took us in, showed us through the rooms & gave us some history about some of the previous owners.
Oak Alley is a sugar cane plantation which is still active today. We could see fields & fields of it on the 12 hectares of land surrounding the house.
As it gets so hot in the south, the house was built with a wide veranda all the way around on both levels. This was so the house was shaded at all times. The doors & windows are very symmetrical to allow a cross breeze & the ceilings are 12ft high.
In the dining room, there was a wooden contraption hanging over the table. It was a very early fan - I can't remember what it was called - but it had a rope attached which went over into the corner. It was the slaves job to pull the rope gently to swing the fan which would give the guests cool, moving air. But, it couldn't be swung too hard as it might blow out the candles on the table directly underneath.
There was only one piece of furniture remaining that had belonged to the early owners - a baby's crib. All other furniture was either from the same period or a replica of.
The current house was built in 1837-1839 on the banks of the Mississippi River. The river can't be seen from the house now as the levees are too high.
There are 28 oak trees which form the 'oak alley' which runs from the road across from the river to the house. It is thought they were planted by a Frenchman because of the way they are planted - even numbers & evenly spaced. There is 14 trees on each side & they are thought to be over 300yrs old.
The plantation changed hands a few times due to economic pressures & was abandoned for 5yrs before being bought & restored by the last residents. The owner prior to abandonment had wanted the plantation but not the house. He used to allow his sons to race their horses through the bottom level. They would start up in the fields & go to the river but the house was in the way. As the back door lined up with the front door, they would just ride through. This destroyed the marble flooring on the ground level. During the vacant period, cows & sheep came inside which ruined any remaining flooring & the curved staircase.
There are many other smaller buildings on the property - slave quarters, the kitchen off to the side, blacksmiths shop etc. Some of the slaves quarters are being reconstructed on the site they would have once stood.
We didn't have time to look at everything as we had to get back for the cruise. We did have time for one of their 'famous mint juleps' though. This is a drink consisting of 2 parts bourbon & 1 part mint syrup. We couldn't taste any mint at all. We drank them but it wasn't something I would ever order again.
I really wanted to see a plantation house in the south so I'm glad we went.
The cruise left at 2.30pm & we hit some heavy traffic coming back into town. We had issues with finding the valet again which delayed us. Our plan had been to have a po-boy lunch at Johnny's Po-Boys before boarding. It was 2pm by the time we got there & there was a queue. I joined it & ordered one 'to go'. We were on the boat by 2.20pm. I don't understand the po-boy thing. A roll filled with fried stuff is the last thing I would usually order. We got one with a mix of catfish & shrimp & just had half each. It really wasn't nice.
The cruise was on the steam operated paddlewheel boat called the Natchez. We chose the cruise only option rather than the lunch option. We found seats on the upper deck with a bit of shade. It was very hot by now. Once we got moving the breeze was lovely.
I expected that we would be told about the Mississippi & New Orleans a bit & then sit back to enjoy the live jazz. This wasn't the way it went. The jazz was inside & you could only hear it in the restaurant area. The rest of us outside got a running commentary from the man we dubbed Captain Cheese. He was so cheesy. He told us about the barges, tow boats, tug boats, markings on cargo ships, other tours, flags on boats etc. We went down the river & then turned around & came back up. He told us the same things on the way back. A bit odd & wasn't what I had expected but it was nice to be on the water on a hot day.
When we got off, we caught the trolley up to the Riverwalk. This is an area of shops & restaurants just outside the French Quarter. It was pretty quiet up there & lots of shops had sales because they were closing down. We wandered through here for an hour or so.
It wasn't until we got back to the hotel tonight that I realized I have left my hat in one of those shops. My lovely hat I bought in Charleston. I am so annoyed with myself. I must have put it down while looking at some t-shirts & then went without it.
We had dinner at The Crazy Lobster up near the Riverwalk. It is Saturday night & we were hot & sweaty so we went there rather than go back to the hotel & out again. I really wanted to have 'bkackened' something but they didn't have it. We both ordered a Hurricane cocktail. They were enormous but I didn't like it much. The second dud cocktail of the day! Best I stick with mojitos & margaritas.
Coming back to the hotel, we walked down Bourbon St. It was very noisy & crowded. We stopped briefly at one open air jazz place but there was no where to sit so we kept going. We had been entertained by a live jazz band at dinner. Jen, we didn't go to Preservation Hall. We didn't want to queue up & it was too hot. We have been lucky enough to have heard live music while out & about or at restaurants.
New Orleans has been really interesting. There is so much to see & do & the history is fascinating. I haven't had time to talk about Delphine LaLaurie & the terrible things she did to her slaves or the voodoo stuff or the fleur de Lis. Maybe I will have time tomorrow night as it is a fairly long drive to Houston so we won't be doing much else.