Hey there, football fans! Looking to get the full "New Orleans experience" while in town for the NFL Playoffs? Along with the beautiful architecture, historic landmarks, and exquisite cuisine you can find in the French Quarter, there are many other must-see destinations in south Louisiana that are worth visiting.
Between New Orleans and Baton Rouge lie several monumental antebellum homes that are open to the public for tours. With lush gardens, Spanish moss-draped oak trees, and white-pillared mansions, these plantations are a direct testament to the wealth and importance of the sugar planters in the South and especially in Louisiana before the Civil War. Several notable plantation homes in the area include Nottoway Plantation, Oak Alley Plantation and Laura Plantation.
Nottoway Plantation, often referred to as "The American Castle," is a 64-room, three-story Greek-Revival mansion that is recognized as the Largest Plantation Home in the South. Nottoway was built in 1859 for John Hampden Randolph, his wife Emily Jane Liddell Randolph, and their 11 children along the Mississippi River. At 53,000 square feet, the plantation contains many extravagances, including ornamental iron railings, brass and crystal chandeliers, intricate plasterwork, a mahogany stairway carpeted in velvet, a bowling alley, and gas lighting and hot and cold running water (both of which were unheard of at that time). Take a tour through the plantation while learning the history of the Randolph family and even how the home was fired upon by Northern gunboats during the Civil War.
Oak Alley Plantation, named for the quarter-mile tunnel of 28 oak trees that connect the entrance of the plantation and the Mississippi River, is on 1,360 acres of land. The plantation was built for Jacques Telesphore Roman and his wife Celina Pilie Roman in the 1830's, and it was designed with a large veranda so as to keep the home in the shade and out of the oppressive summer sun. With its envied opulence, it is believed that Celina Roman proudly christened their plantation "Bon Sejour" (Pleasant Sojourn), but travelers on the Mississippi River were so impressed by the alley of oaks, they called it "Oak Alley." Walk through the famed oak trees and learn the history of the French-Creole Roman family, as well as the story of the four different resident owners after the Roman family sold the home at auction and how the plantation was abandoned and nearly forgotten in the early twentieth century.
Laura, a Creole Plantation, was built in 1805 and consists of a mansion, several outbuildings (including six original slave quarters) and a second house (also known as a "mother-in-law cottage"). Originally known as DuParc, the plantation was later renamed after Laura Locoul Gore, who was the fourth mistress of the plantation. The complex continued functioning as a plantation well into the twentieth century, and workers used the slave quarters up to 1977. Learn about the ancient west-African folktales of Br'er Rabbit and Br'er Fox, which were recorded at Laura Plantation, and take a tour of the family treasures, apparel and original antiques on display.
So while you're in town for the big game, be sure to include a visit to some of our nation's largest and oldest plantations. Transport yourself to a different time and place, and experience the awe of the Old South. You will surely have a once-in-a-lifetime experience, with memories that will last forever.
Various plantation tour options are available through New Orleans based tour company's like Cajun Encounters. If plantations aren't your thing checkout the New Orleans city tours or even a swamp tour led by local. For more information or to book your authentic plantation tour, visit www.cajunencounters.com.
