I just got back from a trip to New Orleans. I’ve been once before, and this time there were two things I really wanted to see, one being a beautiful old plantation home, and our morning at Oak Alley Plantation was born.
We drove about an hour outside of New Orleans into what just looked like farms. Until all of sudden the architecture began to change. There were two extreme juxtapositions of architecture; very big beautiful grand homes, and then little shacks that you could practically see through. As we came around a turn we found the driveway of Oak Alley. It actually runs along side the famous Oak Alley, and I was so busy looking for the turn I missed the view from the road!
Once we passed the ticket gates I could see why so many people visit here, the “big house” as the call it, is beautiful even from a distance.
But just on the other side of the view is where the slaves lived. It really tugs at your heart when you think about the conditions of the people living on this land and how there were totally opposites lives existing in the same space at the same time.
The “big house” is what is called an Antebellum style home, and you can just picture women in big ball gowns walking through the home. It has undergone several renovations, but the original beauty of the home is preserved.
The most beautiful part of the entire Oak Alley Plantation experience would have to be the magnificent oak trees that line the iconic front drive. It’s just unbelievable how grand, and healthy, those trees are. There was also a little armadillo who lived in the massive root system of the trees! He came out to see us for just a moment.
All in all I absolutely recommend the trip out to Oak Alley Plantation. The team that runs the plantation does an excellent job of allowing you to appreciate the beauty. They also educating you on what life was like for both the groups that lived on Oak Alley. The white slave owners of the time and the slaves who lived vastly different experiences from the slave owners.
