2005/03 Deep South trip - Oak Alley |
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Wednesday March 9th
We couldn’t visit the Deep South without taking in one of the plantations. There are still a few left along the Mississippi River, restored to their early 1800s’ appearance and open to visitors. We chose the Oak Alley Plantation, about 40 miles upriver. It’s famous for its two rows of magnificent 300-year old live oaks. “Live oak” here means that the oaks are evergreens, never being without leaves. The branches are covered too with “resurrection fern”. The name comes from its reaction to water. It goes brown after a few days without rain, but then grows back luxuriantly at the first shower.
The oaks were planted by someone unknown in the 1700s, and even 200 years ago they were impressive enough for 
Jean Roman to choose this spot for his sugar plantation and dream house. He and his wife ran the plantation for about 30 years, with labour provided by their sixty slaves. The inside of the house has been nicely restored with many unique touches, like the big “punka” that swept to and fro over the dinner table to provide a cooling breeze, and the glass bug traps.
The ladies that gave the commentary in their period costumes admitted that in summer the area is stiflingly hot and very buggy. There were also candles in a spiral holder. The tradition was that the daughters’ beaux would have to leave when the candle burned down. The parents could set the candle in the spiral to lengthen or shorten the time the beau stayed.
We both ordered the alligator special for lunch, but there was only one alligator left, so I had to make do with jambalaya. We also tried a mint julep drink, bourbon whiskey with sugar water and mint.