Day 2 - Touring Natchitoches, Louisiana

Submitted by:  Spence and Madi Schaaf #2

Today was a busy day, starting as our bus arrived at 7:30 a.m., driven by our competent driver, Dennis.  Our guide, Barbara Bailey, then arrived and as soon as everyone had loaded on the bus we took off to see what there was to see in Natchitoches, Louisiana.

This year is the 300^th anniversary of Natchitoches (pronounced Nack-a-tish).  It was founded in 1714 by French Canadians, for France.  It has been a continuously occupied European settlement since then. Thus, the tri-centennial celebration this year. Natchitoches is an Indian name meaning land of the chinquapin eater.  Chinquapin is the edible nut from chinquapin trees that are similar to chestnuts or acorns.  They were a staple food item for the Indians occupying the area.

Our first stop was the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception.  A beautiful and historic church founded in 1720.  It was originally inside the fort.  The present church building is circa 1853.  We also walked across the street and toured the grounds of the Bishop’s house and seminary dorm buildings.

We then took a driving tour through the historic homes of Natchitoches and the downtown historic district.  Our guide, Barbara owns a home in the historic district.  We learned that many plantation owners had second homes in town, thus the term “townhouse” came about.  Many date from the early 1700’s.  

You can definitely see the influence of the French and Spanish in the architecture here. 

Barbara pointed out one of the houses that appeared in the movie “Steel Magnolias.”

Soon we arrived at Fort St. Jean Baptiste historical site.  There were docents in period dress that gave us informative talks in different areas of the fort.  We were then treated to a musket and pistol firing demonstration. 

 

Something we had all been looking forward to, we then went to lunch at the Merci Beaucoup restaurant where we had a pre-selected choice of their famous meat pie, or a Cajun potato stuffed with crawfish ettoufee, or a delicious looking salad.   Of course, the meal was topped off with bread pudding for dessert. 

Even though it seemed like it would have been a good time to take a nap, we got back on the bus and headed for our next destination, the Oakland Plantation.  Designated as a centennial farm, this plantation has been owned by the same family, the Prudhomme’s, since the late1700’s.  We toured the main house and many of the outbuildings.

Next stop the Melrose Plantation.  This is one of the largest plantations in the United States built by and for free blacks.  The Metoyer family descendants still live in this area today.  We were treated to an exhibit of folk art by Clementine Hunter, who chronicled her life at Melrose through art.  She lived to be 101 and was still painting almost up to her death.  We also toured many of the outbuildings before we loaded back on the bus and headed back to the campground

Great day, beautiful weather once it warmed up.  Looking forward to tomorrow’s tour.