Les Flâneurs: Day 5 - Natchitoches

Saturday, April 27, 2019

Day 5 - Natchitoches

April 26, Natchitoches, Louisiana and the southern plantation.

After a leisurely breakfast the four of us -- Susie, Ed, Chris et moi -- piled in to the Evans' car and headed out of town. Our first stop was the antebellum Melrose Plantation, just a few miles away. Besides its unique place in local history, the plantation played a key role in the development of regional artists, especially Clementine Hunter. For more of the history of this evocative bit of land visit the website.

For me, the tour Melrose and our visit later that day to Oakland plantation, a national park located on a bend in the Cane River, were especially enlightening. So much of southern plantation life, especially in the years leading up to the civil war, has been mythologized through books and movies, such as "Gone with the Wind." The self-sustaining, self-sufficient way of life of the plantation, a way of life that indeed relied on the horrific foundation of slavery, required everyone to play their part or otherwise their world would crumble away. As indeed, it eventually did.

It was a complex and complicated way of life and the decades after the civil war would bring changes that none could foresee. Needless to say it is a revelation to walk these grounds today.

Oh, and the live oaks covered with Resurrection Ferns are absolutely fantastic!

For lunch we returned to in Natchitoches and stopped at Ribfin's, a small chain of BBQ joints in Louisiana. Tasty food and washed down with local beer.

After a short nap at home (for me) we headed back out mid-afternoon to Oakland plantation, followed up by a stop at the Cane River Commissary for a drink and appetizer. (Most plantations had "commissaries," which served as the general store for the locals.)

Along the way we stopped at Little Eva's pecan house where Susan bought a 5-lb bag to take home. While we had seen orchards of all types before, pecan orchards were quite unique: huge trees each separated by a large swath of space. Some orchards were arranged in neat, orderly rows and others the trees were scattered randomly with no rhyme or reason.

We eventually made our way home and later that evening had a scrumptious meal of pizza from nearby Peggy's Pizza paired with a crisp, refreshing salad compliments of Chris.