Here we are in New Orleans! Hooray! Upon arrival today, in New Orleans we did not go first to our Bed and Bath reservation. Instead we headed to Vacherie to visit “Laura: A Creole Plantation.” We were treated to an hour and a half guided tour given by Jennifer. We learned about the Creoles and the three generations of Laura’s family who owned and ran the sugarcane plantation. We saw the main house, the slave quarters, and all 12 reconstructed buildings on the National Register. The buildings are surrounded by fields of sugarcane, vegetable and fruit gardens. (The sugarcane fields are still worked by a coop of 30 families that bought the land.) We learned that the thriving plantation was a matriarchal organization. The Creoles did not believe in passing down land/businesses to the eldest son/child, but rather to the smartest child. (Sounds like a smarter idea to me!) In the case of this Locoul/Gore Creole plantation, the daughter/granddaughter became the “Presidents of the Plantation.” At “Laura’s Plantation” we also saw an amazing collection of family artifacts from the plantation including clothing, furniture, tools, business and slave records, and photographs. Did you know that the 160-year-old slave cabins were where the west-African folktales of Compair Lapin were recorded? (These are better known as “Br’er Rabbit” tales!) Our tour guide, Jennifer, was just awesome, and we loved every minute of the tour. Now I would like to read Memories of the Old Plantation Home & A Creole Family Albumn, by Laura Locoul Gore!
Next came the only “glitch” in our travels so far. (And a truly minor glitch it was. If this is the only “fly in the ointment” for our trip, we will consider ourselves very lucky indeed.) We followed the GPS instructions to our Bed and Bath reservation at “The House of the Rising Sun”. When we arrived at the ferry spot to cross the Mississippi River to Algiers Point, we found that only pedestrians could cross on the ferry…no cars allowed! (The ferry shut down for quite a while after “Karina”, recently reopened for pedestrians, and according to the locals “politics” is holding up the return to ferrying cars, too.) Well, with the help of “alternate route” GPS and Ladd’s masterful driving in the middle of rush hour, we thankfully arrived at “The House of the Rising Sun” only about 45 minutes behind schedule.
We met the owner, Kevin, asked him where could get a bite to eat within walking distance, dropped our bags in our room, and headed out. (We had only eaten breakfast and were starving!) The owner had told us to look for place called “Vine and Dine", but we first came to a place called “Dry Dock Café” and went in. It is a very welcoming bar/restaurant and our waitress, Leslie B., was both friendly and waitress/bartender extraordinaire. Ladd had a giant baked potato covered with roast beef, mushrooms, cheese and sour cream on the side. It was so big, Ladd couldn’t even finish it! He loved it! I had a rice, bean, and shrimp dish, which was also too much food. It was not as spicy as I had anticipated, but it was delicious. The cornbread that came with it WAS spicy…yum. As we left the “Dry Dock Café” we headed the other direction and what did we then see was right next door? The “Vine and Dine”! Maybe we’ll try that place before we leave?
Tomorrow morning the owners provide breakfast at 8 o’clock, and then we’re off to explore. I better “hit the hay” so I can keep up the pace!
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