Day 9 was an all-day trip that included a swamp boat tour of the bayou, followed by visits to two plantations. Here we are heading out of town across this bridge over the Mississippi.
Ol' Man River.
First stop: the air boats.
This is what an office looks like in the swamp.
Some of the group went on this larger boat.
We took six of us on this smaller boat.
And they're off!
These are the main highways of the swamp.
Kimberly enjoying the ride.
This is one of the "rural" roads off the main highway.
These are the "knees" of the cypress trees, that help them to breathe.
Our guide, Gary, showing us a "sinker". He said this piece of wood would fetch $2500 if he could figure out how to get it out of here.
The swamp is actually alive, though we didn't get to see any alligators; it was very cold the week before, and they all went into hibernation.
This is a hog trap; they'll come from miles around for corn soaked in diesel fuel. You don't want to give them too much, though, or it can change the flavor of the meat.
Here's a water moccasin making its way down to the river.
One of the locals out either fishin' or huntin'.
The woman in yellow fell out of the boat upon arrival back at the dock, so they had to hose her down and loan her a pair of pants.
Now on to the first plantation: Oak Alley. We finally figure out the name of this from the signs, as they kept pronouncing it "O'Kelly".
The back entrance with the shops and the restaurant.
These are the "baby oaks" in the back yard.; they only date from the 1800's. The slave cabins line each side of the road.
These cauldrons are what they used to boil down the sugar sap in.
The main house, with our guide in period dress.
Kimberly with the lead pipe in the drawing room.
Our little 16-year-old guide, whose father is a farmer on the property.
The dining room. The device in the center is for a slave to keep moving back and forth to keep the flies from settling on the food.
A view out the window the actual "oak alley": 28 oak trees that date from the 1700's making a path down to the river to collect the cooler air.
A "rolling pin" bed. One of the house slaves would have to roll the lumps out of the mattress every day using the rolling pin.
The children's room. The two smaller pieces date from the original owners; one is a doll wardrobe.
The master bedroom.
This is the room where lived the lady who restored the house; the second bed was for her nurse.
The front yard with the oak alley.
The side garden.
Wade as a plantation owner.
A recreation of a civil war command tent is on display on the grounds.
Back toward the slaves' quarters.
Sorry this didn't come out clear, but this is the simplest form of a "chair" possible; you lean it up on whatever side of the house is shady.
For lunch, we had red beans and rice, and a crawfish etoufee.
On to the next plantation, called Laura, and its happy cat mascot.
The porch around the gift shop where we all met up.
The main house. This is a Creole house, so it has color, unlike the American-style house at the previous plantation.
For practical reasons, it is built on these seven-foot pilings.
This is Laura's grandmother. The tour guide told us the story of how the plantation was passed down from Laura's grandmother to Laura's mother to Laura. They took great pride that the French in Louisiana were more progressive than the English in the other colonies. The inheritance was not passed down to the eldest son, but to the smartest child.
These large jugs were glazed on the inside, and on the outside only for the top six inches or so. They could then be buried, and the water table would act as a cooler, keeping them in the 40's.
Our tour guide, Lawson, was very knowledgeable and spoke beautiful French as well as English.
This was the madame's bed, which happened to be in her office; no problem to the Creole's who thought of this as a sign of trust and welcome, but the English found this most distasteful.
The sitting room.
The dining room.
Lawson explaining the three generations, represented on the mantel. Presenting it in this way made the story very relatable, and allowed us to put the history into context.
The more extended family.
The pantry room. They had had a fire, and left this room unrestored, so you can see the construction techniques.
Back toward the gardens, chicken coop, well, etc.
The overseer's house.
The kitchen was typically not in the main house, because of the fire hazard it represented.
The "code noir" from King Louis recognized the slaves as people, saying they had to be raised Catholic, and as such, they had to be given the sabbath day off. This later led to the development of jazz when the people came together on the sabbath.
These are the actual slave cabins; the ones at the other plantation were reconstructions.
Plenty of room for a family of eight.
Our final night in New Orleans, and we ended up at this little street cafe.
Interesting decoration on the floor.
Kimberly enjoying her buffalo chicken sammy. Thanks, Wade, for warning me you were taking a picture.