Why I Love New Orleans

by Heather Graham

  Just down the road at 8345 Highway 61 (St. Francisville) is Butler Greenwood Plantation—a bed and breakfast. Butler Greenwood is remarkable for the fact that the plantation has stayed in the same family throughout the years. It was built by a Pennsylvania Quaker, Doctor Samuel Flower, in 1796 as a cotton plantation. Harriet, the good doctor’s daughter, continued to run the home and grounds as a cotton plantation during most of the following century—until her death. But the family picked up the reins. The plantation is still producing cotton—but now it’s open to the public.

  It’s furnished with wonderful antebellum pieces and has an absolutely gorgeous stairway that is a must-see to me. Another must-see is the twelve piece parlor set all made of rosewood.

  Cast iron benches adorn the grounds, which are enchanting.

  Something else special—there are family portraits to be seen throughout the house. It’s fun to wonder about the men and women who went before and lived and breathed in the house and called it home.

  Okay, frankly, Highway 61 can be a great ride in itself, just going from plantation to plantation. Next, we’ll mention Catalpa (9508 Highway 61.) The house is a reconstruction; the original was destroyed by fire in 1885. But it was first built by William J. Fort in the early 1800s—he was a man famous for his charm and for welcoming visitors into his home. The reconstruction is lovely and the grounds well worth a visit.

  Not to be confused with Butler Greenwood Plantation is Greenwood Plantation, also on Highway 61. (Pretty sure that we average tourists can’t just do the river-drop-by anymore!) Greenwood is one of the largest of what they call the “American-style” plantations. It’s majestic—truly beautiful when seen just as one approaches. The Greek Revival home was built for William Ruffin Barrow. At one time, there were forty plus outbuildings for all kinds of work, making the home entirely self-sufficient. Mr. Barrow must have been one smart cookie—he anticipated that no matter what anyone’s “Cause,” the Civil War was going to wreak havoc on the South and he sold out. The plantation became a hospital and after that, well, as Mr. Barrow had surmised, it began to fall apart.

  Restored in 1906, it too became victim to a fire, but the grand columns remained and (28 Doric columns, awesome!) and once again, Greenwood was restored. It’s also a bed and breakfast and—you guessed it—lots of people seem to want to get married at such a beautiful place.

  Cottage Plantation is also in St. Francisville, and it can be found at 10528 Cottage Lane (still really easy!) There’s some real history here; Judge Thomas Butler—the son of Colonel Thomas Butler, one famed for being part of the “Fighting Butlers” who served beneath General George Washington. The house is truly beautiful—inside you’ll find gold-leaf wallpaper and all kinds of exquisite and historic bric-a-brac. The proper includes many outbuildings, including slave cabins and others, and a restaurant. Of course, accommodations are offered!

  At 12501 Highway 10, you’ll find Rosedown Plantation. It’s big, it’s wonderful. Cedar and cypress create a gabled central structure and massive Doric columns support a double gallery, or wonderful porches that look out over the grounds. This plantation was owned by the Turnbull family from about 1835 to 1855 and what’s wonderful about that was Mrs. Turnbull—she was a horticulturalist and she is known to have brought to the area the first azaleas and camellias. This means that there are acres and acres of beautiful gardens to be seen here. The State of Louisiana now owns the plantation and has taken loving care of it—restoring what was lost when the previous owner sold off some of what had been original. A tour takes about forty-five or fifty minutes.

  While in St. Francisville—now at Highway 965—you can also stop in and see Oakley House an Audubon State Historic Site. (Great thing about Audubon—the man did get around!) The house was built by a wealthy Scotsman, James Pirrie, between 1808 and 1810. In 1821, James Audubon came to the house to teach the young lady of the manor. He wasn’t there that long—a few months; seemed he and the wealthy Scotsman didn’t get along that well. But, while he was there, he painted many of his images of birds that later appeared in Birds of America. You can go and see the study where he worked, and, naturally, you can see gardens and…birds.

  As you can see, there are all kinds of wonders here to choose from. It depends what you’re looking for. Quiet and beauty and serenity and a sense of the past, or gardens and trees and the richness of nature. Some of the houses can be toured easily, and some are places where you’re going to want to stay. There’s something magical about waking up a plantation that’s now a bed and breakfast. Sometimes, you want what’s real and oldest, sometimes you want what’s biggest and grandest.

  Sometimes, you want it all.

  If you start out bright and early, I’d still suggest finding the one that appeals to you most and check in on any of their websites about what they offer and what their prices are for whatever season you’re traveling. We’re all different in what we love, like, and really don’t care about at all. I’d find it hard, though, not to be intrigued in some way.

  And these are just the plantations of the Upper Mississipi!

  Tomorrow...the Lower Mississippi Plantations! (Those include the famous and glorious Oak Alley, the Creole plantation, Laura, Nottaway, and the unique San Francisco!

  Day Thirteen - Lower Mississippi Plantations

  Many of these plantations help explain a statistic—in 1850, it’s estimated that almost 2/3 of our country’s millionaires lived along the Great River Road here in Louisiana.

  Naturally, the plantations are broken up into Upper and Lower because you’ll be going in two different directions from NOLA to visit each set of plantations.

  I’m going to start out with one I love and where I’ve stayed overnight—Oak Alley. (3645 Highway 18, Vacherie)

  The very name conjures up a view most of us have seen at some time in our lives—the sweeping line of oaks that leads to the grand plantation.

  Oak Alley is grand on just about every scale. Naturally, it’s impressive just to approach the mansion—there are 28 towering oaks that are estimated to be over three hundred years old. They lead to and create a frame for the entrance to the mansion.

  The plantation itself is a star—it’s been used in numerous movies and television shows including Interview With a Vampire, The Long Hot Summer, and many more. It looks like one of the grand estates seen in Gone With the Wind, but that exterior was actually filmed elsewhere. The house was built in 1837 (for Jacques Telephore Roman III) and conjures up images of fine carriages and women in sweeping antebellum gowns. There are massive columns and a second floor gallery. But there is much more to see here than just the house—which is beautifully kept with period pieces and décor. Not that a tour of the house isn’t filled with wondrous sites and the guides tell the history exceptionally well.

  But here, you can also visit a Civil War campsite, see restored outbuildings, and also see an excellent slave quarters exhibit. There’s a blacksmith’s shop and other buildings pertinent to the day to day running of a plantation with all the work that was involved. There are gardens, gravestones, and a gift shop, naturally. At Oak Alley, you can really get beneath the beauty—though that is abundant—and get down to daily basics and all that went into running these massive estates. (The forge is original!)

  We stayed here with a group in one of the outbuildings; we were a fairly large group so we actually had a little “house” to ourselves. It’s beautiful to be here at night, to see the oaks as twilight falls, and to discover all the grounds have to offer. I also love the restaurant—let me mention again that the shrimp po-boy is delicious. When you come, you’ll naturally be regaled with tales as well about the local haunts and when you see mist fall over the oaks, you’ll believe you see fine gentlemen and elegant ladies strolling along them.

  Just down the street is Laura. (2247 Highway 18) This is a classic raised Creole plantation and it was built by Guillame Duparc, a Revolutionary War veteran in 1805. It’s really interesting to visit Laura right after explor
ing Oak Alley—you get a sense of the difference of the classic English/American plantation and the Creole plantation. Something very fun for me in the grand scheme of wonderful stories we hear as children is the literary tradition that was born here; the slaves told stories. The original French was translated by folklorist Alcee Fortier and later became Joel Chandler Harris’s tales found in the Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit books. Now, every time I’m at Disney going on Splash Mountain, I think of Laura! Like many places, Laura was devastated by a fire, but it’s been excellently restored to show true Creole style. As always, look Laura up before going and check out hours and appointment times for tours.

  On to Nottoway, again, grand and wonderful—and I especially love it because of the name. It literally came to the time of building when it was being constructed in 1859. The architect was Henry Howard and John Randolph was going to be moving in with his wife and eleven children and it was meant to be a mansion. Therefore, only the finest wood could be used—not the pieces with knots. So, the cry went up—“Knot away!” And thus, goes the legend, the house—the largest on the stretch of River Road. Okay, big. I mean big. 53,000 square feet, 64 rooms. There are fireplaces galore, beautiful windows, antiques, wonderful things that display the life of the, ahem, really well-to-do.

  Nottoway might have been a victim of the Civil War, however, when a Union gunboat was bearing down, one of her officers asked the house be spared—once upon a time, he’d been a guest there and he couldn’t bear to see the home destroyed. (30970 Highway 405, White Castle)

  I really (really, really, really!) suggest you see this plantation. It’s truly one of our finest examples of antebellum architecture.

  Destrehan (13034 River Road) was built by a “free man of color.” It was built in the Creole style in 1787 but then modified in 1830-1840. A historical note here is that Union soldiers freed the slaves working here when they came through during the Civil War. Sugar drove the economy here, and there are several buildings to be seen.

  Houmas House, dating from 1840, survived the Civil War because its owner, John Burnside, was Irish. He demanded that he be treated as a British subject, and therefore, he’d best be left alone. (40136 Highway 942, Darrow. He grew sugar cane and had a number of sugar mills. The house is grand with galleries and columns and if you're out in that direction, you should also stop in nearby Houma, Louisiana. There you’ll find one of the finest independent bookstores still going strong in our country. That’s because it’s run by Molly and Kay who know their readers, know their books, and are it's one of the most friendly places you’ll ever find.

  To round out this group of exceptionally fine and historic plantations, you can hop on over to Madewood in Napoleonville at 4350 Highway 308. It, too, was erected for a sugar planter between 1840 and 1848 and is considered to be the first building of note by architect Henry Howard. It’s a bed and breakfast, the nicest, most hospitable kind, and yes...you can rent it for events!

  Louisiana is famed for its gracious grand plantations—venues that teach us about a past that was considered romantically slow and graceful—except that, of course, these days, they teach you all that is good and not so good about history. But here’s the thing, remember—knowing we behaved badly doesn’t change history. It should never be white-washed. So see these grand places to appreciate—and to remember! We continue daily to fight for true equality for everyone, no matter what their color—or religion, sex, sexual orientation, or ethnicity!

  Day Fourteen - The Zoo

  See these eyes…

  Think back, remember. Let your mind hear the haunting music of a great song by David Bowie. See in your mind’s eye something sleek and black and incredibly graceful...a leopard, a black leopard.

  Cat People—actually, the remake of the 1942 classic, was filmed in NOLA, with much of the filming taking place at the zoo. This one stars the ever wonderful Malcolm McDowell and Natasha Kinski and its considered to be erotic. That’s, of course, because, ahem, falling in love turns the naïve star into a leopard but due to circumstances, our heroine doesn’t know this until she comes to stay with her brother—in New Orleans. And if you’re a leopard, where do you wind up?

  The zoo! (6500 Magazine Street)

  I love the New Orleans zoo. It isn’t anywhere near as big as some of the zoos I’ve been to, but it’s big enough for a good day of walking if you want to catch all the exhibits. It’s also different, too, because it has an atmosphere that’s somehow entirely New Orleans.

  And guess what? It consistently ranks among our nation’s top zoos!

  The Audubon Zoo opened in 1938 and in the 1980s it was given a “zoo-over,” naturally to update things and also because that’s about when we realized that animals used to space needed more than little cages and we just started caring a lot more about what we did. We went to “natural” habitats. As with everything else, the “summer of storms” played havoc, but creatures were cared for and this area—not far from Tulane and Loyola—didn’t suffer the way some did. I was recently there; the trees were weaving, flowers—flowering—and fountains bubbling. It was a lovely day. The old mingles beautifully with the new here.

  I’m a zoo nut. It’s one of the reasons I fell in love with the city as a child. There are magnificent creatures to be seen, and yes, many cities have fine zoos. But if you’re like me, you’ll want to see this one because it is unique and it’s especially fun if you’re traveling with children. It is 58 acres, so you can spend time walking around! There are all kinds of things to do; there’s an elephant plaza and at designated times, a keeper gives an elephant show and children can touch an elephant without paying the extra needed at many zoos for an elephant ride. The elephants, Jean and Panya, are favorites of visitors to the zoo.

  Sea lions delight crowds and their exhibit is one of the oldest at the zoo. The lovely columns make it an especially pleasant spot and when it’s feeding time, you might need to jockey for space to see the fun.

  We all know (I mean, realistically, seriously!) New Orleans can get hot. But the zoo takes care of that by having a Cool Zoo. It’s animal themed, of course, but it’s a splash playground that tons of fun—for little children, and those big children called grown-ups, alike.

  You’re actually right in Uptown New Orleans—but you can be in the swamp while there, and sit in a rocker, and take in what that life might be like—and cool down a little there, too. Lots of trees and shade. You’re safely up close and safe with lots of alligators as they bask and swim in muddy water and watch you with their curiously cunning eyes. You’ll also see a Cajun houseboat out on the lagoon, and other denizens of the region.

  Reptiles? They got ‘em. Cobras, rattlesnakes, Kimodo dragons.

  There are white tiger brothers here—King Rex and King Zulu.

  Monkeys, primates, bears.

  Giraffes? Of course. You’ll find them at the African Savannah along with hippos, rhinos, zebras, wild dogs, and more.

  Years and years ago, under the Works Progress Administration, workers built Monkey Hill. It’s twenty-eight feet tall; for many children from New Orleans, it’s the only hill they know.

  And, of course, it’s legendary for being the highest topographical point in the city. Today it has trails, wading pool and a cool rope bridge.

  If you haven’t much time and you’re not sure what you want to see most, I suggest you catch the little tram, which does a pretty good sweep of the zoo; then you know. Wow—I missed that turn. I have to go see the bear!

  Naturally, you can stop for a snack, or lunch, or a drink. It’s hot, right? Of course, they have water and sell it, too. There are a few rides, too, if you’re looking for that kind of entertainment—but those are animal themed, too. (Extra fee.)

  If you haven’t caught the movie, Cat People (I’m referring to the 1982 remake,) it shows some really fine buildings unique to the New Orleans zoo. They were what made the set design so compelling, in my mind. Some have seen the way of storms and time, but some still stand; you can ask at informa
tion if you want to know which ones are original to the zoo. People there are friendly and helpful.

  Did I mention the jaguars? They can be found at Jaguar Jungle. They live in a habitat created to resemble Mayan ruins. You'll also find anteaters there, along with sloths, spider monkeys and other creatures. The different habitats are well done and reflect the natural homes of the animals.

  All in all, it’s a lovely day in a beautiful section of the city. They take excellent care of the animals and all the trainers and keepers I met were deeply devoted to their charges.

  They do close around four or five in the afternoon, depending on the day, and if you’ve driven there, when you’re done, you can take a ride down Magazine Street where you’ll find wonderful restaurants and stores and you can browse and find a great place for dinner. For many of my friends who live in the city, Magazine is their favorite place to shop. I’m rather partial to a few places there myself.

  But I love the zoo. There’s something very special about it.

  Cats, yes, of course, big cats!

  See these eyes…

  Day Fifteen - Music & All That Jazz

  First of all, if you can make it, one of the most remarkable events of the year in NOLA is New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival that takes place for ten days in spring. (You can still make it this year!)

  In my humble opinion, there is nothing quite like it. NOLA loves jazz, and Jazz Fest takes it all to a new level. Thousands of bands, thousands of people, local culture and cuisine, parades—a party unlike anything you’ll ever witness or experience anywhere else.

  Perhaps it’s all because of the curious beginnings. Unlike many things in NOLA, Jazz Fest does not go back hundreds of years! Many groups had jazz fest during the 1960s but it was 1970 when George Wein was brought in. He’d already started a few jazz festivals, so he knew what he was doing. And he did. He didn’t head down Bourbon Street, he found the best performers he could in the city by going to the local venues—and even asking musicians in he had seen playing on the street. Mahalia Jackson attended that New Orleans Heritage Fair in Congo Square. She began to sing, and while there were about 350 attendees to the fest that first year, it blossomed into something magnificent immediately. Duke Ellington was there, Al Hirt was there…the festival was something that sprang to life with an essence all its own and has since blossomed into one of the finest examples of such an event to be found anywhere. Music, food, art, vendors, concerts, culture, and Mardi Gras “Indians,” all come together to fill the air and the city with jazz. Now, there’s an International Pavilion, there are the biggest names in the music industry, and no matter where the performers come from, they become essentially part of the city while Jazz Fest goes on and it now stretches out for ten days, taking in two weekends.