Louisiana Plantations

Last summer I finally made it back down to visit with my friends in Louisiana and for the last couple days of my trip I buzzed up to St. Francisville to visit some plantations before heading home.  One of which I’ve wanted to see since I was pretty young with a HUGE crush on a certain Patrick Swayze.

I have been up to St. Francisville before to stay the the Myrtles Plantation but due to time restraints I wasn’t able to visit the other plantations nearby so I was quite excited to revisit the area.  When doing my research and plotting out which plantations to visit I kept coming across recommendations to visit Rosedown Plantation so that was my first stop once reaching the area after leaving Slidell.

Rosedown is hands down one of my most favorite plantations I’ve been to.  To start, you park in a lot and purchase a ticket and are told when to report to the house for the tour.  You are able to roam the gardens, which are massive and beautiful, before and after the tour.  I wandered the gardens a bit and headed to the main house near the start time of our tour.  The tour was in “Mythbusters” style where the story of the house was told but sprinkled throughout was certain “facts” about plantations that are actually myths and you’d be told the real story behind the fable.  It was pretty neat and VERY informative.  It sounds horribly dry but it was actually not at all.  After the tour I roamed the beautiful gardens some more but it was a hot day and I was quite eager to get back to my ridiculous rental car (a yellow Camaro LOL) to head to the next stop.

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I ended up revisiting Myrtles because I wanted to see it in the summer and in the daylight.  When I was there before I didn’t spend as much time taking pictures as I’d like so I did a bit of that before taking the tour.  It was a vast contrast to the previous tour however where the tour guide played into the hype around the Myrtles, many of the stories have been proven to be false (like the one of Chloe the slave who accidentally poisoned the children and wife of the owner).  The last time I was here the tour was much more based in reality and disputed the rumors so it was a sad turn of events to see.

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My final stop of the day was also where I was lodging for the night, Greenwood Plantation.  This plantation burned down and was rebuilt (the columns are the only original piece of the original plantation remaining) but the big draw to me wasn’t the historic aspect of the home but the movie that was filmed here – North & South with Patrick Swayze.  They have a small B&B built on the grounds so I decided to stay here for the night while in St. Francisville.  The room wasn’t the greatest but the setting was serene.  In the morning we toured the home with the woman who currently owns the home and lives there on the top floor.  She let us roam at will and take whatever photos we wanted which was pretty great.  I kept waiting for Orry to show up but sadly he was no where to be found.

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I headed back towards Louisiana to catch my afternoon flight but I couldn’t pass up the chance to stop at Oak Alley for a quick walk around the grounds and a snack  mint julep.

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I then THOUGHT I had enough time to tour Whitney Plantation which I had visited while it was being restored but I unfortunately did not.  I was able to get on the last tour of the day but I didn’t realize how long the tour was (near 2 hours) and I had to duck out early in order to catch my flight.  I was so sorry to because what I heard up until I left was absolutely fascinating and by far one of the most in depth and informative plantation tours out there.  I can’t wait to return and hear more of Whitney’s story.  It was also over 100º that day so you really were able to transport yourself back to those days and get a small taste of just how miserable life on a plantation would be if you were a slave.  I didn’t take many pictures because to be honest this just really isn’t a tour you think to snap pictures during but I did take a few.  It’s amazing to see the changes from when I was there last.

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