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St. Francisville, Louisiana - Part 3
Written by: Janet Pope
Photography by: Donald
Today they learn about the benefits of this cruise, more food, exploration of the boat and a little bit of history. The day is a stew of experience and they got stuffed!
Day 3 - St. Francisville
Don approached each meal on the boat with eager anticipation; I approached each meal as if I was being tortured into eating more. Of course, no one was twisting my arm, but the temptation was too great and I always succumbed. I walked into the dining room saying "I'm still stuffed" and "I'll just pick," but that didn't seem to happen.
Breakfast was no exception. This morning I said I would eat light, but the maple French toast and fresh sliced ham called to me.
After yet another meal, Don sat on the deck to watch them try to pull into St. Francisville. The river was actually too high and we needed to dock on the other side, which caused a lot of hubbub among the crew. The river cruise always offers you a constantly changing view. While Don oversaw the comings and goings, I sat in a deck chair and filled out the complimentary postcards. The American Queen features many niceties that, when added to the whole vacation experience, makes the traveler feel taken care of and special. Each guest receives unlimited free postcards, which the cruise line will complimentary stamp and mail. I always feel too busy on a vacation to stop and take time to keep in touch with a postcard, but now I really had no excuse; I had all day. What a great feeling.
Mid-morning, we headed to the Engine Room Bar to play bingo. Again no luck, but, at least, the lady next to me won the $100 jackpot and that was exciting. I remember my Italian grandmother saying, "at least luck is close."
We grabbed a quick lunch and took a tour to two ante-bellum plantations.
Rosedown is unique as a plantation for two reasons: first 90 percent of the furnishings are original and, secondly, the gardens are extraordinary, ranking as one of the top five 19th Century gardens in the country. Martha and Daniel Turnbull are the original owners. Martha prides herself on being a horticulturist who travels extensively and imports an extensive array of plants and trees back to Rosedown.
We have been in many old towns and each one has the obligatory "oldest house in the town tour." After awhile one old house seemed like another. I will remember Rosedown not only for the original furniture and unique gardens, but I enjoyed that no rooms were partitioned. We walked right into years of history with no separation. I was also impressed with the six huge built-in closets that were ahead of their time for a house built in 1835.
The fact also struck me that at one time 444 slaves were owned in order to run this plantation. I couldn't help wondering about their lives and their living conditions.
Not far away we visited another plantation, The Myrtles. Over 200 years old, this house stood out primarily because it is rumored as haunted. As the story goes, Chloe, a house slave, was also a mistress to the owner of the house, but in time, he became tired of her. She took to eavesdropping on family matters to check on her status, but was caught doing so. The master of the house, a judge, had her ear cut off as punishment and banished her to work at menial jobs in the kitchen. When asked to bake a birthday cake, Chloe boiled a poison leaf and added it to the cake. Both the judge's wife and two of his children died. The other slaves caught Chloe and hanged her. To this day, she can be seen and felt at the Myrtles' plantation. After the story, our tour group seemed a little jittery and looked into every mirror half expecting to see someone looking back.
We headed back on the tour bus and I couldn't help notice a sign on a local Exxon gas station we passed that said, "live or boiled crawfish." Yes, we are definitely in Mississippi.
Most of the people on our cruise were over 60 and we felt like youngsters in our 50s, but each night they all stay up later than we did. They were the ones who clued us in on the mandatory afternoon nap. So when we returned to the boat, we headed straight to our cabin.
Without boring the reader with details of our evening, I'll condense; a great show, great meal, great music, a cup of tea for me, and an ice cream cone for Donald and, then, bed. Life cannot be better.
Part 1 - American Queen - Jazz and Blues Cruise
Part 2 - Vacherie, Louisiana
Part 3 - St. Francisville, Louisiana
Part 4 - Natchez, Mississippi
Part 5 - Vicksburg, Mississippi
Part 6 - Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Part 7 - Mardi Gras, New Orleans
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