Saturday, July 21, 2012

Oak Alley Plantation


The third plantation we visited was Oak Alley which is properly named due to the massive column of oak trees that line its front lawn.
Ian, Courtney, Ethan, Chloe, Tia, Don, Misty, & Avery Lively at Oak Alley.
The quarter mile lane of oak trees that run from the Mississippi river to the main house are evenly spaces and believed to be almost three hundred years old. 

In the tour we were told that the original owner, Jacques T. Roman, came upon the massive row of oaks when they were around one hundred years old and decided this is where he would build his house. 

The tour guide mentioned that a Frenchman planted the trees earlier, but for what purpose I do not know.  I may have to do some research on this to satisfy my curiosity.  I would have to wonder why someone would plant the trees in such a way if not for their entrance to a mansion.

In the picture below I wanted to show the width of the tree compared to the kids.  This tree is only thought to be a little over one hundred years old and was planted by the second or third owners of the plantation.

Courtney, Avery, Ethan, Tia, & Ian standing in front of a one hundred plus year old oak tree.
As mentioned earlier, you can see why the plantation is named "Oak Alley".  This is what you expect to see when visiting a true southern plantation.  The massive rows of trees leading up to the main house.

Looking towards the main house from the Mississippi river.
If the main house looks familiar, it may be that you remember it from the movie, Interview with a Vampire, that stared Tom Cruise and Brad Pritt which was filmed here in 1993 and featured Oak Alley as Louis' home place.

There were other movies and TV shows filmed here too, you can check them out here.

There are also stories that Oak Alley is haunted, these stories are what prompted Sci-Fi to film an episode here on Ghost Hunters Season 4, Ep. 19 "Oak Alley Plantation".

We watched the above episode and found it entertaining, especially since we were actually there.  We did notice many changes in the setup of the house compared to when the episode was filmed back in 2008 until now.

We did not see or hear any ghosts while there, but then it was the middle of the day with a lot of people around.

Rear view of Oak Alley.
We liked the grounds around Oak Alley and as far as its main entrance way, it is the best of all the plantations that we have visited. 
East side view of Oak Alley's beautiful hedge design.
South side or rear view from the house.
Oak Alley is a very beautiful plantation and with its suspected hauntings, it has you wondering whether or not you really believe in ghosts.  


We enjoyed our visit and its grand oaks in front which really can not be appreciated from a picture, but must be viewed first hand.


We did not think our tour guide was as pleasant as some we have had at other plantations especially when it came to kids.  We fully understand that anyone seeing our crew ascend upon them may have some fears that our kids may be rowdy or unruly, but usually once they see how behaved they are, we get complemented.


That never happened at Oak Alley and you could tell that our guide was watching the kids like a hawk, which made me and Misty nervous and so not able to enjoy the tour as well.  Locals that have recommended plantations for us to visit have also warned us on the cold welcome one may receive from Oak Alley's personnel.


We would still recommend a tour of Oak Alley along with all the other plantations we toured in this area.  To be able to see how people lived over two hundred year ago and step where they did is always a treat and worth the trip.


Until our next post, God bless!


Don, Misty, & Kids.



Home is where the slides are out!











2 comments:

  1. Hi Don!

    Enjoyed your blog posting, and thanks for the kind words about Oak Alley. We work really hard to create a great experience for each guest, despite the thousands of people who visit us every week.

    Please consider joining our free Photo Contest: http://tinyurl.com/OakPhotos

    We also work hard to keep the training of our docents top-notch, and will use your feedback to continue to get better and better!

    Best wishes,

    Gary
    Oak Alley Plantation.

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    Replies
    1. Gary,

      We are glad you liked the post, even though we did mention that you may get a cold welcome there. It could have just been an off day for the docent who guided us through the mansion that day.

      You should be very proud of Oak Alley and we will recommend it to everyone we talk to, that they should visit it.

      Out of all of the plantations we have visited while in Louisiana, which has been five so far, none of them have the majestic driveway that Oak Alley has. When you drive past it, you feel as if you have just when through a time machine and are now in the old south around the early 1800s.

      We appreciate that Oak Alley gives us a chance to step back in time.

      Thank You,
      Don & Misty Lively

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