Thursday, April 30, 2015

Learning About Life in the 1800s

About a month ago I was poking around the internet searching for some place to take the boys on a field trip that corresponds with what we are studying in history - the Civil War. I happened across Heritage Day at Destrehan Plantation just south of New Orleans and we set the date, which was yesterday.

To say the day was beautiful would be a gross understatement - the day was perfect. Between 65 and 70 degrees, bright blue skies and white fluffy clouds. Even our worries that the place would be overrun with school trips was dashed as we arrived to find only a couple busses and plenty of outdoor space and demonstrations for all of the kidlets to spread out.

And the abundance and size of the oak trees were breathtaking. Wow.
A gaggle of boys! Our good friends went with us (and we left Isaiah with another friend since we didn't think he would appreciate life in the 1840s as much as the older boys!)





Learning how to make rope!

Samuel kept sticking this in his pocket after learning how to make walls out of bousillage (boo-ze-yazh).
Such concentration while working on a chair leg!
The garden was awesome! Even more so when we headed into the kitchen to learn how they would cook up everything over the open hearth fire. 




Yummy!! The smell of the bacon, chicken, soup and fish was torturous right before lunch.




A little rest after our picnic lunch.
An honest-to-goodness carpenter, who uses many of the older tools shown here to make repairs on the plantation and build new areas for visitors. 
The bees - the boys loved watching the bees. 

You did WHAT for entertainment back then?







Our adventure wasn't quite over yet since we took a side trip to the city to check out an ice cream place - which was absolutely worth it as we people-watched and ate some of the BEST ice cream. All-in-all, a fantastic day.

An oak tree - one of about 100 on the property. Can you hear it beckoning to you? "Climb me!"
Completely worth the trip - http://www.destrehanplantation.org