We docked at the edge of Bayou Sara in West Feliciana Parish early this morning; today’s excursions would take us in and around St. Francisville. Our first excursion took us to Rosedown and Catalpa Plantation Houses. Both were originally owned by the same extended family and were cotton plantations.

Rosedown is the older of the two plantations, originally built in 1834 by the Turnbull family. It originally occupied a plot of land seven miles long (3455 acres total), but most of the land has been sold off over the years. Like all Louisiana plantations, it ran on the labor of enslaved people, both inside the house and out in the fields. The owners were fabulously wealthy and furnished the house accordingly.

This tapestry was sewn by Martha Washington.

The children were home-schooled, of course.

Today, the house is part of the Rosedown State Historic Site.

In contrast, Catalpa is still owned and lived in by descendents of its first owner, William Fort, whose wife was the daughter of Sarah Turnbull of Rosedown. The house was severely damaged during the Civil War, but it survived…until 1885, when it burned down. The house we visited was built a few months after the fire on the footprint of the original house.

We were greeted by Mary, the owner, and given a tour (and a glass of sherry!).

The house was filled with wonderful antiques, like this Sevres lamp.

This fireplace is actually cast iron – even the bricks.

The family was well-connected, and was even invited to attend Mardi Gras parties thrown by the Krewe of Rex in New Orleans.

The family were also fashionistas; this is a 3-D illustration of the latest fashion from Paris.

Mary had the Spanish Land Grant for Catalpa on display.

I really enjoyed visiting Catalpa and hearing Mary tell about her life and family history; Rosedown was grander, but Catalpa made me want to come back.

This afternoon, I went to Port Hudson State Historic Park to learn about the Battle of Port Hudson. We walked out to Fort Desperation to see the earthworks that the Confederates had erected, like this dry moat (well, it was dry in 1862; the recent rains have turned it into a mosquito hotspot, and I have the bites to prove it).

The Confederates repelled two Union assaults but were eventually starved out after the longest full siege in American history and surrendered a few days after Vicksburg, giving the Union full control over the Mississippi and cutting the Confederacy in two.

We also visited the museum on site, where we saw many artifacts recovered from the battlefield and saw (and heard) them fire a cannon.

While I was at Port Hudson, Diane was exploring St. Francisville. People who live close to the Mississippi have to worry about flooding, so they build their houses on cinderblock stilts.

The houses in town are prettier.

St. Francisville was our last stop in Louisiana; it’s been a good visit.

This afternoon, we took a Baton Rouge walking tour. The weather was very threatening, so only fifteen of us started the tour.

Our guide told us that the Mississippi was very low; it would normally cover the brown areas on the banks, but it hadn’t been that high for months.

Baton Rouge isn’t as famous for music as New Orleans, but they’re still proud of their tradition, especially the blues.

We walked along the Levee Bike Path, passing the “Sing the River” sculpture. When it was first installed, the sculpture played music which varied with the river level; our guide said that it got burnt out during the first good thunderstorm and they’re still trying to figure out a way to repair it and keep it working. It’s still pretty, though!

We left the Levee Bike Path at its northern terminus and walked over to the main shopping district on 3rd Avenue, where we saw the city’s historic Coke sign – the building it was on had been a pharmacy for years, and when it closed, the sign went dark. Various groups worked together to get it relit – now that’s powerful advertising!

It had started raining by this time, but it was fairly gentle if you ignored the lightning and thunder in the distance. We made a brief stop at Matherne’s Market…and half of our group vanished.

The survivors continued onward to the New (1934) State Capitol. Huey Long had it built when he was Governor; he was assassinated there; and he’s now buried on the Capitol grounds under the big white pillar you can see on the right of the photo (yes, that’s Huey Long atop the pillar).

We left the Capitol grounds for Spanish Town; they take Mardi Gras very seriously there, and there are still LOTS of decorations weeks later.

The rain was coming down harder and we picked up the pace; our next stop was the Old Governor’s Mansion, built by – you guessed it – Huey Long. He had the electrical and plumbing set up to mirror the White House so that he’d be comfortable when he became President!

We made a brief stop by the Old State Capitol before climbing up on the levee to walk the last few blocks back to the ship.

When we got back, our shoes, socks, and pants were thoroughly soaked; I’m glad I didn’t bring my big, non-water-resistant camera on the walk!

After we dried out, we went to a great lecture on “Early Blues on Record” by Andy Flory from Carleton College. After dinner, we enjoyed an hour of Cajun and Zydeco music from Waylon Thibodeaux.

We sail away from Baton Rouge about 1am; I don’t plan to be awake to say goodbye.