"Experience Louisiana’s deep and colourful history told through the area's historical architecture and rich countryside," proudly proclaims the brochure on Louisiana's Historic Plantation Homes. It describes some of the 140 plantations able to be visited along the Mississippi River running from Natchez south to New Orleans. Many of the plantations' houses and gardens are … [Read more...] about Old slave law still relevant in Louisiana tourist trade
USA
Whitney Plantation: Telling the slavery story
Whitney Plantation opened in December 2014 amid much controversy about its depiction of slave history. Certainly, its factual records are chilling to the soul and their presentation is stark, beginning with the lanyard presented to each visitor on admission. Each one has a picture of a carving of a slave, that person’s name and a brief comment from that person. I had … [Read more...] about Whitney Plantation: Telling the slavery story
Santa Monica, haven of cool
Santa Monica, a seaside town of 94,000 people southwest of Los Angeles, prides itself on being politically liberal, environmentally caring, alternative lifestyle-friendly and culturally sensitive. It’s got a great beach, a thriving high-tech culture, is a haven for creatives, and fosters all manner of bohemian, hippie and laidback lifestyles. It still sees itself as the … [Read more...] about Santa Monica, haven of cool
Cruisin’ the Blues highway
In Memphis’s famous Peabody Hotel there is a “Blues” marker declaring that this is the start of the Blues Highway. There are nearly 200 markers, mainly in Mississippi, and some in neighbouring States. They are placed by the Mississippi Blues Trail Commission, a State body set up to provide information about notable blues figures from the past. Incidentally, the Peabody … [Read more...] about Cruisin’ the Blues highway
Antebellum houses in the Southern USA
The houses are concentrated in Vicksburg and Natchez, two towns on the Mississippi River, made rich by “King Cotton” and “Queen Sugar”, the two crops that flourished in the rich river soil and made white plantation owners and their families rich, and brought prosperity and the trappings of civilisation to the South over a period between 1820 and 1860. Natchez was one of the … [Read more...] about Antebellum houses in the Southern USA