The tour at Whitney Plantation was fantastic. Of course it was sobering and sad as well, but I was pleasantly surprised with how interested all of our children were to listening to their headsets at each site. The focus of the plantation is to tell the stories and experiences of the slaves at this plantation, which I think is really valuable and (unfortunately) quite unique. Each of us got a card with a slave’s depiction and story on it to carry with us and there were beautiful sculptures throughout the property of enslaved children. It was powerful and very well done.
Gorgeous live oaks
The Big House
Some of the sculptures on the porch of one of the cabins that housed slaves. Surprisingly this cabin had continuous residents all the way from the time the plantation was in use (built in 1803) until the 1970’s. Incredible because it is not insulated or very large.
These big cauldrons were used to process sugar cane at the plantation. It was quite dangerous work.
We had to stop and see a NOLA cemetery up close - very cool!
We happened to stop for lunch at Juneau’s Sandwich Shop one afternoon in Morrero, Louisiana. Nina, the owner, was so kind to us and gave Mabel a whole plate of fried oysters, who was legitimately thrilled. We also got to try the Weenie Sandwich, which has apparently been Juneau’s most-loved sandwich for decades. Nina made sure we drove around the corner to see the home that was destroyed by a tornado just the week before!
We saw up close the destruction left behind by a hurricane (I think it might have been Hurricane Ida in 2021) on our stop at Tickfaw State Park. I was surprised at how much of this we saw all around New Orleans - lots of missing roofs and damage.
We had to drive over a supposedly haunted causeway to get to this Joyce Wildlife Swampwalk. The causeway was foggy and creepy but the swampwalk was especially spooky! Still didn’t see any alligators but we did see someone’s sandals and water bottle floating in the water. Hopefully they just dropped them and weren’t gobbled up by an alligator!
New Orleans did not disappoint. Despite the rainy weather we had a lovely time ringing in the New Year there and I’m excited to go back someday and see some of the things we missed (and of course, get our favorite beignets).
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