Thursday, May 31, 2012

White Castle

Double D decided early in the week that he wanted to take the ferry from Sunshine, LA to White Castle, LA. Discovering that Nottoway Plantation is in White Castle we decided it'd be worth a trip.

The ferry let us off in a little town called Plaquemine (Plack-uh-men). There were signs for historic homes, so not being on a schedule, we explored.

Abandoned home

Front door to above home. What the heck is peeking out the side window?! Yikes!


Side window from same home. I was thinking if I touched those curtains they'd probably disintegrate in my hand.

We became bored of the historic home self-tour so off we went to find Nottoway.

Nottoway Plantation--side view. The home boasts 3 floors, 64 rooms, 6 staircases, 3 modern bathrooms, 22 massive square columns, 165 doors, 200 windows, and a bowling alley.

We ate lunch in the circular dining room. So charming! 



I wish I'd had what Double D ordered: fried catfish topped with crawfish etouffee over mashed potatoes and a side of grilled veggies. Instead, I let the waitress talk me into a boudin po-boy which was NOT good. To make matters worse, they left the casing on the boudin and when I pulled it off it looked like a...er...condom. Not appetizing AT ALL. Sorry if that was TMI.

Side view of Nottoway. See the lower level with the dining tables and chairs? That's where we had our leisurely lunch, gazing out onto the beautiful property.
Can't resist the fleur de lis! But why do these remind me of an obscene gesture? Sometimes my mind goes places I wish it wouldn't. :(

One of many huge live oaks on the property. This is one of my favorite trees. The branches dip down so invitingly. 

This is the main gate in front of the mansion. Notice the blue of the sky; that is not Photoshopped, but, confession time: There was a man walking behind the gates, interfering with the beautiful lattice work, so I cloned him out. Buh-bye annoying tourist!

We walked through the gates, crossed the road and climbed the levee for this photo. I was so happy I brought my 35mm lens on this trip. I forgot how much I love it!

And back on the ferry we went where Double D got fussed at by the parking attendant coming and going. The guy gave lousy hand gestures and got a little aggravated with us, but we just smiled. 

As we were leaving, I told Double D that Nottoway would be a perfect place to stay for our 25th wedding anniversary. He said, "Unless we decide to return to Italy." Oh, be still my heart! 

19 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

you had me laughing. thanks! the place is beautiful, but back away from the boudin! :)

Anonymous said...

Mercy, the reflections are pretty trippy in that 2nd shot...
LOVE the dining room & all that white! WoW!
I could get used to Nottoway =)

Anonymous said...

Beautiful white house, but my eye is drawn to the beauty of the old wooden house. Gorgeous shots.

the wild magnolia said...

I'm seeing several "things" in the old house window. Love old houses.

Great pics.

I'm with Double D., fried catfish, crawfish etouffee, over mashed potatoes, + veggies. yumyum.

Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

Lovely shots, Gail. I love the old house.

Brian King said...

I love that first old house! Excellent photos! The Nottoway is gorgeous! Fantastic pillars.

hootnonny said...

Every day with you, a new adventure and photo ops! Absolutely love the textures in those old houses. The contrast between those and Nottoway is amazing! Never had that thought about Fleur de lis, but have you noticed those cylindrical posts at malls and business to keep cars from driving through!

septembermom said...

Lovely pictures of Nottoway. The catfish does look good. You have me giggling like crazy with that condom reference...lol

So happy to be back visiting your beautiful blog, my friend!

Kathy said...

I read the history of this place on line after you mentioned it in your blog a couple days ago. I do hope I'm able to get down to see it one of these days. Amazing!

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Oh Lord, your sweet husband really out-ordered you that day, yikes, I hate when that happens.

But what a neat place to go -- I'm thinking we drove through there, the name really sounds familiar, but... good an excuse to come back!!

Love the pix, your sense of humor (and honesty)have me laughing.

Charlotte Wilson said...

Me thinks you need to keep having fun adventures with Double D. Forget the job. Look at what you would be missing.
Gorgeous shots as always and thanks for the smiles...you are so funny.
Love that all white dining room and I am now hungry for fried catfish over mashed potatoes.

♥charlotte

Nadine, Chewy and Lilibell said...

I love the houses down South! I especially love the old one, if I was there, it would've been hard for me to not try to get inside and poke around, lol! And it's amazing that it's abandoned, yet the property itself has been kept up!

Reminds me of this HUGE old victorian in our neighborhood that sits there vacant and which completely fascinates me. Come to find out it's owned by Steve's father's shop landlord. I'm just dying to get in there to check it out and told Steve to ask the landlord one of these days if he'll let me go poking about. For some odd reason I'm drawn to old abandoned homes :)

tinajo said...

These pics are really beautiful, I love the first one a little extra! :-)

Unknown said...

What a wonderful old house. So many great photos of it. And I can see why you would want to stay in Nottoway for your anniversary but Italy sounds much better.. Thanks for sharing your photos with us!

Hugs~

Vagabonde said...

That Nottoway is certainly grand. I went to Baton Rouge once and rented a car then went down to maybe 5 or 6 plantations that can be visited. Unfortunately it was before digital cameras and my pictures are not very good.

Deanna said...

You did make me giggle...you and your dirty little mind...what a beautiful trip and so full of history. I would love to have lunch there, I will have to remember not to order what you had!! Gorgeous images all!!

Barbara said...

I want to go there, too!! I love that old house - beautiful processing! But Nottoway Plantation - I guess it's a hotel now? So beautiful! You did a fantastic job cutting the man out of the gate shot. What did you use? Photoshop? I need to start playing with my PSE.

Barbara said...

Oh, and ITALY? Sigh....

Michelle said...

I'm loving learning about our neighbor, Louisiana, through your photos. All we've ever seen is the blandness from the interstate. But you're really exploring and immersing yourself in this beauty around you!
I've gotta get photoshop to deal with tourists! Yosemite would've been more fun to photograph.