Basilika St. Francis and Sé Cathedral

In its peak time between the 16th and 18th century, Old Goa was a big city with more residents than London. How powerful and influential this city was in this phase can be seen at the big churches that were built in those days. Even its Portuguese influence is still there. Due to a wave of malaria and cholera, the city had to be abandoned in the 18th century.

You find the Basilika St. Francis here, a very famous missionary from the east, whose deadly remains are buried here. The basilica dates back to 1594 and is more than 400 years old.

The second important building is Sé Cathedral, built between 1562 and 1619. Almost 80 meters in height, this is Asia’s biggest church. These two main buildings are really impressive and make something unusual: a Christian church that big in the middle of Asia.

Some more building are:

• the Church of Francis of Assisi
• a museum about Christian Art
• the Church of St. Cajetan
• the ruins of the old St. Augustine monastery
• the Church of Our Lady of the Mount” (at bit isolated, 2 km from everything else)

…and some more chapels, churches and ruins.

Some of the buildings are very well-preserved, other in decline. Anyways, the atmosphere and past meaning of the city becomes very clear.

Old Goa – How Do I Get There?

When you are in Panjim, you can easily reach Old Goa. There are busses but also rikschas are ready to take tourists there. Simply ask someone or wait until someone asks you. All of this should be rather cheap and cost you only a few Euros.

From all the beaches, you can find a driver who takes you around for the whole day. This is probably a bit more expensive but still doable. You book a driver and a car for the entire day, tell him where you want to go and find an agreement about a whole-day price. That depends on where you are, where you want to go and how long. You can for example do a day trip to the Panjim city center and Old Goa.

Old Goa – A Place to Recommend?

Yes, I do recommend it but (there is always a but you see churches. Speaking for myself: Churches are everywhere in Europe, some of them extremely gorgeous. When it comes to churches, I am quickly and easily bored, in general not interested that much and not enthusiastic. I wanted to see Old Goa anyways and do not regret it. You should know what you get: grand, beautiful churches in the middle of India. Neither the greatest nor the prettiest churches I have ever seen. Inside and outside are nice but not spectacular or outstanding. If you come from the US and do not know old buildings, this is the right place for you. But buildings like the dome in Cologne and the dome in Speyer are more sparkling than anything in Goa.

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Khecheopari Lake: a Sacred Place

The lake is scared for Hindus and Muslims. From the entrance, it’s another 200 meters to the lake. There are small paths on one side of the lake with several small buildings, temple and many unmissable, colorful prayer flags everywhere.

At the end of the hiking path, there is a prayer point close to the water of the lake. All in all, you walk about 500 meters along the lake. The place has its very own, very spiritual atmosphere. You can fell the sacredness of the lake.

Khecheopari Monastery: colorful magnificence of Buddhism

The monastery is on a hill, a bit off the lake. It’s a bit of a walk up the hill. This seems to be too much for many visitors, almost no one went up to the main building. The main building is an extremely colorful, shining and sparkling building where the monks still live.
After hesitating for a while, we came closer to the building. Because the monks just had a meeting, we did not want to enter or look inside. But the monks were signaling us several times to come and even offered us cookies. That is how we got the pics from the inside. We would not have done any of that without them telling us to enter.

The inside of the building is an extremely colorful collection of art and crafts. No matter where you look, there is always a new painting, a new colorful piece of cloth or a painted wall. Absolutely breathtaking and unique! Totally different from everything I have seen so far.

The main buildings’ outside is magnificent. There are artful sculptures everywhere, all of them in many colors and very well-kept. I could have spent hours just looking at things. A unique architecture.

Monks in Khecheopari

All the monks were very curious and friendly. They were standing around me in a group of 6, watched my pics on the camera and took pics of themselves. That is how the monk pics were made, we did not do it, they did it themselves. We also got an orange and a very warm welcome, even though there is not even a language we both share. How great having this experience!

The monastery was one of the Sikkim highlights. I would definitely recommend coming here.

see Sikkim Tour ###Link###
see Pelling ###Link###

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Where is San Gervasio?

San Gervasio is in the north of the island, from east/west distance right in the center. It’s the most northern point you can reach on a regular street (the very north is undeveloped and cannot be reached). The street ‘Traversal de Cozumel’ (Quintana Roo C1) is the only cross-country road on the island and kind of its ‘northern border’. From here, you drive a bit further north to San Gervasio. As soon as you leave the main road, the street gets much worse, a bit uneven and sandy. We had a scooter and that worked just fine. After a 9-km-ride, you reach San Gervasio.

Taking a Walk in The Jungle

San Gervasio has seven bigger ruins: the best way to see these ruins is a walking tour. It comes out as a bit of a hike, the trails are uneven and rocky but still fine to walk. Between these ruins, you need to walk something like 1 to 2 km. We were mostly alone; only 2 more people were walking. Also the parking area was empty, no other cars around.

You can find some more information about the ruins on Wikipedia. The ruins are well-preserved, only the buildings’ roofs are missing. There are very few barriers and shutoffs, you can basically walk anywhere. All the lawns are accessible; you can just walk to all the ruins. Some of the buildings are locked and you cannot enter, others are open. I assume that is the case because San Gervasio only has very few visitors (Tulum was the complete opposite).

All the trails lead right through the jungle, heavy brush and trees. That means many mosquitoes are everywhere, definitely bring some mosquito spray. All the thick shrubbery creates a rather dark atmosphere that matches the ruins quite nicely.

The ruins are visibly smaller and less spectacular than the larger, more popular ones like Chichzen Itza and Tulum.But that does not make them any less pretty or worth seeing. I found the jungle walk to the ruins quite comfortable. You only need to be aware of what is waiting for you: smaller ruins, less busy but with vast walking trails in the jungle. If you are in Cozumel, you should come here.

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Tulum: South of Playa Del Carmen

Tulum is, as well as Chichen Izta (see article on Chichzen Itza here) one of the most frequently visited Maya ruins. The former Maya port is located on a rock about 12 meters above sea level. Tulum can be reached easily from all the hot spots around: it’s only 60 km from Playa del Carmen (45 km), twice as much from Cancun (120 km, 1 h 45 min). Because of this, a high number of visitors are coming every day. For us, it was a bit unfortunate to go there in the Christmas Week, it was extremely crowded. Lawns and ruins are blocked; crowds need to walk on the walking paths in front of the buildings and lawns. At times, these ways were so crowded there was not even enough space to walk anywhere.

Three Areas: Hotel Zone, Village and the Maya Ruins

You reach the ruins by walking from the parking area to a little village. In the end, the village is nothing more but a chain of tourist shops selling all kinds of necessary and unnecessary stuff. From there, it’s a 10-Minute-walk to the ruins. Another area in Tulum is the hotel zone.

We did take the Collectivo from Playa del Carmen. Even though, we left really early in the morning, we still did not manage to reach before the crowds were there. It was hot and overcrowded. Chichzen Itza was also crowded but things were smoother here, we had enough space to circle the pyramid and walk around. In Tulum, things were more difficult. The Maya Ruins consist of many smaller and bigger ruins, in order to see all of them you need to take a walking tour.

I understand that these ruins need to be protected. The area is very busy, many visitors and it makes sense to have everyone just walk in front of the ruins on the trail. But, every now and then we could not even stop on the way without blocking another 20 people. The buildings are really beautiful, I wanted to have more time to see them. What we had was basically a run along the ruins.

Eye catcher of the area is definitely the “Castillo”, a temple in the center and biggest building of Tulum.

All in all: it was too crowded. The walking paths in Tulum are too narrow for all the visitors. Next time, I would book a hotel in Tulum and come very early in the morning (or maybe late in the evening) before the tour busses arrive.

One of Tulums’ two beaches is open, you can swim here. If you are interested in that, bring some swimming clothes with you. With all the heat and all the walking, this is a nice way to cool down. The beach, right in front of these ancient ruins is beyond compare, even though (as already mentioned) a bit crowded.

How To Combine A Trip to Tulum: Sian Ka’an, Coba and Several Cenotes

A forth zone in Tulum is Sian Ka’an: a big nature-protected area south of Tulum. Tulum is worth staying several nights: one day Tulum Ruins, at least one more for Sian Ka’an and also the Coba ruins (about 50 km from Tulum) can be reached easily.

Moreover there are several cenotes around Tulum (Maya Blue, Temple of Doom, Tortuga, Vacaha, Grand Cenote, Abejas, Nohoch Kiin, etc.).

I could easily spend several days here. It’s a nice are with many attractions and lots of things to do.

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How to Reach

Tours to Chichen Itza are sold everywhere in Cancun, Playa del Carmen and around. The most common tour is a little bus (9 – 12 people). The busses are usually full. There is an English-speaking tourist guide and a driver. The tour takes all day and there are several stops on the way to the pyramid. Booking a tour is very simple: the salespeople find you, usually already on the street, and you can easily book for the following day.

The busses go from one hotel to the next and collect all the guests. They take everyone back the same way. Of course, that takes a while and you need to be patient but it’s not a big thing.

Chichen Itza in right in the center of the Yucatan Peninsula and can be reached easily from Cancun (200 km) and from Playa del Carmen (180 km). We even went from Cozumel that was still possible.

As soon as you are in the bus, it’s no longer in your hands what is about to happen. The busses follow a standard procedure and stop several times.

What you Get To See: The Pyramid and More Maya Ruins

Most important stop is of course the Maya Ruin Chichen Itza. There are all the smaller tour busses but also larger ones with about 60 people and private vehicles. All in all a very busy place. The tour guide bought all the tickets, paid and leads us to the Pyramid and its surrounding buildings. All the information he gave us about the ruins, its past, its history and original purpose were vital. Without it I would not have been able to understand many things.

The area has some acoustic characteristics that only become clear when you clap and follow the echo. The whole area is very impressive and brings old Mayan history and settlement back to life. You see the leftover of an ancient high culture. I have never seen anything like that.

After the tour, you have some time to walk around and see the rest of the area. It has a large span: 16 square kilometers. The guided tour leads to the pyramid, several temples and a former playground. You don’t get to see everything farther away but can walk there yourself. There are also two cenotes (holy water holes) to where you can walk. But you don’t have much time after the guided tour, you need to hurry.

You cannot visit the inside of the buildings, including the pyramid. This was possible in the past but due to several accidents on pyramid’s stairs, they are no longer open to public.

Our tour guide gave us several warnings not to buy from the street sellers. He said all the wooden items will give you termites at home and everything else is of inferior quality and basically shit. In short: refrain from anything.

On tripadvisor, many people complain about street sellers and the things they sell. Yes, the salespeople are there and they mainly sell cheap, useless, cheesy stuff. They yell a bit and are a bit loud. But that’s it. I don’t find them that pushy and that annoying. Simple ignore them and you don’t have a problem.

More Stops on the Tour: Valladoid and a Cenote

The only bigger town on the tour is Valladoid. It was our final stop on the way back. Because we were running out of time, we only stopped in the city center for a very short period of time. All in all, not really worth mentioning!

There was a second stop on the tour that was quite nice: at a cenote (holy water hole). You can walk to the cenote, and go swimming if you want to. The area was well equipped: there was a dressing room to change your swimming clothes and a café.

More stops on the tour were a souvenir store with all kinds of stupid tourist items (the stop here was way too long for me), a lunch buffet (huge but also many busses that stop there) and a gas station. The lunch buffet (including a very cheesy dance performance) was ok; everything else is pointless and not necessary.

Bus Tours to Chichen Itza

Taking the bus is the standard way to do a tour here. That means: all the busses arrive at the same time in Chichen Itza. It was really very crowded. But it’s a vast area: you can still see the pyramid and circle it without a problem. All other buildings are far apart from each other, there is definitely enough space. In this case – and that is a rare exception – you can easily be in a crowd of people, still see everything and find enough space in general.

The entrance is a bit messy: all the tour busses look the same. At that point, you know why all the tourist guides wait at the entrance and collect their people. I really would not have found our bus.

All the stopping on the way and the lunch breaks makes the group arrive right in the mid-day heat. Definitely bring sunscreen and a hat, it’s warm and the sun is strong!

If you have your own car, come on the morning before the tour busses arrive.

Anyone visiting Cancun, Playa del Carmen or Yucatan should visit the pyramid. Even when it’s crowded, you should not miss this attraction!

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Miami Beach – Miami

Miami Beach is a group of islands, artificial and non-artifical, right in front of the city of Miami which is on the mainland. These island are connected to the mainland by several bridges, the main connecting streets are highway A1A and interstate 195.

Miami Beach is a medium-sized island, narrow but long-stretched. The most famous part of the island is in the South: South Beach and Ocean Drive.

South Beach

South Beach looks exactly the way you know it from the TV (Miami Vice, etc.). The city beach is relatively wide, has many visitors and the colorful shacks of the lifeguards are everywhere.

There is a park right next to the beach (Lummus Park). The park is not big, rather small but long-stretched. All in all, this creates a nice atmosphere: the beach on the ocean’s side, and the Ocean Drive on the other side. This is definitely a spot to take a walk. Something is always going on here. If you don’t like walking, you have plenty of other options including bicycles and segways.

Art Déco District

South Beach is also where the Art Déco District starts. It goes from 6th Street in the South to Dade Boulevard in the North (the eastern and western border are Ocean Drive and Alton Road, both not important). Except from the port, the Art Déco District stretches along the entire width of the island. The District has many different building, according to Wikipedia 960. The most well-know building is the former Gianni Versace house (now a hotel). Travel books describe walking routes in the quarter where you get to see all important buildings. You can also book a guided tour.

We did the route Lonely Planet recommends and that worked quite well. We had enough information about all the buildings. I think you don’t need to spend money on a guided tour, a self-guided tour works just fine.

Ocean Drive

Ocean Drive is basically a chain of restaurants, clubs, coffee shops and bars. Ocean Drive is full of beach guests every day but really only wakes up after sunset.

All of a sudden many dressed-up people are everywhere, looking incredibly good (both female and male). I would be a little careful with food drinks here some people have accidentally ordered a 20-dollar-plus drink here. In case you want to go out in the night, bring some fancy, up-to-do clothes. I would have felt a little out of place in my regular casual holiday clothes.

Parking at Ocean Drive

Parking here was a bit difficult. Parking is available at the side of the road, but at some point all these parking spaces are full and you need to circle the Art Déco District. Public Parking is available between the 6th and 7th Street for one dollar an hours. You can try and see if you find something here.

Much further north, at 16th street, pubic parking is also available.

Lincoln Avenue

Another interesting area is Lincoln Avenue between 16th and 17th street. This is the shopping mile of Miami Beach. There are many different stores (even Outlet sometimes) and restaurants. We did not go shopping; we only took a walk there.
Parking is again not easy, just like Miami Beach in general.

Collins Avenue

Ocean Drive starts on 6th and ends on 15th street. A parallel road to Ocean Drive is Collins Avenue (highway A1A). Collins Avenue is much longer and is connects the entire island from north to south.

There are many hotels along that road. The basic rule is: the further south, the cooler and more expensive. We were quite far up north in a hotel called Casablanca in the Ocean. It was fine. I cannot recommend it nor not recommend it. There was no food in the hotel. But Collins Avenue has many options, even that far north. You only need to leave the hotel and walk a few steps.

If you want to find a supermarket, better check up north than on South Beach. In the south, things are more expensive in general.

Eden Roc and Fontainebleu

The two hottest hotels in Miami Beach are Eden Roc and Fontainebleu. These are the most famous and chicest hotels in town. These two are an exception to the “the cooler the more south”-rule.

Parking at the Hotels

Parking at the Hotels was difficult. Our hotel had a very small entrance with Valet Parking. The car was taken to some underground garage, of course for extra money (25 dollars per day). We did not find any other parking and had to pay that.

How Long Should I Stay Here and What Should I Definitely Do?

I don’t think it’s the perfect area for an extended beach holiday. The Gulf Coast has beaches that are much more beautiful. To me, a single day at the beach in Miami Beach is enough (or even only a half day). You should definitely visit the Art Déco District and Ocean Drive. I think, one day and one evening is enough for this. I recommend spending 2 nights and days here, if you feel like it you also have enough time to shop at Lincoln Avenue. You can stay longer and spend some time in Miami. But for Miami Beach, this is enough time.

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Natchez – Where It Is and How to Reach

Natchez is located between Vicksburg and New Orleans. Natchez is 120 km from Vicksburg on highway 61. Driving along that highway made me, once more, aware of the fact of how huge this country is and how vast the areas are. Highway 61 is not 100% straight but it definitely feels like driving 120 km just straight and totally remote, simply in the middle of nowhere. There is basically nothing on this route, not even traffic. Every now and then you meet another vehicle or drive through a little village.

After Natchez the route leads to Baton Rouge or New Orleans. To Baton Rouge it’s another 150 straight on highway 61. It takes 1 ¾ hours. How it feel to drive there, does not generally change. You are still on a rather empty road and just drive straight. Every now and then you see a little village or a gas station. The highway is sometimes closer and sometimes a little more distant to the Mississippi River. Occasionally, you are in the Mississippi Delta and see all the fields and huge lands, the largeness and extensiveness of Mississippi and Louisiana.

In Baton Rouge, it is possible to drive faster again. You can take interstate 10 and go directly to New Orleans.

Antebellum Era

Many antebellum buildings in Natchez are in downtown. You can park parallel to the river at Broadway Street. From there, you can easily walk or take a bicycle. Natchez has little golden markers on the ground, these markers show the best ways. There are five trails that lead through town. Two of them start at Broadway Street and go through Natchez downtown. On these two routes you will definitely see more antebellum mansions than anywhere else.

There is also car tour through the city. All these routes can be found on the website of the Natchez Visitor Center or you just follow the golden marks on the ground.
Twelve buildings in Natchez are open to public. The most famous one are: Longwood, Rosalie Mansion and Stanton Hall. Natchez advertisement says they have more than 600 antebellum houses in town. I did not count but after a walk in the magnificent Natchez downtown, I have to say: they definitely have many, many beautiful buildings.

We could not visit any of these building because we were there on a Sunday morning and everything was closed. If you want to see a building from the inside, check its opening hours before. Not all buildings are open daily.

In the suburbs of Natchez, there is Melrose Plantation. A report about that plantation can be found here.

Is Natchez Worth a Visit?

To see Natchez, you need to take a long detour. The fastest route from Vicksburg to New Orleans is on interstate 55 (330 km, 3 ¼ hours). But you will only see an interstate and nothing else.

On the highway route mentioned above, you can see Natchez and Baton Rouge. It takes one more hour to do that (400 km, 4 ½ hours). But you can stop several times on the route, also in Natchez. Once you decide to do Natchez, it does not make sense to go back to interstate 55 because 55 is further east than highway 61 and Natchez. You need to decide in advance if you want to reach New Orleans as fast as possible or take a more scenic route that offers more attractions but takes longer.

Once you choose the highway route, I definitely recommend spending some time in Natchez. It’s a very nice town, many old houses, beautiful architecture, everything in walking distance and very few people everywhere. I would always take the scenic route and stop in Natchez, even though you need to drive longer.

Information about how to combine that route can be found here.

Information about Plantations in Vacherie and the Melrose Plantation can be found here.

Information about New Orleans can be found here.

Information about Vicksburg can be found here.

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Arizona/Nevada border and a clock change

Because the dam is located exactly on the Arizona/Nevada border this is where the clock changes. The eastern front of the dam (Arizona) and the western front (Nevada) differ in an hour.

The Hoover Dam is 50 km (about 40 minutes) from Las Vegas (Via I 515 and highway 93/Boulder City). The dam is close to a recovery area called Lake Mead. Hoover Dam is a good stop on the way from Las Vegas to Grand Canyon, no detour is needed on that route.

Hoover Dam – How to Drive

Hoover Dam basically targets tourist, all through traffic is lead to a different route over a bridge in close distance to the dam. Security concerns came up after September 11th and an alternative route including a newly built bridge was established (highway 93 and Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge). In the near future interstate 11 is supposed to connect this bridge to the interstate system. So far, interstate 11 has not been built yet.
The new bridge can be seen from Hoover Dam (see pics).

Parking is available right next to Hoover Dam; the parking garage is build into already existing rock formation and looks very stylish. Parking costs 10 Dollar, the parking garage can be reached from the Nevada side of the dam. Until that point, vehicles have access to the area.

Parking Garage: 81 Hoover Dam Access Rd, Boulder City, AZ 89005, USA

Hoover Dam has some security restrictions. When you cross Hoover Dam in your vehicle, security checks might come. Hoover Dam is not open to all kinds of vehicles; there are certain restrictions for larger vehicles. Information about this is available on the website.
Pedestrians are not allowed to cross Hoover Dam after darkness. That means you need to come here in the middle of the day. Don’t come too late in the afternoon. Always consider when it gets dark and how much time you need to reach and to spend there.

https://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/index.html

What will I See?

You walk along Hoover Dam, get to see the river, get to see restrained water and can look down along the huge dam. I got dizzy from it. The Colorado River has too little water; you can see it on the pillars of the dam. Some marks have come up over the years. Like this, all these news and reports about water shortage in California become clearer and more alive. It clarifies what water shortage really means.

Tours inside the dam can be booked. We did not do that, we just visited the dam from on top.

Visitors and Traffic

Because Hoover dam can be reached conveniently from Las Vegas and is also located on the main route to Grand Canyon, there are always many visitors around. Even in November, very much in off-season, many pedestrians were walking along the bridge. Traffic was quite messy and slow. The Hoover Dam website writes in summer, long waiting times and traffic jams occur. I’m sure they do. In summer I would definitely recommend coming early in the morning.

I found it quite funny to be standing at the dam and seeing that a new time zone starts just a couple of steps away.

Lake Mead Overlook

Right before the dam, and there is an overlook point to Lake Meat. This spot can be reached by highway 192. Again, you will be able to see that Lake Mead has very little water. The next larger town is Boulder City.

Is Hoover Dam worth a trip?

Yes, it is. It’s a huge building in the middle of the desert. It’s very old, when it was built it was an architectural masterpiece, work of the century. On the plus side: Hoover Dam can be reached easily from Las Vegas and is on the way to the Grand Canyon. A negative thing could be the fact the dam is always busy and full of people. I would plan about one hour of time here, if you want to do the dam tour, a bit more.

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Boone Hall Plantation, Mount Pleasant, Charleston, South Carolina

The Boone Hall Plantation is a little outside Charleston (18 km) and is one of the largest plantations on the list. The plantation appeared prominently on the TV show “North against South”. Of all the plantations we saw, this one had the largest crowd of visitors.
Many signs point to the plantation, from Charleston, Boone Hall is easy to find. The cashier is right in front of the Oak Alley. After buying a ticket, visitors proceed right through the Oak Alley in their cars. The street is an unpaved dirt road (a paved road would destroy the atmosphere) but the road is even, stable and dry. Driving on it works well, even larger vehicles like RVs could drive there without any problems. Traffic was heavy on the Oak Alley, the parking lot follows right after the Oak Alley.

Main attraction is the mansion with its regular tours. There are many chairs in front of the mansion, also canopies that offer shade if you need to wait and the sun is too strong. The plantation dates back till 1681; anyways the mansion is a replica from the 1930s. Originally, Boone Hall was a cotton plantation. Nowadays, farming focuses on strawberries and tomatoes.

The mansion tour mostly has stories about the original farm owners (in this case a Boone family), when the plantation was sold, what these new owners did about the plantation and how the plantation finally became accessible to public. Because of the many visitors, the tour is a bit of a run through all the rooms, tour guides figuratively push their groups to the next room. Once you leave a room, the next group walks right in. You get to see many different rooms of the plantation. Photography inside the mansion is not allowed. That is why I cannot show you any pics. Just in case you want to know how it looks inside the mansion: exactly like in “North against South”. It feels like being on the movie set.

In front of the mansion, there are several smaller red-brick buildings, where some of the slaves lived. It was an exception to build these cabins in front of the mansion; usually they were hidden behind the mansion. There is also a tour through these cabins; anyways it’s much less visited than the mansion tour. I would definitely recommend to do the slave cabin tour. The slaves’ history needs to be told and heard, it’s definitely as interesting as the mansion itself. A common problem here is that there is no written record about their history. Reconstructing their history and life story was only possible for a few single people, for example, the story of a female cook who spent her entire life at Boone Hall.

The third part of the plantation is its huge garden that can be seen on a walking tour. It has the typical face of a southern garden: many old trees, Spanish Moss everywhere and swamp areas nearby. You should definitely take that walking tour in order to feel the atmosphere of the plantation properly.

On plantations website it says they also have a bus tour through the entire land of the plantation, almost 300 hectares of land. When we were there, the busses were not. That is why we could not do that tour but we did everything else. The café was closed as well.

Oak Alley Plantation, Vacherie, Louisiana

The Oak Alley Plantation is in a little town called Vacherie, 60 km from New Orleans. (see New Orleans). The Plantation dates back to the early 19th century, its famous Oak Alley is considerably older. Its oaks are from the early 18th century and were probably the reason why the plantation itself was built at exactly that spot. In its early years, the plantation was a sugar cane farm. Two female residents have mainly influenced the plantation and its appearance. Celina, wife of the first owner Jacques Roman was actually the reason why he built the farm in the first place: he needed to make a nice home for his New-Orleans-born fiancée. Jacques died at a young age and Celina took over: she managed the plantation the following years. In the next generations, the family fell into financial problems and had to sell the plantation. The plantation started to decay. In 1925, Andrew Steward bought the house for his wife Josephine. She was the one who put the plantation back in good shape. Josephine had the house fixed and modernized and brought the farm back to its original purpose: making sugar cane. She stayed until her death and gave the farm to a foundation. Thanks to that, the farm is now open to public.

A guided tour in the mansion is very different from the one in Boone Hall. Photography is allowed, as long as no flash is used. All tour guides wear original, traditional clothing and show both floors to their visitors. We did get a lot of information what was done to fight the heat in the building. Small architectural secrets are supposed to help create a bit of ventilation in the rooms.

Big highlight of the tour is the huge balcony on the second floor: the balcony is located right at the center of the Oak Alley and offers a spectacular view. In this plantation, the Oak Alley is behind the mansion, not in front of it. Looking from that balcony to the oak alley is absolutely stunning; it’s worth visiting the plantation only for this. But even her, the tour guides are in a rush and the group has to hurry. We barely had enough time to take pics from the balcony. You can only walk along the oak alley, driving is not possible, there is no street and no other way to reach the alley, only a walking path. The alley is a ¾ mile long (1.2 km). Walking until its very end is worth it, even though very few visitors do that. This is a very nice spot to take pictures; you should definitely take time to do that. The plantation ends at the very end of that alley, a public street is right behind. You can go there to see the oak alley and take pics without having to buy an day pass for the plantation. Anyways, you only see the alley. From this spot the mansion is far in the background and barely visible.

In the opposite direction (from the mansion) there is a restaurant. Right next to it an exhibit and rebuild of the slaves’ homes tells their story. Again, it’s difficult to trace their stories back, only a few written records are available. A gardener who developed a new way to plant pecan nuts is mentioned in particular. At the end of the so called slave-alley are several overnight cottages. Cottages sounds like a simple, basic place to stay. Anyway, these cottages are the complete opposite. If you have always wanted to spend the night at a Southern plantation, this is an opportunity to do so.

A couple of smaller attractions can be found on the plantation as well: a theater that tells the story of planting sugar cane, an exhibit about how blacksmith work was done in the past and a smaller garden that Josephine, the last owner, started.

The Oak Alley Plantation appeared in several movies, the most important one is “Interview with a Vampire”. Also Beyoncé’s video “Déjà Vu” was shot here.

Vacherie has more plantations right next to Oak Alley: Laura Plantation, St. Joseph Plantation and San Francisco Plantation.

Belle Meade Plantation, Nashville, Tennessee

The Belle Meade Plantation is 10 km outside of Nashville. The farm was built by the Harding family in the early 19th century. From the beginning, the plantation operated on several levels: blacksmith work, lumber mill but also cattle breeding and making gin. Over the years, horse breeding became more and more important. Even after the civil war, the family tried to keep the farm running, but after a while this was no longer profitable. The plantation had two owner families: a Harding family and a Jackson family. There is quite some information available about the slaves of the plantation. Some of them had gone through a kind of apprenticeship and were professionals in their jobs: as blacksmith, as a jockey or in horse breeding. They were highly qualified and could even continue to work in these jobs after the Civil War. This is not supposed to euphemize slavery, it’s only a story that shows how different these plantation were and how they did business in different fields of work.

This plantation does not have an oak alley. Its mansion and the guided tour is the main attraction. A cottage, a replica of a slave home was reconstructed. There are some more, smaller buildings: a horse stable, a stable of carriages, a garden and a vinery. The tour includes a free wine tasting at the end. We had lunch at the plantation’s restaurant, the food was surprisingly good, prices were reasonable.

There was a little play at the lawn in front of the mansion: some guys, dressed as soldiers were busy working on old cannons. In the end, they indeed fired a cannonball. Our tour had already started; we were inside the mansion and only heard the detonation.

The plantation also sells several special culinary tours.

Compared to the two larger plantations Boone Hall and Oak Alley, Belle Meade is a bit smaller but in no ways boring. This plantation has an entirely different story and history than the other two.

Wormsloe Plantation, Savannah, Georgia

The Wormsloe Plantation is a 20 minutes-drive outside Savannah. The plantation is basically no longer a plantation. All the buildings are destroyed, only their ruins are left. The Wormsloe Plantation is very old, from the early 18h century. The building from these days does not exist anymore. A newer building from the 19th century is privately owned and cannot be visited.

But there is a beautiful old oak alley and several smaller walking paths in the forest and along a swamp. Basically, you take a nice walk in the area. At the entrance, there is an exhibit about the history of the plantation and its owner families.

Some ruins and traces from the early settlement of the US are still there. Over the years and centuries, several forms of agriculture were done here (fruits, vegetables, grain, etc.). It is remarkable that the Wormsloe Plantation has been owned by the same family since the 1730s. The area is a bit older and wilder than all the other plantations, mainly for two reasons. The old buildings are no longer there, only its ruins, and the plantation is in the middle of a forest and a swamp that borders the forest. The panorama her is nice and offers a nice view.

The plantation charges only 10 Dollars, less the half of what the others charge. Anyways, you need to be aware of the fact that you only see gardens, a forest, ruins and the oak alley. On the plus side: the plantation is not as crowded as the other ones.

Melrose Site, Natchez, Mississippi

Of all the plantations, this is the least known. It is in Natchez, Mississippi, at little town 120 km south of Vicksburg. You can go to Natchez on the way from Memphis to New Orleans or from Vicksburg to Baton Rouge. Natchez is anyways worth a stop. You can also do this little unknown plantation with its very few visitors.

The Melrose Plantation is smaller than the other ones on this list. You reach it by driving through a park. Originally, the plantation was built a little bit outside of Natchez, but now it is in the middle of the suburbs. Several signs lead to the plantation; it’s easy to find the park (reachable via highway 61 and Melrose Avenue). The plantation is from the mid 19th century.

The original owner family McMurran sold the farm as an entire unit: including furniture and dishes. Even during subsequent sales, the plantation’s interior remained the same. Because Natchez was not hit hard by the destruction of the Civil War, many original items survived and can still be seen today.

The plantation consists of a mansion and several smaller houses in the garden. The guided tour shows the entire house, also the second floor and the view from the balcony. The tour was not crowded at all, we were the only ones. The tour guide was called only for us. This was our first private tour, the only farm where we were not pushed from one room to the other in a larger group. Stables, carriages and all the small buildings are not part of the tour but can only be seen in a self-guided tour.

The garden is quite nice too and can be seen in a walking tour. The typical southern Spanish moss is everywhere; we also saw several air roots or trees that grow close to the water.

Important: Do Not Only Visit the Mansion

All plantations usually offer tours in the slave homes or replica of the slave houses. The history of their slaves is told as thoroughly as possible. Boone Hall had tours in the mansion every 15 minutes; about 20 – 30 people were guided through the house. Only about 10 people did the slave alley tour, even though the tour takes place much less frequently. That is such a pity! You should definitely listen to that part as well. Also do the walking tour in all the gardens and oak alleys, these are important parts of the plantation and define their image. You get to see many plants that do not exist in Germany. In Oak Alley Plantation, the oak alley is more than one km long. You should really walk until its very end, the view worth it.

Which plantation is the best, which should I visit?

All plantations are interesting and have their own history. The two larger plantations Oak Alley and Boone Hall are absolutely stunning, spectacular and a real highlight. Many people have found that out, both plantations have many visitors, in the main season they are probably too crowded. All tour guides are nice and provide loads of information. They talk about history and the plantations and their owner families. That is very interesting. But, you feel a bit pushed, sometimes it feels like they are trying to get rid of the group as soon as possible because the next one is already waiting. For example, tour guides leave their story unfinished because the next group is already close and it is time to leave the room. It is a rigid system that guides you from one room to the next one. One more negative thing: these plantations are expensive. They charge more than 20 bucks usually. But that is an individual decision if you want to pay these 20 plus dollars or not. In Vacherie we decided to not do the other two plantations because of that. I think it’s best to compromise here. You cannot see all plantation but a few are worth paying all that money.

All oak alleys are a highlight, in particular Oak Alley Plantation because you get to see the oak alley from the second floor. The oak alley in Wormsloe is beautiful as well, even though a mansion is missing. I think, if you have seen the Oak Alley Plantation (or another plantation with an oak alley) you can omit Wormsloe. Except you are very interested to see leftovers of the very early settlement, than you should do Wormsloe.
Some plantations do not show all their rooms or don’t let the tour groups go to the first floor. They have various reasons: sometimes it is because of safety issues, sometimes because the owner family still uses the plantation as a holiday home. That’s a pity, but nothing to do about that.

Photography rules are different everywhere: Boone Hall does not allow any photography inside the house, Oak Alley allows photography but without flash.

The two smaller plantations Wormsloe and Melrose place have a huge plus: very few people are there and you have more silence and less chaos and hectic there. The larger plantations are more impressive, but I would still recommend doing at least one smaller one. Plus, these small plantations cost much less.

Whoever plans to stay overnight in a plantation, you can do that in Belle Meade or Oak Alley.

It is difficult to recommend something in general. I suggest doing at least more than one plantation. An oak alley should be part of one of the plantations. The best thing is to plan accordingly to the rest of your tour. If I ever come back to New Orleans, I want to see some of the other plantations in Vacherie.

Der Beitrag Southern Beauties: Plantations in the American South and Their History erschien zuerst auf travelspotting.