We drove from Baton Rouge to New Orleans via the Mississippi River route, taking us past many Plantation homes from a past era. We took a tour of two, giving us an insight into the history and lifestyle of the area pre and post Civil War.
The first Plantation we visited was Nottoway. It is now owned by James Ramsay from Sydney (of Ramsay Health) and he is putting millions into restoring it. Originally completed in 1859, Nottoway is the largest antebellum mansion in the Southern States. It has a lovely all white ballroom.
Our second Plantation visited was Laura, a Creole Plantation. Built in 1805 and still surrounded by sugarcane, the farmstead stands with 12 historic buildings, gardensand the slave quarters where the west African folktales of the legendary rascal Br'er Rabbit were recorded. The Plantation was run by a succession of very strong women and the tour details 200 years of real-life stories of owners, women and slaves.
As this had taken most of the day, we got a parking permit to stay overnight in the carpark of another Plantation, Oak Alley. This beautiful home is renowned for its alley of twenty eight evenly spaced giant live oak trees, believed to ber nearly 300 years old. It is a spectacular setting right on the river and we had a lovely walk around the grounds on dusk, then had dinner under the trees (we don't normally eat outside because it is always so hot). The guys took a walk along the levee at sunset.
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