Sonya's Blog - Day 228 - Destrehan Plantation

Sonya's Blog - Day 228 - February 5th -Destrehan Plantation

We couldn't go into the French Quarter today because Kizmet had a grooming appointment this morning. She needed to be cleaned up and there is a grooming salon just down the street. We dropped her off at 8:30 AM for her appointment. She was not very excited about it, she thought she was going somewhere far more exciting than that!

We didn't do much while Kizmet was at the groomers. The kids got some school work done and we tidied up a bit. I did get a call from the rental agency that manages our house in Auburn Bay. It seems that the tenants want to break their lease and move out March 1st and she wanted to know what I wanted to let me know about that little development. She told the tenants that they were still liable for the outstanding rent up until the end of the lease, but they said they were moving out anyway. That was not the news I wanted to hear at all and now we will have to figure out if we will need to change our plans. We will deal with that next week, after New Orleans.

Once Kizmet was done we decided to head to Destrehan Plantation to check it out. It is supposedly haunted. The mistress of the house had an affair with a famous pirate and either her spirit or his spirit haunts the property. Natasha wasn't feeling well, so she stayed back at the RV with Kizmet who was so fluffy and clean.

When we got to the plantation they were just about to start another tour. Our tour guide was dressed in Antebellum fashion and was very southern. Her mannerisms and the way she spoke, it was great. She took us all through the house and explained the history of it. Originally the main crop was indigo, but that changed to sugar cane later on. It was a successful plantation up until the Civil War. In the 1900's AMOCO held the property and used the house as a office and had a refinery near there. They gave it up in the 70's or 80's and the house fell into disrepair. The historical Society managed to get the property gifted to them by AMOCO and they carefully restored the house. Previous owners still had original pieces that used to be in the house and they donated them back to the foundation for the museum. The also told some stories about the slaves that worked on the plantation. This plantation had one of the largest slave uprisings in Louisiana.

The Dining Room:

This room had been stripped away to see the contruction of the house, with a model in the middle:

The ladies parlour:

Lady of the House bedroom:

The Men's Room, the sliding doors in the middle separate the ladies parlour from the Mens:

The Gentelman's of the house Bedroom

After the house tours we were able to tour the grounds by ourselves. First we went to a presentation about slave remedies and the history of that. The presenter was a retired pharmacist, but was raised dirt poor in Alabama. His mum used many of these remedies while he was growing up because they certainly couldn't afford to go to the doctor. When he was a pharmacist he told the story of how doctors would be frustrated that they would prescribe medicine to blacks, but they wouldn't get them filled. They would use the herbal remedies passed down through the generations.

We then wandered the grounds for a bit. We checked out the Slave Cabins and the kitchen area. The kitchens were never in the houses due to their fear of fire. The kitchens also had to be a certain distance from the house to try and prevent a kitchen fire from destroying the house. The Slave Cabins were much closer to the house than they would have been originally, due to the fact that they no longer own all plantation lands. The nearest cabin would have probably been 1/4 mile down the road. Louisiana had different slave laws than some of the neighbouring states. The slaves had workday hours, from dawn until 3 PM and only 1/2 days on Saturdays. The other major difference was that slaves were not prevented from learning to read and write (it was not against the law) and they were allowed to make money on the side if they were able. Many slaves would grow crops that they could sell or make crafts. The other common way for slaves at Destrehan to make money was to take the Spanish Moss that grows on the Oak trees and dry it out. This was used to stuff mattresses in the summer time to keep everyone cooler.

Slave Cabin:

We then snapped this picture of a Cypress Tree. These were the trees that were used for all the beams in home and much of the flooring. They naturally repel termites, so it is an excellent wood to use for construction.

The plantation was just across the street from the Mississippi River and there was a levee separating the river from the land. I thought all the levees were concrete barriers, but this is a large mound of earth (a berm), reinforced with concrete on the river side. There is a nice bike path that runs along the top of the levee. We got a picture:

We headed back to the RV to check on Natasha and Kizmet. They were both fine, Natasha was working away on her homework and Kizmet was having a much needed nap! Of course, as soon as we got back Kizmet was ready to be walked and entertained.

Isaac and Blake decided to head out and check out some more parades. Natasha wasn’t feeling up to it and I stayed back with her to read my book. I wasn’t in the mood for more parades. I am reading So Anyway…. by John Cleese. It is a memoir about his early life, leading up to the creation of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. There are tidbits in the book about life after that, but it is mainly about that period of his life. He is very funny, of course, but he looks back on his life with a lot of humour and wit. He also loves to go off on little tangents, which I found highly amusing. The content is not necessarily, always funny, just the way he phrases it and looks back on it. Highly enjoyable.

The boys came back a few hours later and Isaac was so pumped up. He collected another bag full of loot and he thinks it is the greatest thing ever. They did manage to see some cool floats as well, but that is not what Isaac wants to focus on. It is all about the loot for him.

Sonya