Today was a quiet day. We've seen the plantation homes that are on our list, and several of the others, while extraordinary, are much the same as what we've already seen. So, with that in mind, we stayed close to home, catching up (again) with laundry and making plans for the next few weeks. About two we ventured out for lunch at the Creole House in Pauline, just down the River Road about eight miles. One of the few restaurants in this area open on Sunday, the Creole House serves a combination of burgers, steaks, and seafood. We had a bowl of gumbo and shared a seafood platter. Yum! The restaurant is located in an old house that was at one time a tobacco shed.
This particular type of tobacco is native only to this area, and was being grown and smoked by the Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians when French settlers arrived. This tobacco is only grown in limited quantities today, and has a very strong flavor. It is prized for use in cigars and pipe tobaccos.
As we took a last look around the southern end of the Great River Road, we came across a building that, in our mind, typifies this area:
The Glory Days are long gone, and in many instances forgotten. Some remnants remain and the memories of long lost happy days haunt the bleached bones of abandoned dreams. The contrast between the restored, sparkling and superficial plantation homes that give us a glimpse into the past and the reality of dreary, bone-jarring, brutal daily life endured by so many is nowhere more evident than in southwestern Louisana.
We're very thankful to have visited here, but come away with a feeling of sadness, both for the dreams that were fulfilled
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