THE LOUISIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
ANNUAL TOUR
2007 Fall Tour
Details of the tour will be
announced later, including cost.
This year the tour will take
two days and will visit Lafayette and St. Martinville.
The tour will feature Cajun eating
and Cajun dancing, plus a village or two.
Bakeries are always popular.
The tour departs from 5801
St. Charles Avenue at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday
November 17, 2007 and returns
at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday
November 18, 2007.
The tour price will include
everything: food, lodging and beverages.
2006 Fall Tour
Friday, November 17, 2006 Depart 8:00 a.m.
Lunch along the Mississippi – Vidalia, La. – Comfort Suites Hotel
Frogmore Plantation Tour – Working Cotton Plantation
Tour of Winter Quarters
Battlefield Inn – Vicksburg, MS.
Cocktails and Dinner, with a brief history of Vicksburg.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Tour of Vicksburg Battlefield Museum
Driving tour of Vicksburg Battlefield with a stop at the Park’s museum
Anchuca Historic Mansion (Ca 1830)
Tour and Lunch
McRaven Home (Ca 1797,1836,1849)
Belle of the Bend Mansion (Ca 1876)
The Corner’s Mansion
Tour and Cocktails
Cedar Grove Inn
Tour and Dinner
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Tour of Poverty Point State Historical Site
Lunch – Sunday Brunch Buffet
Archestratus Restaurant, Clinton Ms.
Return to New Orleans November 19, 2006 at 5:00 p.m.
For reservations contact The Louisiana Historical Society at
504 866 3049 or sakr@cox.net
2005
Fall Tour
CANCELLED
BECAUSE OF KATRINA
2004 Fall Tour
GRAND COTEAU, OPELOUSAS, WASHINGTON, PORT BARRE
NOVEMBER 20-21, 2004
Prepared by Ed and Arthemise Gros
November 20, 2004
Departure New Orleans, La. 8:00
AM. Members & Guests only
Academy of the Sacred Heart
10:30 AM
St. Charles Church 11:30 AM
Catahoula’s Restaurant
(Lunch) 12:00 NOON
Weir House ( Opelousas Museum of
Art) 2:00 PM
Bus tour of Historic sights in Opelousas 3:00 PM
Dubisson House 4:00 PM
Bailey Hotel ( Bunkie, La.)
5:30 PM
Bus departs from Bailey Hotel
6:15 PM
Arlington Plantation House (Tour
& Cocktails) 6:45 PM
Michel Prudhomme Home (Tour
& Dinner) 8:00 PM
November 21, 2004
Buffet Breakfast at Bailey Hotel
7:00 – 9:00 AM
Bus departs from Bailey Hotel
9:30AM
Camellia Cove 10:00 AM
Steamboat House 11:00AM
House on the Hill 12:00 NOON
Opera House 12:45 PM
Steamboat Warehouse Restaurant (Tour & Lunch) 1:15 PM
Return for 5:00 p.m.
Tour in 2003
prepared by Tom and Kit Favrot
The Louisiana Historical Society tour will depart Friday, Nov. 21, 2003 and return on Sunday Nov. 23, 2003. This year we will tour Natchitoches, La. with a stop at Washington, La. and Alexandria, La. on our way.
The tour will leave New Orleans at 8:30 am Friday, Nov. 21. As you board the bus, you will be given a complete itinerary and a name tag. Please wear your nametag at all times on the trip. The first stop will be outside of Washington, La. to see the Seven Brothers Oak Trees that were planted in 1807. We will proceed to Cheneyville La., 16 miles south of Alexandria for a tour of Loyd Hall Plantation that was built in 1850. While there we will be served a light lunch.
Next, we will go to about 10 miles south of Natchitoches to Melrose Plantation, built in 1833. It was the home of Clementine Hunter, one-time cook at Melrose. She emerged as Louisiana's most celebrated primitive painter.
From Melrose we will go into the outskirts of Natchitoches to the Ramada Inn, a full-service motel that will be our home for the next two nights. After checking and an hour's rest, we go to Oaklawn Plantation House. This is the private home of Bobby Harling who wrote "Steel Magnolia." It is rarely opened to the public and he has generously offered to open it for us for a tour and cocktails. He and his parents should be there and they have been invited to join us for dinner. This evening will be coat and tie.
After we leave Oaklawn we go by bus to The Landing Restaurant that opened in 1988 and looks out on Cane River Lake. This should be our finest restaurant. Complementary drinks are available. After dinner we board the bus for a short ride to the Ramada Inn.
Saturday morning after breakfast at the Inn, we will begin our tour. Our first stop is not far from the Inn. It is the small Victorian Chaplin House, built in 1892, that is now a B&B. We will leave there for the center of the city where we will walk just a couple of blocks to see the Old Courthouse Museum, built in 1896, then cross the street to the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church built in 1856, then to the rear yard to tour the Bishop Martin Museum built in 1885. Lunch will be the next stop. It is a two-block walk to Lasyone's Meat Pie Restaurant and Kitchen that was built in 1859. We will have their Meat Pie and for dessert their highly acclaimed Cane River Cream Pie. We will board the bus and proceed a short distance to Fort St. Jean Baptiste. This is a full-scale replica of the French Colonial fort built in 1730 on the banks of the Cane River Lake.
From there we will get back on the bus for a 10 mile trip to Oakland Plantation Cottage built in 1821 and to tour the 44 acres of out-buildings. The main cottage rests on six-foot high brick pillars. Immediately next door to Oakland is Beau Fort Plantation, circa 1790. It is on Cane River Lake and has an avenue of Live oak trees at its entrance. We will return to the Ramada Inn for a rest before dinner.
Dinner will be that Merci Beaucoup Restaurant in the heart of Natchitoches just off Cane River Lake. We will have a private room with an open bar. Dress will be casual. Afterwards, we will return to the Inn.
Sunday morning after breakfast in the Inn and checking out we will leave for the rebuilt Magnolia Plantation Home that was originally built in 1830. It has 17 chimneys and 27 rooms and the complex surrounding the house has 29 out-buildings.
We will have a short bus ride from Magnolia to Kate Chopin House also known as Bayou Folk Museum that was built in 1805. When we leave there we have a 45-minute ride to Kent Plantation, built in 1801, and located outside of Alexandria for a light lunch and tour of the home. When we leave Kent we will drive back to New Orleans and should arrive home at 5:00 pm to complete the tour.
The tour cost includes the entrance fees of all home, the bus and driver, two nights lodging, all meals, tours and tips. Reservations not accepted until October 1.
We will pre-order the menus for lunches and dinners. If you have a special dietary request, please let us know at the time of your reservation.
Rooms at the hotel are ordered and are smoke free. If you require a smoking room let Bill Reeves know. There will be no porter service so plan on getting a buddy to help with your luggage. The trip is an all-expense paid tour. No tipping, please. Attendance is limited to 53 people. Space is assigned on a first-come basis, first to previous tour members and then to first-time tour members. All must be members of The Louisiana Historical Society. Contact Bill Reeves at 866-3049 with any questions. To make your reservation please send your full payment payable to The Louisiana Historical Society at 5801 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, La. 70115. Upon completion of these reservations your space will be confirmed. We look forward to seeing you on the tour!
We will lodge at the Ramada Inn, Hwy 1 Bypass, Natchitoches, La.
Phone 318-357-8281
Prepared by Tom and Kit Favrot
2002 Louisiana Historical Society Tour
The Louisiana Historical Society has made plans for their 2002 tour departing Friday, November 15, 2002 and returning Sunday, November 17. This year the Society will tour to Natchez, Mississippi with a stop in Woodville on our way.
We will leave New Orleans at 2:30 p.m. Friday November 15 and take a bus to Woodville, Ms. As you board the bus, you will be given a name tag. Will you please wear it at all times during the trip (except when you are sleeping)! Our first stop will be the site of Bowling Green plantation and cemetery. We will continue into Woodville for a cocktail party and tour of Rosemont, the home of the only President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis. It is owned by Percival P. Beacroft, who is graciously allowing us to use his home for the cocktail party. From there we will proceed to the newly renovated fellowship hall at the St. Paul's Episcopal Church, built in 1823. An organist will perform briefly for us on their 1837 Erben Organ. Then we will have a light dinner in their Parish House, built in 1884. We then tumble onto the bus for the hop to the Eola Hotel in Natchez for bed.
Saturday morning we will meet for a complete American Buffet Breakfast at the Eola.. After breakfast we will board the bus for a short drive to the Natchez Visitors Reception Center for a 20 minute show, "The Natchez Story," then we will re-board the bus for home tours. In the morning we will visit Green Leaves, built about 1812; Longwood, the 6-story house begun in 1861, and still not completed; and Landsdowne, built in 1853. Our lunch will be at Kings Tavern, the oldest House in Mississippi, built before 1789. After lunch we will visit Elms Court, built about 1840. After which we will return to the Eola Hotel for a short rest and then dress and proceed to Dunleith, built in 1847, for a tour and a coat and tie dinner. Return to the Eola.
Sunday morning, after an American Buffet breakfast at the Eola, we check out and tour Rosalie which took 7 years to build and was started in 1820. Stanton Hall, built from 1851-1857 in the heart of Natchez, is the finest example of the lavish culture of the South. We will have lunch in the carriage house on the grounds of Stanton Hall.
We will leave Natchez after lunch and head to New Orleans with a stop South of Baton Rouge at Longwood Plantation on the River Road before we arrive back in New Orleans for 5:00 p. m.
The tour cost includes the entrance fees of all homes, the bus and driver, two nights, meals, tours, and tips, so leave your wallets or purse at home. Formal notice of the tour and pricing will be mailed to all members in late September. Reservations accepted only after that mailing and only from members. Membership in the Louisiana Historical Society is open to all. See membership form on this site.
The Louisiana Historical Society 2001
Tour
Seldom Seen Plantations and Other Places
Saturday, November 17 and Sunday November 19, 2001
Arranged by Thomas B. Favrot
with a lot of help from the Private Home Owners of the area
Saturday November 17
Sunday November 18
The Louisiana Historical Society 1999 Tour
Franklin, Louisiana area
Seldom Seen Plantations and Other Places
Saturday, November 13 and Sunday November 14, 1999
Arranged by Thomas B. Favrot
with a lot of help from the Private Home Owners of the area
Situated on the route of the Old Spanish Trail and along a dramatic bend in the
romantic Bayou Teche, Franklin, Louisiana was recently named in the top 100
small towns in America. Its concentration of some of the finest antebellum
homes in the South was important to its designation. The Franklin Historic
District contains over 420 noteworthy structures and was listed in the National
Register of Historic Places in 1982. Although early Franklin settlers were
French, Acadian, German, Danish and Irish, many were also English, unusual in
Southwest Louisiana. A testimony to Anglo-Saxon influence is the beginning in
1830 of services by Louisiana's fourth oldest Episcopal congregation and the
establishment in 1847 of St. Mary's Episcopal Church. This will be our first
stop, with a film presentation, coffee, snacks and a tour of the church.
During the Civil War, Confederate forces under General Richard Taylor fought
Union troops under General Nathaniel Banks in the Battle of Irish Bend outside
Franklin. Four hundred men were killed or wounded during this significant
battle, through which Taylor's forces successfully stopped a drive by Union
forces to invade Texas. Franklin has produced five Louisiana governors,
including the incumbent Murphy J. Foster, Jr.; along with four United States
Senators, a Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court, and a Lieutenant
Governor. Franklin is also the boyhood home of Jefferson Davis, president of
the Confederacy.
The tour is designed for Society Members to renew friendships and visit some
interesting Louisiana places. We have arranged for an overnight stay in
Franklin, with a tour of private homes and meals at the three best restaurants
in the parish. The tour group will meet at 5801 St. Charles Avenue at 7:45 a.m.
and leave at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 13. The tour will return promptly
at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 14. We will visit eight beautiful private
homes all built before 1859. Their owners have promised to be with us. We will
have a cocktail party at Shadowland and will tour the Wendell Williams Aviation
Museum.
We have overnight accommodations at the Best Western Forest Motel. You will
have to bring your own luggage to your room or get another traveler to help.
Sunday morning there will be a light breakfast will be served in the motel.
The last two years' trips were smashing successes. Seats went fast, leaving
some unable to make reservations. To reserve your seat, send a check for $360
for two, double occupancy, or $210 for single occupancy, payable to the
Louisiana Historical Society, to 5801 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, LA
70115. Leave your wallet at home, because the price includes all refreshments,
meals, lodging, transportation, admissions, taxes and tips. For information,
contact Bill Reeves, president, at 866 3049, email president@louisianahistoricalsociety.org.