Run, Forrest! Run!

Photo by Kathleen Rolfsrud

This iconic grove of 300-year-old live oaks was not the setting for "Forrest Gump." That was somewhere else, nor was it the location for "12 Years A Slave," that was shot at a private plantation site two doors down.
"Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte" was shot here, so was "Primary Colors," as well as parts of television shows "The Long Hot Summer," "Days of Our Lives," "The Young and The Restless," and so on.
We spent a pleasant day here today at the Oak Alley Plantation, took an hour-long tour of the Big House where the Head Job Creator officed when not away at his New Orleans digs.
We then walked out back to look in on the 99 per centers.

Slaves built this entire gorgeous mansion from scratch, molding bricks from Mississippi mud into 16-inch walls and massive pillars, even creating astonishing faux marble fireplace fronts. Docents (ours was an ex-high school teacher who said she enjoyed finally having people actually listen to her) did an excellent job of interpreting this complex socio-economic system.
Cane sugar, entirely produced by forced labor, was the singular output of the region. Too wet here for cotton. Product was finished on site, floated downriver to New Orleans, then on to sweeten the tea in global luxury markets.

Dining room with faux marble fireplace; the be-tasseled fabric over the table is an elegant punka,
hinged from the high-ceiling, swung during dinners by a slave pulling on a rope from the corner.