Mister and Lady: Louisiana Trip - Day Three

Good Morning Natchitoches!!! Did you hear that as Robin Williams said it? At any rate, we are packed up and ready to depart this wonderful city. I truly to love it here and could easily see living in the area. Yep, I like it that much. Our view on the river this morning is interesting. It appears that a large "lily pad" type event is taking place, but moving quickly and by the time we get out our cameras, it is almost too late. Can you see it drifting away? At one time the whole area was covered.

A quick good-bye to the pig and we are off for another attempt to find coffee in Natchitoches. Google Maps sends us over by the campus and there is a coffee shop with the BEST name ever - Cafe DeMon (the university team name is the Devils - so demon is wonderful) but it's Starbucks coffee and we come to the realization that we are bigger coffee snobs that we though. We'll pass, thank you very much. How far to the next town? Alexandria is only about a half hour away and I find a spot that looks promising. Off we go.

It seems really sad to us that we are willing to drive this far, but Tamp and Grind Coffee makes us much happier.

It's a great place with so much room for various activities. A muffin sounds great to me, while Mister goes for an overnight oatmeal thingy. I'm okay with oatmeal, just not cold. This place is right downtown in Alexandria and as we leave the building, I notice that leftovers from Mardi Gras (that was in February, right?) are still hanging from the trees.

And the bathtub out front is awesome!!! What a great idea for a planter.

Right near downtown is a cool bridge, the Gillis Long Bridge catches Mister's eye and must be examined a bit more closely. We even crossed over to the other side of the river for another view. I adore his love for all things related to buildings/bridges, etc. Architecture can be crazy cool. The view from this side of the city.

While we are here, I mention to my sweetheart that I did see another plantation in the area that might be cool and ask if he is plantationed out. Much to my surprise, he agrees and off we go towards Kent Plantation. This sits right in the city. Strange right? It wasn't always so and many of these building have been moved here from other locations, but even still, it could be fun. We check into the gift shop and find out that a tour is at least 30-45 minutes away. That doesn't appeal to us so we decline and the wonderful woman working the shop, Sandy Lott asks if we can wait 5 minutes. Well, yes. She then closes up shop and takes us to the Main House herself. How cool is this?

Kent Family House is one of the oldest standing structures in the state of Louisiana and is an authentic Creole plantation house built circa 1796 prior to the Louisiana Purchase. The house was built by Pierre Baillio II, whose family came from France. Construction of the house was completed in 1800 and the house originally only had six rooms along with being constructed in a manner typical of Louisiana during that time. It is raised off the ground on brick pillars to protect it from the flood waters of Bayou Rapides. All of the materials used to build the house came from the land; the clay used for the brick pillars, cypress for its sills and beams, and mud, Spanish moss and animal hair for its bousillage walls. In 1842 the house was purchased by Robert C. Hinson from Kent County, Maryland and the house was named for that area. Greek revival style was in vogue and several changes were made to the house to bring it up to date, including adding two square wings at either end of the front gallery. The house and all of the land grant are now within the city limits of Alexandria.

Walking under the house, there is a staircase that leads to the second floor. Since we both think this is a strange entrance and comment on it, Sandy gives us the story. It was the accepted way to enter the home until the hoop skirts became popular and women couldn't get up the stairs anymore. At that time, one of the rails on the balcony was removed and a staircase built down to the grass to create a beautiful main entry.

As we stood on the balcony, Sandy explains that the taxing system was based on rooms. Hallways counted as rooms so weren't really in homes back then. Therefore, each room had a separate entrance from the outside as well as inside doors that opened into each room. Starting at one end, the first room we enter was originally the master bedroom, but now functions as a museum type area and entrance as a newer master suite was added on at another time. Most of what is in the house is not original, but the little rocking chair in the boys room is authentic. Four to five boys would have shared this one room, sleeping on treadles. It is also the only room in the house that still has its original heart of pine flooring and is no longer walked on, except to clean. I love the rope bed as I now know how they worked and why. It is here that we learn why the beds and windows are at the same level. BREEZE. Pure and simple.

The dining room - see the door to the balcony?

And the "shoo-fly."

As Sandy shows us a rare item in the corner of the ladies parlor, I am mesmerized. It is the most unique sewing cabinet I have ever seen. Since we are on a private tour and I'm oh so interested, she lets me go behind the ropes and check it out up close. The part with the green "bag" swings out and is a place to store the current hand project. Please look closely in the following picture and perhaps you can see what I am talking about. This is just amazing.

In this room, along with stories of how the lady of the house handled things, is a chance to see an actual tea brick. Now, perhaps this is something many of you have seen before, but not I. It was kept in the case to the left, under lock and key due to its value. The next room once again gives us a test. Sandy asks if we can determine what this item is and I'm afraid we both fail. It is a baby walker. Thinking that perhaps they covered the top with a soft cloth, it allowed them to roam around the room but was wider than the doorways so they couldn't leave the confines of that area. Genius. Also, the linens on the bed are incredible. The top one (folded and barely seen) is in a very fragile condition, but beautiful still the same.

As we move into the library, she again shares many great items with us. This is one of the two rooms added on in the 1840s. The gentlemen would have gathered here after a meal to visit as well as where the master of the plantation would have worked on his books.

Sandy allows us to take a closer look at the horsehair chair that sits hear the fireplace. I have never seen anything like this before. It's incredible and the different colors come from different horses. I don't want to even think about why this came to be except that I am hoping it was gathered from horses that had died due to natural causes. If it is different, I don't want to hear about it. At any rate, the workmanship is amazing.

Into the Master bedroom, the second of the new rooms that were added. The bed is a "rolling pin" bed due to the fact that the top comes off and "rolls" the bed smooth each day. This took two people to accomplish the task and then one simply did NOT touch the bed again until nightfall, hence the daybed nearby. Many beds occupy this room as infants and toddlers would have stayed near their parents until they became older.

On the dresser are some "pockets" that the ladies wore since their skirts did not contain them. Who on earth has a waist this small? Although these are samples, Sandy does show us some authentic pockets that are in a dresser drawer. They are so old and very fragile, but again, fit a tiny waist. Additionally, on the dresser is this soup broth cup, used when sick and confined to bed.

At this point, we have come to the end of the Main House tour and Sandy turns us over to Carolyn Hann for the remaining buildings. First up is the Milk House. This building was used for the preparation and storage of dairy products.

Displays include a creamer which allowed the cream to be skimmed from the surface of the milk and churns in which milk or cream is agitated to separate out the butter. Fancy butter molds are included as well.

The Open-Hearth Kitchen is next - building on the right.

This building is an example of Louisiana construction that uses hand-molded, sun-dried brick-between-post structure. It is complete with a wood-burning, open-hearth fireplace and bread oven. Kitchens were separate from the main house due to frequent damaging fires and the meals would be prepared in this building and quickly carried to the main house. Here, Carolyn shows us the many methods of cooking that were used as well as the tools that were commonly available

Notice the corn husk broom.

I learned about the holes in the pie safe. Did you know that they were poked from the inside to keep insects from entering? It never once occurred to me. As we leave the kitchen, there is a bottle tree outside and Carolyn shares what they are all about. Glass bottles began circulating through Africa around 1600 B.C. Yep, you read that right. The belief that spirits could live in these bottles quickly followed. The hope was that by hanging the bottles in a tree, evil spirits would find their way into the wine bottles and become stuck. Since they wouldn't be able to find their way back out again, they would remain in the bottle until morning. The morning sun would then destroy the spirits.

Next door is an example of a slave cabin here on the plantation. This is circa 1820-1840 and contains two ceilingless rooms flanking a a center fireplace.

More than one family would have lived in this sparsely furnished building. The exterior of the doors and windows are painted brownish-red as one of their beliefs was that evil spirits could be kept at bay by painting windows, doors, and porch timbers this color.

In one of the rooms, there are several artifacts that catch my attention. First, a soap mold

And candle molds --- how cool.

Many of the washroom supplies are in this room as well. Agitators, for example, along with washboards.

Just outside are the sugar kettles.

Moving on through the grounds.

In the barn, we again come across so many cool items. And so much begins to make sense to me. I think perhaps my mind is going, because I had to have learned some of this when younger, right? I spot these long white bags and see that they were used to pick cotton. NOW Clementine Hunters pictures make sense to me. Why didn't I understand this before? There is also a scale that was used to weigh the bags. I also see a leg-powered jig saw. This is such a great idea and perhaps we should have them still --- as a society, we would be in better shape if we moved just a bit more.

The blacksmith shop has working bellows and still is used for teaching.

The Eden Building is next and it's exact purpose is not really known. It now houses spinning wheel and loom displays.

If it has to do with fiber, I'm always interested. I'd love to return on one of the festival days and see these all in operation.

Our route is now taking us towards the sugar house, but Carolyn wants to show us something else first. There is a very old Live Oak beside that she says is almost 200 years old. Wowsers. As I've said before, I do love these old trees and they are amazing in their size. This one sits over a replica cemetery (it does not house any actual bodies) to show that these were always on the property itself.

Nearby, there is also one of the cane presses like we saw in Henderson on Day 1 and some actual sugar cane growing.

Now back to the mill. This sugar house is the only known operating structure of its kind in existence. It is an accurate depiction of the sugar making process circa 1840.

The sugar house contains a series of four kettles in varying sizes. Each kettle has a specific purpose and name. They are also built on a slant so that if overflow occurs, it moves from kettle to kettle and none is wasted. The buckets on a stick are used when the syrup is ready to move to each stage or kettle.

AS the sugar cools, a crust settles on the syrup and if it is collected, is like sugar candy. Some samples of it and the syrup are on display.

I have so thoroughly enjoyed our tour here and we are shocked to discover that we spent almost three hours with these amazing ladies. What a fantastic tour!

It is time to move on and also to find some lunch. A quick map check locates Broken Wheel Brewery in Marksville and we soon arrive for some sustenance. A shrimp wrap, some chowder and fries hit the spot along with a couple of nice beers and we are ready to go once again. Mister spotted a sign for Lock #1 leading us to change course and see where the road takes us. He LOVES dams and ways of working with the water. Locks are amazing. It turns out that we are on the wrong side of the river so it's hard for him to thoroughly enjoy this one.

With a reverse of our path, we soon discover that we are deep in sugar cane land. It is everywhere and on both sides of the road as we drive. Snapping a quick picture out the window doesn't begin to show you how tall this stuff is.

We've lost the sunshine and it's a bit chilly out as Opelousas comes into view. We are a bit early for check-in at our apartment but I have at least one sight on the list that perhaps we can check out, St. Landry Roman Catholic Church. Even with the overcast sky, it looks pretty cool. St. Landry, known as the Mother Church of Acadiana, is the second oldest church parish in the Lafayette Catholic Diocese. It was completed in 1909 and is the third building to sit on this site. It is referred to as the Mother Church of Acadiana because more church parishes have been carved out from the original church parish than any other in Southwest Louisiana. The original building dates back to the mid 1700s.

Across the road is the cemetery and we take a walk around. Quietly come see what we did. This cemetery was established circa 1798 and is Opelousas' oldest cemetery. It is located on land donated by Michel Prud'homme (one of those names again -- it just keeps popping up) in 1796. It is the final resting place of number New York Orphan Train Riders and many veterans of wars dating back to the American Revolution. Also interred here are prominent citizens of South Louisiana. I wanted to see the Orphan Train Museum here, but, alas, today is Monday and it is closed. Their hours are middle of the day tomorrow so it will depend on how long our day trip takes as to whether we can fit it in. Now would have been perfect.

I believe we can check in now and off we go. As we go through an older section of the city, Mister has to stop and have me photograph the stoplight. When is the last time you saw one like this?

We meet up with our hostess, who is from Lyon, France and we hit it off remarkably well. Upon telling her how much I loved Lyon last spring, we visited for awhile and then were shown our little apartment at the back of her house. Ooooh, so cute.

I'm hungry and we search out a restaurant nearby, locating one that sounds great. We drive to it, only to discover that it is closed until spring for remodeling. Now what?

It's getting late and it's a Monday. The options nearby are few --- however, I do find a local pub that might work. Frank's Poboys is the spot. Here, we meet Lacey, who visits with us for the evening. She's a great bartender and a delight to be around. I am torn as to which beer to have and RARELY decide on a can, but this one sounds really nice. Korova Milk Porter, made by Gnarly Barley Brewing Company in Hammond, LA says it is a chocolatey baltic oatmeal milk porter with a smooth coffee finish and guess what? It's divine. No joke. I may be ordering this and/or having a local place search it out and stock it. It's just that good. Dinner is a boudin poboy and bread pudding for dessert for my sweetheart. He is determined to try it all over the area.