I have always loved seeing the old plantation houses in pictures and movies.  So when I heard that we were going to New Orleans, I immediately told Jim that we had to visit one of the plantations while we were there.
After talking about which plantation to visit with Lisa and Patty, there are several to choose from, we all decided that we would visit Oak Alley.
Oak Alley Plantation is mainly known, in the area, for its abundance of live oak trees on the property, many of which are over 300 years old.  Oak Alley has also played host to Hollywood a number times, being used in films, such as Midnight Bayou, Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte, Nightrider, Dixie: Changing Habits, The Long Hot Summer, Interview with a Vampire, and Primary Colors, as well as episodes of Days of Ours Lives and Scifi's Ghost Hunters, and Beyoncé's "Déjà Vu" music video and "B'Day" CD insert photos.

For the tour, we entered the Main House on the south side.

Parlor Room

Main Hallway

Dinning Room

Guest Room

Childrens' Room

The Master Suite

The Lavender Room

View from the front of the 2nd story.

View from the East side of the 2nd story

View from the rear side of the 2nd story

Office Area

The Main House is made entirely of brick.

Front of the Main House.

View from the front door.

The oak trees here are SO COOL!

This canopy of live oak trees up the walkway is why this place is called Oak Alley.

Once used as the kitchen, this building has been turned into an antique car garage.

East side of the Main House.

Plantation Bell

Confederate Commanding Officer's Tent

View of the west side of the Main House.

Stewart Family Cemetery

Sugar Cane Bowl: Now multiple sizes of these are used on the property as fountains or floral decorations.


Blacksmith Shop

Candles, like this one, were used by parents to determine how long their daughters could visit with suitors.  The higher up the candle, the longer the date.  I tried to convince Jim that we should have purchased one for when our daughters start dating.

Some of the many beautiful flowers found on the plantation.

After leaving the plantation, we decided to take the long way back to New Orleans, and cross over Lake Pontchartrain.  The bridge across this lake is roughly 24 miles long.

The New Orleans Skyline

Getting closer.