Oak Alley Plantation

Oak Alley is named for the 28 oak trees that lead from the Mississippi River up to the house (pictured here). It is a spectacular setting. The last time I was in plantation country, I had just had a baby and was apparently not forming new memories all that well. My excuse is going to be sleep deprivation. I had forgotten just how overwhelmingly emotional it can be. We had stayed at Oak Alley, in the slave cabins one night and then in the main house the following night. Coming back to the spectacular setting brought it all back, though.

Throughout my stay in Louisiana I found that people had a difficult time talking about slavery. No one wanted to talk about the role of enslaved people in the "glory" of the South. This was not just an oversight. We asked. Everywhere we went. It is a very important part of the story, but the natives are not going ot put it together for the visitors. We are left to do that work ourselves.

I can tell you, the slave quarters at Oak Alley have been seriously upgraded since the days of their first inhabitants. There is plumbing. The walls are insulated. There is air conditioning. But despite these changes, all of which would undoubtedly have made the day to day lives of their original ocupants, they are not anywhere near as nice as the accomodations in the main house. We stayed in the attic room of a very grand house, which almost causes you to adopt a Scarlett O'Hara sashay as you walk the halls. The accoutrements of wealth are very powerful indeed, and no one had to tell us that they are alive and well.