New Orleans, LA: Plantations

Visiting the plantations was an awesome and memorable trip, not only because of the sheer beauty of the houses, but because of the history, the pain, and the struggles that took place within the grounds of the plantations.

The first we visited was the Laura Plantation.  The family that had owned it was a Creole family, and yet they owned slaves. Creole is a term used in reference to someone from French or Spanish descent.  Its application was very widespread though, and could be used in reference to someone of full descent, or racially mixed.  In this case, European, Native American, and West African were in the mix.  

Slave Quarters. 

Some of the few remaining. We were able to go inside, and see the conditions of the house. 

The second house we only got to see the outside of, but that was certainly enough.  It is called the Oak Alley Plantation, because of the Oaks that line the pathway to the house, and surround the house.