*** PHOTO Trip Journal aboard Carnival's CONQUEST (Sept. 2012, Caribbean) ***

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The original flooring was marble (since replaced by hardwood flooring), the roof was slate,

the exterior walls and columns were of brick painted white to resemble marble.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Catching another glimpse at the famous oak trees! : - ))

 

 

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The Oak Alley Mansion has high ceilings, large windows and a second-floor gallery for viewing the surroundings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Touring the Oak Alley Mansion on a Tuesday afternoon (October 2, 2012)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Bon Séjour ("good living") plantation, as it was originally named, was established to grow sugar cane.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oak Alley Plantation is named after its distinguishing feature - an alley or canopied path created by a double row of live

oaks about 800 feet (240 meters) long that was planted in the early 18th century, long before the present house was built.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Oak Alley runs between the mansion (aka "The Big House") and the Mississippi River.

 

 

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So much history!

 

In front of this door, the tour guide stopped for a minute for

the big finale...

 

 



 

 

Located on the Mississippi River,

Oak Alley Plantation has been called the "Grande Dame of the Great River Road".

 

 



 

 



 

 

"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... the Oak Alley Plantation!"

 

(and she opened the door to... Paradise!)

 

 



 

 

Much of this antebellum opulence survives today as

majestic architectural treasures and testimony to a bygone era in American history.

 

 

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It's every bit as spectacular as you could ever imagine!

 

 



 

 

Twenty-eight (28) trees make a perfect lane leading to the river.

 

The trees existed before the house, as far back as the early 1700s.

 





 

 

In 1829, Jacques Telesphore Roman, a Creole sugar planter,

built the present house (with its 28 columns) for his wife.

 

 



 

 

Family portraits of former owners line the walls,

but the most stunning view is from the upstairs front gallery.



 



 



It's a grand view of the alley of ancient oaks as they march toward the river.

 

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"We have baby oaks in back," the guide says.

"They're only 150 years old."

 

 



 

 

Take a long look over the land!

 

Don't you wish you could call Oak Alley home? : - ))

 

 



 

 

As time has etched its marks through Louisiana, so have many glorious plantations been lost -- through war, fire, and neglect.

 

But many of the grandes dames still smooth their skirts by the levees of the Mississippi River,

and the old girls just love company.

 

 

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The grandes dames wait patiently for visitors to come calling.

 

Nestled close to the river, they drape their shoulders in Spanish moss.

 

Their numbers have fallen, yet many linger -

the plantations from New Orleans to Baton Rouge!

 

 

 

 

Located on the Mississippi River between the historic Louisiana cities of New Orleans and Baton Rouge,

 

Oak Alley Plantation has been called the "Grande Dame of the Great River Road".

 

 

 

 

We came to enjoy Oak Alley's beauty and couldn't stop dreaming of her rich past . . .

 

 

 

 

The quarter-mile canopy of giant live oak trees, believed to be nearly 300 years old,

 

forms an impressive avenue leading to the classic Greek-revival style antebellum home.

 

 

 

 

Oak Alley Plantation and one of its famous antebellum-dressed tour guides:

 

 

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The most beautiful view of the Oak Alley surroundings is from the upstairs front gallery.

 

 

 

 

View of the Stewart Gardens

 

 

 

 

In 1925, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Stewart purchased Oak Alley.

They were the 5th and last resident owners.

 

The Stewart's restoration of Oak Alley was one of the first along the Great River Road

and began the trend toward saving old plantation homes in this area.

 

 

 

 

The Stewarts recognized the historic and aesthetic value of Oak Alley and felt it was a privilege to live here,

an emotional guide told us.

 

 

 

 

The mansion as we saw it that Tuesday afternoon has been restored to its 19th century glory,

a noble tribute to those who left their indelible mark on this rich River Region.

 

 

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The mansion has a square floor plan, organized around a central hall that

runs from the front to the rear on both floors.

 

 

 

 

Twelve-and-a-half-foot ceilings rise above the lovely furniture.

 

 

 

 

"The floor in the hallway had to be replaced," says the tour guide,

"because the young boys liked to gallop their horses through the hall from the front door to the back door."

 

 

 

 

Doors sport faux-bois cypress, painted to look like mahogany.

 

 

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The Oak Alley mansion tour ended and for whatever reason we still felt transported to another era...

 

 

 

 

No wonder so many movies were filmed here

(not to mention how many celebrities came to visit)!

 

 

 

 

Steping back into the Antebellum beauty of the old South with this tour of the Oak Alley Plantation...

 

 

 

 

Passionate and witty guides dressed in period clothing lead informative tours of the mansion.

 

 

 

 

TIP: Oak Alley's signature Mint Julep's = available for sale at the mansion!

 

 

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The design is Greek Revival architecture, with some facets of French Creole architecture,

which was heavily influenced by Caribbean plantation architecture.

 

 

 

 

The mansion - the exterior features a free-standing colonnade of 28 Doric columns on all four sides

(a common feature of antebellum mansions of the Mississippi Valley).

 

 

 

 

"In the beginning ..." there were the (oak) trees!

 

 

Sometime in the early 1700's, probably a few years before the 1718 founding of New Orleans

as the colonial seat of government, a settler claimed land from an original royal grant for his dwelling

and defined its entrance with an alley of live oaks in two rows (2) leading to the river.

 

 

 

 

Native to the area, the oaks thrived and by 1722, when the early Capuchin Fathers arrived at

St. Jacques de Cabahanoce to establish the settlement of St. James Parish,

 

the young trees had already attained a stature which hinted at the magnificence that was to be theirs.

 

 

 

 

The design of the mansion combined several styles, the most notable being the 28 classic columns

surrounding the house. The columns measure 8 feet in circumference and are solid brick.

 

The bricks were made in pie-shaped molds in order to achieve the circular form of the columns.

 

All the materials used in the construction of the home were found or manufactured on the plantation

with the exception of the marble for the floors and fireplaces and the slate for the roof,

both of which were imported.

 

 

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Couldn't get enought of those beautiful trees!...

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Wondering around the Oak Alley grounds for a bit...

 

 

 

 

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This sugar kettle is used as a water garden now:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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One more look back at the majestic mansion and its famous oak trees:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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"A gentle southern breeze

sashays by-

 

Aged oaks breathe relief

Secrets carved-

 

within her sturdy branches

For eternity"

 

 

 

 

"Rebel flag still flies-

testament to a past era

Still unyielding-

 

to southern pride

Bathed in beauty

Caught in time"

 

 

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"Standing alone

shadowed by the great [Oak Alley] plantation-

Lazy muddy Mississippi

wanders by

Eyes locked in a gaze-

under her mighty oaks

 

Nostalgia from ages ago

now imprinted on her soul"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Souls of slaves

inhabit these grounds-

Do you not hear

whispers of clinking metal?

 

One lone cup

holding water

from a well

Single reward-

for each slaves daily toil"

 

 

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We still had few minutes to kill before the driver was to arrive,

so time for more shopping and some refreshments @ the Gift Shop!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another interesting bit of tree history took place at Oak Alley Plantation:

 

 

In the 1840s, Antoine, a talented gardener who was a slave of the plantation,

grafted the first paper-shell pecan trees.

 

By 1865, 126 grafted papershell pecan trees were growing on Oak Alley Plantation.

 

The variety of pecans which Antoine created became known as "Centennial".

 

 

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The Gift Shop is located next to the Restaurant and the Plantation Café

(not far from the antebellum mansion)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Gift Shop offers a large selection of Louisiana and Oak Alley souvenirs.

 

 

 

 

We concluded our visit at the Blacksmith shop

(located adjacent to the Gift Shop and the Restaurant).

 

The shop has been remodeled.

However the forge is original and is one of the few remaining forges of its type in Louisiana.

 

The blacksmith was an important part of the plantation, and he was always in high demand.

 

The blacksmith kept the horses and mules shod, repaired rims on wagon wheels, and maintained barrel supports.

 

Additionally, he fabricated iron hooks, nails, door and gate hinges, latches, wrought iron gates and fences,

and created and maintained tools like farming hoes, shovels, fireplace tools and many everyday use items.

 

 

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The mansion as we saw it that Tuesday afternoon has been restored to its 19th century glory' date='[/b']

a noble tribute to those who left their indelible mark on this rich River Region.

 

 

 

 

WOW! "Gone with the wind" flash-backs anyone??

[altajewel]

Wow!! Your photos are absolutely beautiful! Thank you for sharing them :)

I really wanted to go to this plantation when we are there in April, however my 15 yr old son does not want anything to do with this tour lol and since it is a family vacation I will just have to wait for the next time - however I truly appreciate seeing it through your photos!

Lovely review and I really do not want it to end (atleast not until I leave for New Orleans myself lol)

[trubadur]

Wow!! Your photos are absolutely beautiful! Thank you for sharing them :)

I really wanted to go to this plantation when we are there in April, however my 15 yr old son does not want anything to do with this tour lol and since it is a family vacation I will just have to wait for the next time - however I truly appreciate seeing it through your photos!

Lovely review and I really do not want it to end (atleast not until I leave for New Orleans myself lol)

 

I am with you on this one! For almost 20 y, DW and I have been cruising with our DD and the 'schedule' revolved around her needs and wants. No complaining but now that the nest is empty, we are anxiously waiting for a Mediterranean cruise this summer....as a couple only. This is our 'next time' to visit lots of pending places and do few things that we had pending for a long time..

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The driver came to pick us up and off we went... back to New Orleans (1 hour drive)!

 

 

 

Sugar kettle (used as a water garden now)

 

 

 

 

After two days of grey clouds and rain, the weather couldn't be more perfect that Tuesday afternoon!

 

 

 

 

"Let's take a walk a sunny day

And find those hidden roads

Which goes to secret places

And to magic nooks"

 

 

 

 

"Can you hear the whisperings

From the trees?

They're fortelling memories

 

Creatures you've never seen catch

The gossip from the sizzling leaves

When we walk the alley of the oaks"

 

 

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David Middleton said it best @ Oak Alley Plantation:

 

 

Driving in Louisiana Plantation Country...

 

Remember? Louisiana is home to some of the grandest plantation homes in the South.

 

 

 

St. Joseph Plantation is one of the few fully intact sugar cane plantations in Louisiana.

 

 

 

 

In addition to the main plantation house, St. Joseph Plantation has numerous outbuildings including the

original slave cabins, detached kitchen, a blacksmith’s shop, a carpenter’s shed and a school-house.