After a month in Arkansas, we moved on to the Natural State’s southern neighbor and my home state, Louisiana. We spent Christmas in North Louisiana with family, the RV parked in my parents’ drive, reminding me of a scene from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. I kept picturing Cousin Eddie and family driving up in the old motor coach, ready for some holiday festivities.
We had a wonderful holiday, got to visit with some extended family we hadn’t seen in quite some time, and made some lasting memories. The girls had a nice break from school, and I had a whole 11 days of no work. It was glorious!
My parents offered to watch the girls for New Year’s Eve weekend, and Ray and I took a short trip to Natchitoches, LA. I’ve been there several times before, but Ray had never been, so it was fun to experience it with him. It’s a small town, but it has such character, very delicious food, and lots of history. That makes for a good weekend getaway in my book.
We left mid-morning on Friday, and since it is only a two-hour drive from my folks’ home in Ruston, we were there before noon. There are many historical properties in the area, and several plantation homes are still standing. I have always loved historical homes, and though Ray is a lot less interested in “old houses that are falling apart,” he usually takes a shine to anything that has been deemed a “National Historical Park.” So, he obliged.
Though I like to see the old houses, I’m even more fascinated with the many slave quarters that are still standing. The reality of any human being having to live in slavery is one of the most atrocious things imaginable. When walking through those tiny one and two-room houses, I try to picture that life. I try to picture what it was like to wake up every morning, knowing I have no freedom, and knowing my day will be spent working the land of another person and being subjected to their wrath. I try to imagine being a parent to children, who are also owned by others. I can’t, though. I really can’t imagine that horror.
I’ve been to a lot of plantations over the years – in Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina. A lot of them gloss over the part about slave life and focus more on the plantation owners and their lives. It’s not the best selling point for those plantations that serve as venues for weddings and other happy events. Also, there often aren’t very many records on the people who worked the plantations and lived without any rights of their own.
The two plantations we visited near Natchitoches were part of the Cane River Creole National Historical Park. Located along Cane River Lake, Magnolia and Oakland were both cotton plantations. Though the main house at Magnolia is privately owned and cannot be toured, visitors are welcome to tour the grounds that include slave quarters, the overseer’s house, a cotton gin, and other buildings.
At Oakland, people can tour both the main house (raised Creole plantation house style) and other structures, including slave quarters and the overseer’s house.
We also visited Melrose Plantation, which is one of the most beautiful plantations along Cane River. Its history starts with a freed slave, who began farming, purchasing land, and acquiring slaves of her own (hard to imagine that someone who was once a slave would later own other humans). One of her sons purchased acres and built Melrose. Though it passed through many hands over the years, it is now owned by The Association for the Preservation of Historic Natchitoches. We were able to tour the inside of the main house and the gardens, as well as several other original structures.
There is plenty more to do in the Natchitoches area besides touring plantation country. The oldest permanent settlement in the entire Louisiana Purchase Territory, the small city was established in 1714. Front Street, which is lined with many buildings on the National Historic Register, is adjacent to the river. The red-brick road is home to several fantastic Cajun/Creole restaurants, some excellent shopping, and a couple of fun night spots. One of our favorite parts of our weekend was eating. We ate at four fantastic restaurants in the area and were happy to get our fill of culinary delights: crawfish etouffee, fried crawfish, oyster poboys, red beans and rice, chicken and sausage gumbo, and shrimp and corn bisque. We washed much of this down with Jack and Coke. We also had some Natchitoches meat pies, though we much preferred the crawfish pies!
Natchitoches is also home to a pretty awesome Christmas festival. It runs through December and into the first week of January every year. We were there for New Year’s Eve, so we were able to check out the lights and the fireworks on the river.
A few movies were filmed in and around Natchitoches, the most famous being Steel Magnolias. Being from Louisiana, and also being a girl, I have seen this movie many times. Ray, on the other hand, saw it back in 1989 (when it first came out) or sometime shortly after. He wasn’t all that interested in seeing any of the filming locations, until he learned that the movie was based on the true story of the playwright’s sister, who died from complications of diabetes. He always likes a true story! So, we hit the roads to see some of the sites of the more famous scenes in the film.
We also enjoyed a brief stroll down the Walk of Fame, a tribute to famous people who contributed to Natchitoches through the arts. Of course, the Steel Magnolias ladies were all there.
We certainly had a memorable New Year’s Eve Weekend in one of the nicest little towns in Louisiana. We ate, we drank, we celebrated the new year, we learned some history, and we partook in a bit of culture. And as much as we love our children, we seriously needed some kid-free time! Thanks to Mama and Daddy for that!!!! (And the girls had a great weekend with the grandparents – eating out, going to the park, catching a movie, and playing outside).
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