Plantation At Last

It's taken me a while, but I really wanted to spend some time on these pics, so I saved them for last! On our last day in New Orleans we spent half of it at the New Orleans Aquarium, and the other half at the Oak Alley Plantation, located about an hour from N.O. The kids liked the first part of the day best, while the grown-ups, I do believe, liked the second!

The aquarium was a lot of fun, and the kids even got to feed the sting rays! It was full of all kinds of aquatic animals from all over the world. It even had penguins.

The Plantation was simply beautiful. The large Oak trees that lined the yards are thought to be over three hundred years old. Some of them had boughs that were being supported by iron poles so they wouldn't break off. The plantation house was pretty too. They gave us the history of the first owners, which I always love hearing. The only thing I didn't like, was that the old slave quarters were no longer there and I would have liked to see them. I always like to hear the entire story, not just the storybook edition. They did have a plaque that listed the slaves owned by the first occupant. It was pretty depressing; they were all listed with their pedigree and price. It made me sad.

Anyway, the grounds were absolutely beautiful and Dan was lucky enough to be able to enjoy a mint julep (virgin of course!) outside on the patio with his mom. We weren't sure they would have them without alcohol, so it made his day! It was really good too. I usually don't like them, but this one was absolutely fantastic.

I'll go ahead and post all the pics. I had to do collages this time or the post would have been a mile and a half long. I was able to shorten it to a mile instead. :) Did I mention that these were my favorite pictures? I'll post the plantation pics first, and then the aquarium. :)

One of my favorites

From the balcony.

Bough support.

Look how small Dan looks compared to these trees!

The Mansion.

Couldn't resist a family photo here!

Mint Juleps on the back porch.

Ellie liked it too! When Daddy ran out, she started begging Abuela for hers!

Liked this one too.

Sunset on it's way.

Playing with pinecones, I love kids.

I took these while riding in the car. There are so many bridges in the N.O area, I had to remember.

And now, the kids parts!

This parking lot was called "Whale Wall." I wonder why?

Silly boys. Another bridge...seriously, people amaze me. I can't believe individuals have the skill and ambition to create these massive structures! It's pretty awesome.

A river boat...just like in the movies!

Handsome.

Ellie's mode of transportation on the entire trip.

Between, wiggly children, wiggly fish, and poor light, this was about as good a shot as I was gonna get inside. This room was my favorite room in the entire building. It was so peaceful, watching the fish in motion. I could have stayed there all afternoon composing poetry or something.

The rays! My favorite part of this tank were the cute elderly gentlemen working there. They were bound and determined that everyone try touching the rays. It was pretty funny to me.

Feeding time. See the little slimy fish Logan has? Yeah, that was lunch and rays come and suck it out of your hand. Luckily, I was manning the camera and couldn't try...darn it!

Meanwhile, Abuelo was watching Ellie do this...over and over and over!

Silly kids.

Oh, and one last plantation collage to leave you with!