Oak Alley Plantation

Ever since I was a little girl and watched Gone With the Wind, I've wanted to see a plantation. Let's face it, I was a sucker for the romance of it all. (Forgetting of course all the bad stuff). When we were in New Orleans we had the opportunity to visit one and I got to pick from several choices.

The one we went to was Oak Alley Plantation. And it had everything that you imagined the plantations of the 1800's to have.

The house was at the end of these majestic 300 year old oak trees (hence the name).

This is the view from the balcony looking out.

The tour was really nice. The tour guide shakes your hand and welcomes you to the home. They are dressed in period costumes. The house itself was decorated for Christmas.

They used this to fan the room. Someone would have to gently pull the rope to make it fan but not too much so the candles would blow out.

Isn't this how you picture a plantation?

This is how big the trees are.

They had recreated the slave quarters. What we appreciated was that they didn't gloss over the life of a slave but it wasn't a depressing tour. It was informative.

I recommend this tour if you are in the New Orleans area.

Mardi Gras World

Our first stop in New Orleans was Mardi Gras World. This is the place where they build some of the floats for all the parades. They were pretty busy working since it was 8 weeks until some of the parades.

You start off getting to dress up and take pictures with some of the props.

Then you go out and see where they make the floats. Most of them are actually paper mache over styrofoam and then painted. I was shocked at that. While you have a guide for a short time they let you spend as much time with the floats and props that you want. So we spent at least 45 minutes wandering around taking photos.

Those first three shots are from actual props that will be on this year's floats.

Then they warehouse everything they've ever made so they can reuse it. Talk about recycling! They have 15 warehouses of stuff.

They work with Universal Studios and Disney for some things.

At the ends in the gift shop there are a few of the elaborate costumes.

I highly recommend going to Mardi Gras World if you are in New Orleans. They will even come pick you up at your downtown hotel.