Laura Plantation- Vacherie, Louisiana

One of my very best friends, Stacey, flew to New Orleans to finish out my road trip with me. And. We. Had. A. Blast!  One of the things that Stacey really wanted to do was visit a plantation!  When I was in New Orleans in 2009, I went to the Oak Alley Plantation, and while the plantation was absolutely beautiful, it wasn’t something that I could picture myself visiting again and again.  However, Stacey and I decided on the Laura Plantation, and I LOVED it.

This plantation tour was so much better than I could have imagined.  What I absolutely loved about this house was that it wasn’t simply facts about the home, when it was built, a list of who lived here, what was grown, etc… It was a tour completely based on the one family that owned this plantation from generation to generation.  Of course, there were still facts about the home, but everything so was so much more interesting knowing all of the personal reasons behind changes in the house.  I found it very interesting that women ran this house a couple of times over the years, and they were the most important and influential owners of the half a dozen or so.  Plus, the last woman to own it set all of her slaves free and was an educated woman!  So cool!

Unfortunately, photos were not allowed inside the house, but I got some really great photos of the grounds and salve quarters.

This is the back of the house and it is so beautiful!

I absolutely loved these beautiful, brightly colored doors against the colors of the house!

A canoe under the house

These bricks are the foundations of the original outdoor kitchens.

The view of the grounds from the upper, back deck of the house.  The kitchens from the photo above are in the upper-left corner of this photo.

A really humbling moment of this trip was going through the slave quarters.  It’s unbelievable to see the way of life that so many people were subjected to.

The inside of the slave quarters were furnished with items that were donated and true to the period.

It was a genuinely incredible walk through history, and I’m so glad that Stacey and I chose to of this specific plantation in Vacherie.

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