Down the River Road
	I started the day by realizing I had forgotten a comb! Luckily the hotel had a freebie one for me :)
The hotel's shuttle drove me back to the airport to pick up my rental car. I then drove down I-10 and the River Road (along the Mississippi River) to Laura: A Creole Plantation.  The ticket was $20 (a splurge), but I really enjoyed the tour!
	The main house reminded me so much of a combination of houses I've visited in the Caribbean (such as Romney Manor in St. Kitts)!
The guided tour started in the basement, which reminded me so much of the basement of the Firestone Farm at Greenfield Village! The French clay pots they have also a Pompeii look to them.  The tour guide (Doug) said the pots were buried in the soil and used as waterproof refrigeration. The history of this family was so amazing, starting with fighting with George Washington!
	The end of the tour was a chance to go in a former slave cabin. This was a sugarcane plantation, and the slave cabins were miles away from the main house.  This one was moved closer to the main house fortourist ease. Children's literature connection: a folklorist collected Br'er Rabbit-like tales at this plantation!
After touring the plantation, I drove north.  One of my stops was the Plaquemine Lock State Historic Site, a former lock connecting the Mississippi River to Bayou Plaquemine.  (The lock closed in 1961.) It was a Sunday, so the museum was closed, but I still got to walk over the lock.
	Where the lock connected to the Mississippi River is now a levee.  I walked up and got a nice view of the Mississippi!
After the lock, I planned to visit Port Hudson and Audubon state historic sites, but they were both closed because it was Sunday, so I drove on.  I made a quick side-trip to drive through the historic section of St. Francisville, Louisiana, then continued north on US 61. I stopped at the Mississippi welcome center and the state line just before it closed and got lots of great information and brochures.
	I ended my day by stopping at the Hampton Inn and Suites in Natchez, Mississippi. I got this giant king suite with a view of the Mississippi River bridge for $85 + tax.