New Iberia

We had a quiet morning of relaxing and catching up before we began another tough day of enjoying LA.  Our first organized activity was eating.  We stood in line at the unremarkable looking Bon Creole Lunch Counter for their oversized po’ boy sandwiches and baskets of fried seafood.  Fingerlickin’ good.

Then it was on to the Conrad Rice Mill which dates back to 1912 and has continued to use much of the same equipment for those 100 years.  Holly told us the steps for growing and processing the rice.  The company has grown considerably in recent years, selling 1,000,000 pounds of rice annually. 

Twenty-three employees work in the mill at stations with a hulling machine, paddy machine, pearler, and bagging machine. 

We enjoyed samples of rice and their Bay Island Secret Sauce in the Konriko Company Store.  Almost everyone walked out with a bag heavy with rice and other souvenirs.

 Anna Lee and Rita did some heavy lifting.

Our drive through New Iberia took us by some lovely old Southern homes.  Our destination was Shadow on the Teche Plantation but first a few of us went geocaching at a Lourdes Grotto near the public library.

 Back at the plantation we viewed a movie about the Weeks family who built it in 1841 and owned the plantation for four generations.  The last survivor, Weeks Hall, died in 1958, the day after he donated it as a National Historic Site.  The family made their money from sugar cane and were one of the most successful in the state.

The exterior is in the classical revival style with a brick facade to demonstrate the wealth of the owners.  The interior is Louisiana colonial, having no internal hallway or stairway.  This means, one has to go outside to get into rooms next door or upstairs.

 Eight-five percent of the furnishings are original, the remaining are of the same period.  The doors and wood around the fireplaces are faux painted to look like better wood or marble.  The tables and chairs are lower than we have today because the people were shorter then.  The wall paper, rugs and drapery duplicate what was originally in the home.  In the attic, boxes filled with hundreds of receipts, notes and records provided vital information on the house and on the farm.

The last descendent, Weeks, was an artist.  His paintings hang in bedroom.  The door was autographed by such noted people as Henry Miller, Elia Kazan, Tex Ritter, and Mickey Mouse (done by Walt Disney).  We regret that no photographs are allowed in the house.

 All this work earned a reward, the LA treat of a snowball, ice covered in flavored syrup.  Other rewards were freezes and ice cream.