Who ever would

have thought it would turn out to be a Plantation Week? Ah, but it did!

Months back

I had accepted an invitation to speak/read at a Literary High Tea slated

for April 22 at the Grand Wisteria Plantation in Greenville, Ga. Ordinarily

the Grand Wisteria is a romantic bed and breakfast with the elegant essence

of a bygone era. Soon to open, however, is a truly beautiful special events

facility recently constructed behind the main house.

To participate

in the High Tea event was enough to make my week really special. The 40

ladies in attendance were so very gracious and made me feel like they

really enjoyed my work. So I just wasn't sure my week could get any better,

since such a reception is a really big deal for a writer who stays to

herself far too much according to some who think they know me!

Now, my husband

is one of those who thinks he knows me, and he had this idea that I should

go to New Orleans with him on the weekend following my lovely experience

at the Grand Wisteria. The father of a friend had passed away and the

funeral was on Monday. He thought it would be nice for us to drive over

together, rest a day, and drive back after the funeral.

Little did

I know what lay in store. It was opening weekend of the annual Jazz Festival

so a room was hard to come by, though we did find a nice one at the LaFayette

Hotel overlooking a beautiful green square just barely off the beaten

path. We were within about five miles of the church where the funeral

was to be held on Monday morning.

Now most folks

would have no problem passing time in the Big Easy. And I tried to do

just that for about three hours on Saturday afternoon after our arrival.

Throngs of folks all around us actually looked like they were having fun.

Me? I was wondering

if Syblelina or or Mablelina (the wild turkeys I feed in my back yard)

would make an appearance with their new babies in tow before I returned

home. New Orleans was hot. It stunk. It was crowded. It was loud. What

was there to like?

Daniel asked

what I'd like to do on Sunday. He knew "resting" in that downtown

atmosphere was not going to be an easy accomplishment. I already knew

the trees were within driving distance.

The Oak Alley

trees, the grandest old live oaks you could ever imagine were calling

to me. And so we drove west, out River Road towards all the old sugar

plantations. If you don't blink on this drive you will catch a glimpse

of some very stately old dwellings, several of which are now Bed and Breakfasts.

But you truly

must not blink because the plantation road frontage is very narrow. I

am told that the entrances were just that narrow 150 years ago. Narrow

at the front, deep and wide at the back, to the tune of 1,000 to 10,000

acres. The present owners or managers of some of these magnificent southern

beauties can trace their roots