Bon Temps, Luizjana

Our first days in Louisiana it was raining all the time, we also had a pretty bad thunderstorm. Our hosts suggested a walk to Pontchartrain Lake, 1.5 miles away, but after a night of pouring rain we had our own lake in front of the trailer. The weather got better after a while but it still was quite chilly. Well, it was end of February. If it had been hot and humid we would have felt like in True Blood, but even with the cold we could sense the atmosphere from this HBO show. Woods, swamps, rocking chairs on porches of houses and souther accent. It was a full moon, dogs were howling, cat run by our trailer, maybe they were all shifters? Hopefully if we ever meet a vampire he looks more like Eric than white-face Bill…

Swamps of Louisiana

As it was cold we've decided to spend a day in Aquarium. It was nice but not a must-see. We watched sea otter feeding and Maciek played tag with a penguin. For 26.50 USD (for adult, after discount, kids free) we expected something better. Probably if the weather outside was nicer we would just skip it. 

Aquarium is a part of Audubon Nature Institute and there is also Insectarium, Butterfly Garden, IMAX and zoo, if you buy tickets in a package it's cheaper. Plus there is parking which anywhere downtown New Orleans is expensive. We managed to pay 10 USD for 5 hours (after 5 USD discount if you validate your ticket in the aquarium). There's also street parking for 1.5 USD per hour, but most of places have 2 hour limit. And it's if you're lucky enough to find a spot.

Next day we went on a day trip to plantations. There are lots of them but we've decided to see two most famous ones: Oak Alley and Laura. They're not cheap. First one is 20 USD per person, second one 18 (kids free). But well, that's probably our only chance to feel the atmosphere of Mississippi. Even getting there is very picturesque. The highway goes on the flyover through the swamps, just by the river there's a huge iron bridge, and by the local road along the old embankment there are old houses with rocking chairs on the porches.

Guide in Oak Alley

In Oak Alley a guide dressed in costume from the old times gives a tour around the house and talks about its owners, old customs and a little bit about the history of the region. House was built in the beginnings od 19th century but most of the furniture is not original. The heyday of plantations didn't last long and ended just after the Civil War. Soon afterwards house was abandoned for some time so most of what was in it was moved somewhere else and what was left dissapeared.  But construction details and even glass in the windows are original and house was never neither flooded by the river, nor destroyed by fire.

We found out about few quite interesting facts, like for example that more or less half of plantations on Mississippi was managed by women, and that until the beginning of 20th century most of Louisiana residents spoke French. That's when it was forbidden to teach this language in schools and English was forced on people. After all the American movies about slaves where everyone spoke English, it's difficult to imagine them all parler francais.

Oak alley

Plantation is picturesque, surrounded by few hundred year` old oaks, it was used as a movie set a few times (among them Primary Colors and Interview with the Vampire), after the guide trip there's a stand where you can buy a traditional Louisiana drink Mint Julep, which of course we did.

Oak Alley

Name of the other plantation - Laura Plantation - comes from the name of one of its owners. She wrote down her memories which contributed to reconstrution of history of that place. Our guide to this less impressive but more cozy place was a guy looking like teenager with acne on his face and speaking faster than kalashnikov. Couple of (English-speaking!) Canadians asked us whether we understood everything, cause they didn't... Well, neither did we.

Laura Plantation

This trip however was much more interesting than the first one. Our young guide had a huge knowledge and knew how to share it. To those who want to save a few dollars we would suggest taking a look at Oak Alley through the fence and paying for a guided trip in Laura. There is not only a residence but also the slaves quarters, you can find out what was a cost of slave with convertion of prices to current values (good carpenter could cost as much as 30 000 USD). We also found out that the color of the house depended on what language was spoken there. If it was white they would speak English, if other color - French. Last houses were painted white in the 1920's. Laura Plantation house is now painted in its historical colors.

Thanks to the guide now we also know that plantations on Mississippi were only seasonal work places. Most of their owners didn't stay there all year long, they would use it is  an office for nine months a year. It was New Orleans that they treated as home, and the time has come for us to finally see it.

We went to "Big Easy" the next day and spent a hours walking down the streets, trying local food and soaking in atmosphere of this amazing place. Streets of French Quarter are full of pubs, cafes, clubs with life music, restaurants with seafood and souvenir shops. Maciek was amazed by a store where you can buy the craziest Christmas ornaments all year long. Despite the cold there were lots of tourists, there were also groups of young people living on the streets (or in another place without a shower...). We even met Santa Clause who explained to surprised Maciek that he was there on vacation. 

It is another place (first was Key West) where people with drinks and beers can walk outside and bars advertise beer to go for 3 USD, or drink to go for 5 USD. We didn't get any but then at dinner we try some good local beers from Abita brewery. We love New Orleans, we will come back some day for sure.