Today I heading out of New Orleans to the plantations. I was fortunate to visit 2 different plantations: Oak Alley and Evergreen.
Oak Alley is probably best know for the stunning alley of oaks which can be found leading up to the front of the house.
Upon arriving at the plantation you view this stunning house from the back of the property. It is almost as stunning as the front.
A tour of the inside of the house was part of the package. It was smaller than I thought it would be, but still fantastic. Below are a taste of the photos that I took. The main house has been restored and the tour provide was not only very professional but informative.
Below is a picture of the main house of Evergreen. This plantation is still not only privately owned but still a working plantation! Though it looks very grand it is a bit misleading as it only has 3 main rooms on the top level, the go from the front of the house to the back! No photos were allowed inside.
Below is one of the smaller buildings on the property. This would have been the kitchen - the kitchen was always in an outer building, in case there was a fire, the food when being served would then be proud into the main house.
Something else that was interesting was that when a son would turn 15 they were no longer allowed to stay in the main building. At the plantations you would see these smaller buildings to the side of the house and this would be where they would sleep.
Evergreen also boosts a beautiful alley of oak trees, that is Spanish moss hanging from the trees
It also has the most complete collection of slave cabins. 22 in total in their original condition except for the roofs. These buildings were still in use up to the 1940s. 2 families would live in each cabin, the total area each family had was a 12 x 12 space, you just can't imagine what it would have been like. Evergreen is still a working plantation, it main crop being sugar cane. Sugar cane is was mainly produced on the plantations close to New Orleans. Cotton would not grow as the soil was too wet. Another interesting fact about Evergreen is that the initial land hold of the plantation is what it still retains today.
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What awesome places, would love an abode like that. Can just imagine sashaing through the rooms & having a very large airy room (or two) just for patchworking.
ReplyDeletethank you for the tour, lovely pictures..
ReplyDeleteI went to oak alley too, and loved it. If I remember well, there is a story of spiders released on the alley shortly before a wedding, so that they would spins between the branches. Then gold pulver was blown to make a gold arch for the bride...
ReplyDeleteI visited another plantation, that was a B&B, with no direct access to the phone, TV or internet, so that the guests could have both a retreat and a glimpse to the life before. I don't know if it is like that, it was about 15 years ago.
Thank you for the memories.