Rain moved into Southern Louisiana overnight and we had showers on and off throughout the day but that didn't keep us from seeing the sights of the Great River Road that follows the Mississippi on both sides from Baton Rouge to New Orleans.
We waited to head out from our LaQuinta Suite were we shared a common ceiling/floor with a traveling circus of elephants, who, unlike we two seniors, partied pretty much all night doing that Elephant Shuffle.Thought about calling the sheriff at 1:30 telling them that there was a meth lab in 306, but, elephants will be elephants and I let them party on.
On the road finally around 9AM, we headed to Houmas House which is on the East side of the Mississippi River
The Plantation house was built in the mid 1850s and one of the few that hasn't been rebuilt. The owner during the Civil War, Mr. Burnside, was a Irish born citizen of the British empire and when the Union army came calling to burn and pillage his and all the other plantations on the river, he told the commanding general that he and his home had immunity due to his citizenship. The Union army honored the request and spared his home and 20,000 acres of sugarcane.
The current owner of the property, a Mr. Clark, who is a real estate developer in New Orleans, lives in the house, which he bought in 2003 and has completely stocked it with period pieces bought from both the descendants of the original owners as well as antique stores and estate sales.
Here's a view of a couple of the rooms. The first is the dining room with our guide Sandy, who I found out had spent six years in Iraq as a civilian contractor. Sandy was a fun hostess making the history of the house come alive with details of everyday life and the customs of the times. She used Kathy and I as an example of how Gentlemen and Ladies behaved (badly) when it came to "courting" and the etiquette of ladies ascending staircases.
It seems that when gentlemen callers paid a "courting" visit on young ladies, and I do mean young as most were married by the time they were 16 to 30+ plus year old men. It seems that as a lady mounted the stairs, gentlemen would turn their backs to keep from catching a view of the ladies ankles. Should a gentleman be so bold as to sneak a peek and catch a glance, well three choices for you sir. A monetary donation, marriage or jail. "Which is your choice:" She asked me. Duh. Jail. "Well you've got your hands full with this one Kathy:"
Amen.
Of course, being in the "wilderness" in the 1800's wasn't without its aches and pains which of course remedies were readily available for those with connections.
Some of you may remember the movie "Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte". All of the interior scenes were filmed here and Bette Davis, Oliva DeHavilland and Joseph Cotton. Originally, Ms. Joan "Mommy, No more coat hangers" Crawford, was cast in Ms. DeHavillands role, but hated Ms. Davis so much that she took "sick" and quit the movie after just a couple of weeks of shooting. Ms. Davis stayed in the house during the entire location shooting and they named her bedroom after her.
The owner had a unique philosophy.
A more casual dining room in the back of the house that's used by overnight guests. You can see the original brick walls exposed here. All the bricks for the house were made on the property from mud from the river and baked in kilns built here as well.
The Gardens were many and of varying styles. Classical, Oriental, this place had a bit of everything.
I did tell you it was raining. Here's the Chinese pavilion that's used for weddings.
The interesting chandelier in the pavilion.
As we were walking around in the gardens the owner passed by and said: "Did you see the submarine in the reception hall? It's worth seeing."
Really nice, probably the best of the 5 plantations that I've toured. Highly recommended if you're in the area.
We headed down the River Road towards New Orleans and our next stop was at Oak Alley in Vacherie. Probably the most famous of the current crop of tourist accessible plantations, due mainly to it's incredible "Alley" of 26 live oaks. These oaks all range in the 200 year old range.that were planted when the plantation was being built. This is looking back towards the levee that was built in the 1930's for flood control.
And towards the house.
If Oak Alley looks familiar, it's because Brad Pitt/Tom Cruises "Interview With A Vampire" was partially shot here.
A total different tour. While the guide Cathy was very knowledgeable, they only let you into two rooms on the main floor and none on the second floor. You can only view them from the roped off doorways. Quite a change from Houmas House where you were able to get up close and personal to the all of the antiques and artwork.
Here's the dining room. Notice the fan in the middle of the table.
The Master bedroom on the second floor.
A last shot of the gardens from the second floor veranda.
Finished up our River Road trip with a tasty meal at the B & C Creole Cafe in Valerie. A homey place that was part grocery and part cafe with wooden benches and red checkered table cloths.
Kathy had the red beans and rice, only be our waitress Valerie, assured her that they weren't spicy "Cause too many people can't handle it". She's pretty whimpy when it comes to anything with heat.
I settled for the Seafood Platter with FRIED shrimp, FRIED oysters and FRIED catfish. Accompanied by the ever present staple of hush puppies, FRIES and FRIED okra. Sorry Dr. Vern but my cholesterol took a big hit today bud. Don't worry, I'll walk it off tomorrow.
So that's it from New Orleans.More to see tomorrow.
Good night and good luck.
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