~ The Great River Road - Destrehan Plantation ~

This is Part 2 of my "Great River Road" adventures.

The Great River Road is a collection of state and local roads which follow the course of the Mississippi River through ten states of the United States. They are Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana.

The Great River Road is not a single road as its name might suggest. It is more accurately described as a designated route, the whole of which consists of connected segments of other named and numbered highways and streets, each maintained by state, county, or local jurisdictions.

The Great River Road has some really fascinating history which you can find lots of information about.

But now, I am going to share with you a little piece of my travels along The River Road. My travels started due to my love of great houses and an interesting book I read about Louisiana. At one time, the great houses were all built along the Mississippi river because it was their way of transporting their crops but also their means of travel and their connection with the other people who lived on the river.

In 2001, I drove the River Road down into Louisiana and stopped at numerous plantations along the way.
          

This segment is about Destrehan Plantation. Destrehan was built in 1787 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It remains the oldest documented plantation home in the lower Mississippi Valley. Destrehan is also one of the few remaining examples of a colonial Louisiana house that has changed substantially and yet remained a functioning house for the past empires of indigo, sugar and petrochemical production after the property was sold in the early years of the twentieth century.
            

After neglect and vandalism, the historic property has been beautifully restored.

Destrehan is an antebellum mansion, in the Creole colonial style, modified with Greek Revival architectural elements.
             

This place will immerse you into the rich history of Louisiana when everyone spoke French and sugar (white gold) drove the economy. It didn't have the beauty of some of the other plantations, but it sure had the history.

It is located in Destrehan, Louisiana, minutes from New Orleans.

     

Front of house

Back of House

 Rainwater Retainer

 

Front with Oak Tree

Close up of Columns

The Grounds

HUGE Oak Tree

 Creepy Night Picture

 

 Some Inside Pictures

  

Slave quarters - How so very sad

You can read about Destrehan Plantation on the Destrehan Plantation Website for more information.

More to come on my River Road journeys...

~ The Great River Road - Houmas House ~

The Great River Road is a collection of state and local roads which follow the course of the Mississippi River through ten states of the United States. They are Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana.

The Great River Road is not a single road as its name might suggest. It is more accurately described as a designated route, the whole of which consists of connected segments of other named and numbered highways and streets, each maintained by state, county, or local jurisdictions.

The Great River Road has some really fascinating history which you can find lots of information about.

But now, I am going to share with you a little piece of my travels along The River Road. My travels started due to my love of great houses and an interesting book I read about Louisiana. At one time, the great houses were all built along the Mississippi river because it was their way of transporting their crops but also their means of travel and their connection with the other people who lived on the river.

In 2001, I drove the River Road down into Louisiana and stopped at numerous plantations along the way. 

So I am going to start with Houmas House. Built in 1775, this southern splendor was called “The Sugar Palace” and at one time was producing a monumental 20 million pounds of sugar each year. It has 16 rooms filled with period antiques and Louisiana artwork. It has 38 lush acres of gardens, ponds and a majestic live oak alley. The House is so magnificently beautiful, you won’t want to leave.

It is located in Darrow, Louisiana, close to New Orleans.
 

There have been quite a few movies filmed here including Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte, 1964, with Bette Davis.

 

My Blog Picture

 

Women's Parlour

 

Men's Parlour 

 

 Garçonnière

  A bachelor’s residence that is separate from the main house. 

Teenage boys were moved here to live and separate them from their sisters and the women of the house. 

It was usually very close to the house.

Watch a Video

Here is the link if you cannot view the YouTube player:  Video 

You can read about Houmas House on the Houmas House Website for more information.

More to come on my River Road journeys...

~ Lucinda Riley - Author ~

Hello Readers,

I want to give a special page to one of my favorite authors, Lucinda Riley.
I love her stories, her locations, the houses, the history and the modes of past and present. Her stories are refreshing and you can find many things in them to learn from. I know when I start reading one of her books, I'll be so into it that everything around me diminishes.

Her Website:  Lucinda Riley Website

I discovered her by accident when on another site looking at the books I usually read, she popped up on the "you might like this" list.  So I tried one, her first book, and was literally blown away by the story, settings and writing.  I went on to her next two and they just got better.

If you are a fan of The House At Riverton, by Kate Morton, or the classic Rebecca, by Daphne Du Maurier, you will be enchanted with Lucinda Riley.

Her first book was The Orchid House.

    

Here is the link if you can't see the YouTube player:

The Orchid Garden YouTube 

 
Review from Goodreads:

    

A debut spanning from the 1930s to the present day, from a magnificent estate in war-torn England to Thailand, this sweeping novel tells the tale of a concert pianist, Julia, and the prominent Crawford family whose shocking secrets are revealed, leading to devastating consequences for generations to come.     
 
As a child Julia Forrester spent many idyllic hours in the hothouse of Wharton Park, the great house where her grandfather tended exotic orchids. Years later, while struggling with overwhelming grief over the death of her husband and young child, she returns to the tranquility of the estate. There she reunites with Kit Crawford, heir to the estate and her possible salvation.     
 
When they discover an old diary, Julia seeks out her grandmother to learn the truth behind a love affair that almost destroyed Wharton Park. Their search takes them back to the 1930s when a former heir to Wharton Park married his young society bride on the eve of World War II. When the two lovers are cruelly separated, the impact will be felt on generations to come.     
 
Lucinda Riley skillfully sweeps her readers between the magical world of Wharton Park and Thailand during World War II with irresistible and atmospheric storytelling. Filled with twists and turns, passions and lies, and ultimately redemption, The Orchid House is a romantic, poignant novel that became an instant bestseller in the UK and Germany.     

  

---

 
Her second book is called, The Girl on the Cliff.    
         

 

 

 

 

Here is the link if you can't see the YouTube player:

The Girl on the Cliff YouTube 

Review from Goodreads:   
 
Troubled by recent loss, Grania Ryan has returned to Ireland and the arms of her loving family. And it is here, on a cliff edge, that she first meets a young girl, Aurora, who will profoundly change her life. 
 
Mysteriously drawn to Aurora, Grania discovers that the histories of their families are strangely and deeply entwined . . .  
 
From a bittersweet romance in wartime London to a troubled relationship in contemporary New York, from devotion to a foundling child to forgotten memories of a lost brother, the Ryans and the Lisles, past and present, have been entangled for a century. Ultimately, it will be Aurora whose intuition and remarkable spirit help break the spell and unlock the chains of the past. Haunting, uplifting and deeply moving, Aurora's story tells of the triumph of hope over loss.
     

---

 
Onto to her third book, The Lavender Garden    
     

  

Here is the link if you can't see the YouTube player:

The Lavender Garden YouTube 

Review from Goodreads:    
 
An aristocratic French family, a legendary chateau, and buried secrets with the power to destroy two generations torn between duty and desire.        
 
La Cote d'Azur, 1998: In the sun-dappled south of France, Emilie de la Martinieres, the last of her gilded line, inherits her childhood home, a magnificent chateau and vineyard. With the property comes a mountain of debt and almost as many questions . . .         
 
Paris, 1944: A bright, young British office clerk, Constance Carruthers, is sent undercover to Paris to be part of Churchill's Special Operations Executive during the climax of the Nazi occupation. Separated from her contacts in the Resistance, she soon stumbles into the heart of a prominent family who regularly entertain elite members of the German military even as they plot to liberate France. But in a city rife with collaborators and rebels, Constance's most difficult decision may be determining whom to trust with her heart.        
 
As Emilie discovers what really happened to her family during the war and finds a connection to Constance much closer than she suspects, the chateau itself may provide the clues that unlock the mysteries of her past, present, and future. Here is a dazzling novel of intrigue and passion from one of the worlds most beloved storytellers. 
   

---

 
The fourth book, The Midnight Rose, which I have yet to read since I just got it as a Christmas present, is calling out to me...   
  

 

 

 

 

Here is the link if you can't see the YouTube player:

The Midnight Rose YouTube 

Review from Goodreads:
 
Spanning four generations, The Midnight Rose sweeps from the glittering palaces of the great maharajas of India to the majestic stately homes of England, following the extraordinary life of a remarkable girl, Anahita Chaval, from 1911 to the present day . . . 
 
In the heyday of the British Raj, eleven-year-old Anahita, from a noble but impov­erished family, forms a lifelong friendship with the headstrong Princess Indira, the privileged daughter of Indian royalty. As the princess’s official companion, Anahita accompanies her friend to England just before the outbreak of World War I. There, she meets young Donald Astbury—reluctant heir to the magnifi­cent, remote Astbury Estate—and his scheming mother. 
 
Ninety years later, Rebecca Bradley, a young American film star, has the world at her feet. But when her turbulent relationship with her equally famous boyfriend takes an unexpected turn, she’s relieved that her latest role, playing a 1920s debutante, will take her away from the glare of publicity to a distant cor­ner of the English countryside. Shortly after filming begins at the now-crumbling Astbury Hall, Ari Malik, Anahita’s great-grandson, arrives unexpectedly, on a quest for his family’s past. What he and Rebecca discover begins to unravel the dark secrets that haunt the Astbury dynasty . . . 
 
A multilayered, heartbreaking tale filled with unforgettable characters caught in the sweep of history, The Midnight Rose is Lucinda Riley at her most captivating and unforgettable.   
      

---

 
The fifth book, The Italian Girl. I haven't read this one yet but so looking forward to it.
    

  

The Italian Girl You Tube

 

Review from Goodreads: 

  

Rosanna Menici is just a girl when she meets Roberto Rossini, the man who will change her life. In the years to come, their destinies are bound together by their extraordinary talents as opera singers and by their enduring but obsessive love for each other - a love that will ultimately affect the lives of all those closest to them. For, as Rosanna slowly discovers, their unison is haunted by irreversible events from the past . . . Rosanna's journey takes her from humble beginnings in the back streets of Naples to the glittering stages of the world's most prestigious opera houses. Set against a memorable backdrop of Lucinda Riley's trademark evocative locations, The Italian Girl unfolds into a poignant and unforgettable tale of love, betrayal and self-discovery.
  

---

 
And finally, for now, the new series she is writing called The Seven Sisters.
 
The Seven Sisters Series Website 
 

 
 

Here is the link if you can't see the YouTube player:

The Seven Sisters YouTube 

~ Camellias - My First Year ~

So here it is, January 1, 2015, and two of my camellia plants are bursting with blooms.  They are just simply beautiful.  I planted three different types.

1.  Nuccio's Pearl
2.  Ack-Scent
3.  Yuletide

So let's start with Nuccio's Pearl.  They are spectacular, fully double blooms with pure white petals edged with an orchid pink blush. These flowers make a dazzling contrast with the glossy, dark green foliage and will add an elegant, formal appearance to your garden! 

Next is Ack Scent or Ack-Scent Spice. Ack Scent has large peony-form flowers and is shell pink. They have a distinctly spicy fragrance. These camellias bloom heavily from late winter to spring. 

Look at the size of the flower!

And look at the size of this flower!

As big as my hand

 

Lots and lots of blooms

Starting to open

And lastly, Yultetide.  Named for the time it blooms. It is my third bush but it is still struggling from transplant shock. Just starting to get some buds. It has single, brilliant red blooms centered with bright yellow stamens that make an elegant statement in the winter garden.  

Here is what the Yuletide should look like.