Taking the Kids: New Orleans, and beyond
Despite the heat, kids were having a blast in the huge City Park -- one of the largest in the country -- with its outdoor Besthoff Sculpture Garden (loved the sculpture of the giant Mardi Gras beads in the tree!), the paddleboats on the lake, antique carousel, miniature train and more.
First-time visitors certainly should take a trek out to River Road and New Orleans Plantation Country to see what life was like before the Civil War when these big sugar plantations were worked by slaves who lived in bare, cramped cabins. (There are many tours offered that include transportation from New Orleans hotels.) Visit Laura plantation where the tales of Br'er Rabbit were first recorded in a slave cabin dating back to 1840.
We toured Destrehan Plantation on the banks of the Mississippi River, the closest to New Orleans, with demonstrations daily on everything from open hearth cooking to African-American herbal remedies.
One of the most important documents in Louisiana is on view here; The Jefferson Document that assigned Jean Noel Destrehan and three other men to the New Orleans Legislative Council in 1804 to ease the transition of the Orleans Territory into the United States after the Louisiana Purchase. At the time, most people here considered themselves Frenchman or Spaniards, tell the kids, and many didn't even speak English.
Know the difference between a swamp and a bayou? A swamp is an entire ecosystem -- kind of like a flooded forest, our guide Royen explains on our tour, as he navigates a bayou, which is a secondary, narrower waterway.
September, Royen says, is the one month out of the year that those who own property in the swamp can hunt alligators to keep their numbers down. The biggest gator on record was found right in this swamp -- 19 feet, 2 inches long and over 1,400 pounds.
I'm glad I didn't meet that guy.
When we get back, "Otis" the gator is waiting. Another marshmallow, please!
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Read more about Eileen's Louisiana adventures on her trip diaries at www.takingthekids.com; Follow @TakingtheKids on Twitter and Facebook.
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