St. Joseph Plantation: A Mourning Tour

St. Joseph Plantation, Vacherie, Louisiana

Take a drive along Louisiana's Highway 18, a winding stretch of road that matches the meandering path and measured pace of the Mississippi river, just west of a thin sliver of a town called Vacherie, and you'll soon find the elegant, Creole style St. Joseph Plantation.  If you do so in October you will be able to tour a home that is in the midst of observing the traditional mourning customs of the Creoles.

St. Joseph is a working sugarcane plantation, surrounded by fields of tall, green cane and an industry that supplies over 32,000 jobs to Louisiana.  While sugarcane is grown all across the lower half of the state, it is here, along the banks of this great river, that sugar first became a prominent aspect of New Orleans society.  And it was here that Valcour Aimé, known as the "Louis XIV of Louisiana", built his sugar empire, which included St. Joseph, a home he bought for his daughter Josephine in 1858.

St. Joseph Plantation, Vacherie, LA

Restoration of the plantation began in 2002 by descendants of several families that once owned St. Joseph.  We were pleased to learn that our tour guide for the day would be Diane Butler, a great, great, great granddaughter of Joseph Waguespack, who bought the plantation in 1877.  Diane was more than just a tour guide.  We did not feel as if we were touring a historical museum.  Instead, we felt as if Diane had invited us into her home, spinning tales of her families history as she opened up each room to us.

What really set this tour apart from so many other plantation tours was the way in which Diane wove the stories of those who lived at St. Joseph into those of the families all along this stretch of the Mississippi.  In fact, one quickly came to understand that St. Joseph, like Oak Alley Plantation, Felicity Plantation, Laura Plantation and others in the area, were all a part of a tight-knit community; a neighborhood made up of families that grew up together, intermarried, and whose successes and failures were indelibly tied together.  As proof of this, Diane told us of her grandparents.  Her grandmother grew up at St. Joseph, her grandfather at Oak Alley, and their courtship began as they promenaded along the levy.

Front door draped with black crape and wreaths to indicate a death in the home.

During the month of October, St. Joseph Plantation observes the mourning customs of the early Creoles.  From the road one can first see the front door with crape and wreaths.  This was a way for the family to announce to outsiders that a death had occurred.  In this way concerned friends and relatives did not have to stop and inquire if a sick member of the family was still alive.  They could wait until they saw the draping of the entrance after which they would know the family member had passed.

The body was prepared and placed in a coffin for viewing in the parlor.  Sometimes a bedroom was used.  As the families at St. Joseph were Catholic, a prie-Dieu was placed beside the coffin so that visitors could pay their respects and pray for the deceased.

The coffin lies in the parlor, ready for visitors.

Because embalming was not common until after the Civil War, efforts had to be made to control the odor of death.  Sometimes, a bucket of ice was placed under the coffin to keep the corpse cool.  Candles were lit at both ends while fragrant flowers and greenery were placed about the room.  This was important, since a vigil was kept for two days in which the body was never left alone.

As we followed along with the tour, I wondered about this now abandoned custom.  We are so isolated from the dead these days.  Unless you request to be involved, as my wife did when she applied the makeup for her mother before the viewing, you probably won't have much interaction with the body of your deceased loved one.  Are we missing something when we don't have them in the house for two days?  When one could sit with the body for hours, reflecting on their lives, the impact they made, or maybe needing that chance to say a few words you couldn't before?  Perhaps it is something we need to bring back.  I feel certain it won't ever be.  Certainly not any time soon.

Mirror draped for mourning.

With mirrors covered and clocks stopped at the time of death, a household in mourning seemed to hold its breath.  In a way, time did actually stop as the community gathered to console the family and the deceased was prepared and sent off into the afterlife.  Again, there seemed to be more attention paid to this event, more focus on the man or woman or child who was passing on.  Today we drop by to a viewing after work, and if we can we attend the burial, a short occasion managed by strangers whose business it is to get the body propped up for a quick look and an even quicker eulogy.  Friends and family might stand around for finger foods for a short time.  But in the end we all have to rush back to living.  Death is not a subject over which we like to linger.

Immortelles hang on the wall at St. Joseph Plantation

In one of the rooms at St. Joseph we were shown a collection of wreaths known as immortelles.  These decorative wreaths were often taken to the cemetery during the burial, and might be either left there or brought back to house as a symbol of remembrance.  They often included the use of glass bead and photographs under glass.  The immortelles hanging at St. Joseph were found in the attic.

A mourning dress on display, alongside the portraits of Josephine Aime
and her husband Alexis Ferry.

Of course, much effort went into dressing for this time of mourning.  And for a widow, there were a great deal of rules and customs to follow.  They would wear dull black mourning clothes for the six months during the first stage of mourning, sometimes referred to as deep mourning.  There might be a second stage, half-mourning, in which a few muted colors such as heliotrope (a reddish, blue-red) might be worn.  Though re-marriage was allowed for widows after a year and six weeks, many widows not only did not remarry, they might choose to dress in mourning for the rest of their lives.  Today we would feel the need to tell a widow to move on, to not dwell on their loss, but is that really the best choice?  For many women, then and even now, it may not be.  But it would have been an easier choice to make in the past when it was more socially acceptable to do so.

The rear porch and entrance to St. Joseph's Plantation.

The Mourning Tour runs from October 1st to November 2nd.  And I encourage everyone to take advantage of this peek into customs that have passed from our culture over the last hundred years.  The staff at St. Joseph's are friendly and eager to share their home and history with each and every visitor.  And whether you come for the Mourning Tour or just a regular tour, you'll be glad you did.  The grounds are enchanting and the history fascinating.  It is a beautiful day-trip you won't soon forget.

While you are at the plantation you can buy a copy of the book Early Creole Mourning Customs in South Louisiana.  Most of my research for this blog was taken from its pages.

For more information on St. Joseph Plantation please visit their website:
St. Joseph Plantation

Special thanks to Diane Butler and Denise Borell for their generous help and eagerness to share their family's home and history with us.

Oak Alley Plantation: An Iconic View (Part Three)

Oak Alley Plantation, Vacherie, Louisiana

For the final portion of our tour, I promised to take everyone inside the main house at Oak Alley.  A man's reputation is won and lost on how he handles his promises, and I wouldn't want to give the impression that my promises are not worth the Ethernet they're written on.  So let's go ahead and amble up to the front door.  There we'll find a friendly guide to take us through the front door.

Here you can see the front door, and the beautiful scene that awaits visitors.  Don't be shy.  Step right in.  You are more than welcome to enjoy the wonderful scenes that await in every room.

Now, to be honest with you, I won't even try to describe the historical details and architectural features of the house.  For that, be sure to take the tour yourself.  Our own guide was bursting with stories and details that make the tour well worth the ticket price.  But I would like to share a few pictures that we took as we made our way through the house.

Speaking of guides, here you can see our guide, dressed as if she stepped right out of the Antebellum era.  For those of you who aren't familiar with the term, Antebellum refers to the period of time before the American Civil War.  That is the era to which this term is attached in the United States.  From what I understand, the rest of the world considers the years leading up to World War I as the Antebellum era.  But for our purposes, and this tour, we'll stick with the American definition.

The pictures on the far wall are paintings of Jacques and Celina Roman, who lived in this house from 1836 to 1866.  (Celina lived in the house after Jacques' death in 1848 until her own death in 1866.)

A punkah fan hangs over this long dining room table.  When the family had slaves, a house slave would sit in the corner and pull on a rope.  This kept the fan in motion, cooling the diners as they ate.

We were encouraged to keep an eye out for ghosts, especially ones that might show up in our photographs.  An active imagination might be tempted to think I caught one here, but I'll have to disappoint everyone and point out it is only the glare from the sun.  (Or is it?)  The stairs are quite steep, and in fact, one of the Roman children, Louise, fell down stairs when her hoop skirt caught.  She lost a leg in the accident.  Though it was thought that she fell down the stairs in Oak Alley, recent reports tell us she in fact was in New Orleans at the time.  But if you stand at the top of the stairs here, you can believe how easy it would be to fall down such steep stairs.

On the second floor you'll find the Roman's bedroom.  It was here that Jacques Roman died in 1848.  The historical detail in this room is wonderful to examine, including the chandelier.

Be sure to check out the detail work above the lights.

Across from the Roman Bedroom is the only room in the house that is not decorated in the Antebellum style.  This was Josephine Stewart's room.  She lived in the house from 1925 until October 3, 1972.  Mrs. Stewart founded the Oak Alley Foundation, which enables the plantation to remain open for the public.

For more information on Josephine Stewart, click here.

And if you missed the first two parts of this tour be sure to check them out.

Oak Alley Part One

Oak Alley Part Two

For more information on Oak Alley, be sure to visit their website:  Oak Alley Plantation

To see all of our posts featuring Louisiana Plantations click on the link below:
Louisiana Plantations at Room With No View

And check out our newest 2015 New Orleans Calendars:

New Orleans 2015 Calendars from Saint James Infirmary Books

New Orleans 2015 Calendars are now available.  Check out this unique tour of the city of New Orleans.
The first of our New Orleans Calendars feature some very different looks at the French Quarter.  New Orleans is known for its lamp posts, and we usually see them photographed at night.  But you can't miss them during the day either.  They are everywhere you look.  We thought it would be fun to focus on them this year.

Our second calendar this year focuses on the exposed brick of the French Quarter.  We love the brilliantly painted facades of the Vieux Carré, but we also can't help but notice all of the exposed, often heavily weathered brickwork that adds depth to the French Quarter views.

Just click on the links below to get your calendar.  We hope you enjoy them!

Oak Alley Plantation: An Iconic View (Part Two)

Oak Alley Plantation, Vacherie, Louisiana.

For our second look at Oak Alley we will take a walk down the back alley.  That's right.  There are, in fact, two magnificent approaches to the house.  The trees are younger here, some of them having been planted over a hundred years later than the oaks in the front of the house by the Roman family, the rest of them added by the Stewarts another hundred years later in the 1930's.  This approach is the path visitors first use to reach the main house.

The centerpiece at the end of the lane is an iron sugar kettle, once used to refine the sugar that was the main product of this plantation.  Four kettles, the largest seven and a half feet in diameter, the smallest four feet in diameter, comprised what is known as a Jamaica Train, where cane juice was processed into crystallized sugar.  Molasses, a by-product of the process, was also produced.

Walking past the sugar kettle, and out to the end of the back alley, visitors will find the Oak Alley Restaurant, housed in a turn of the (20th) century quarter house.  It was here that tenanted farmers and their families lived, each square building consisting of four rooms centered on a single fireplace.

Breakfast is served here from 8:30 to 10:30.  Beignets and coffee are a popular choice here, as well as their Pan Perdue, a French toast covered in confectionery sugar and cane syrup.  Since it opens earlier than the house tours this is a great chance to relax and fuel up before walking the grounds.

Lunch is served from 11:00 to 3:00 p.m. with an emphasis on Cajun and Creole cuisine.  You'll have your choice of red beans and rice, fried alligator nuggets, crawfish etouffée, gumbo and a daily special from chef Antonio Reymundo.  (And don't forget to grab some bread pudding with whiskey sauce, unless you'd rather have some pecan pie.)

There is also a café open from 9 to 5 p.m. where you'll be able to grab a quick refreshment if you weren't planning on a full meal.  It is located in the gift shop, which is connected to the restaurant.

Across from the restaurant and gift shop is Oak Alley Spirits.  It was a little too early in the day for us to sample the Apple Pie Moonshine, though it did sound intriguing.

Between the restaurant and the main house is a reconstruction of the plantation's slave quarters.  The Slavery at Oak Alley exhibit, which was added in July of 2013, is an educational memorial to the slaves that built and worked this plantation.  Though slavery is forever tied to its history here, keep in mind it was only in use at Oak Alley for thirty years.

The exhibit does not shy away from the ugliness of slavery.  On display are shackles as well as implements used for punishment, including neck shackles with bells, used as a way to make it harder for an escaped slave to hide.  The children's transport shackles in the center of the picture are especially sobering.

I really liked this simple yet moving memorial inside one of the cabins.  Alongside the wall of names is a plaque that reads:

Between 1836 and the Civil War, 198 men,

women and children were enslaved at Oak Alley.

Dehumanized and quantified like any other

commodity, they appear in sales and records and

inventories, yet as people they have been all but

forgotten by history.

This is a respectful recognition of the people on whose

backs this plantation was built.  For most of them, a

name is all that remains of their story.

There is also an interactive Civil War Encampment on the grounds as well as an 1890's blacksmith shop.  If you have the time you might also enjoy the antique car garage, featuring cars from the 1920's representing the Stewart era.

In part three of our tour we will step inside the main house and look at what life was like for the Romans and Stewarts.

If you missed part one of the tour, you can follow this link to it: Oak Alley (Part One)

For more information on Oak Alley see their website here.

French Quarter Stroll

Royal Street

French Quarter, New Orleans, Louisiana

A perfect day in the French Quarter is easy to experience.  Even in the heat of a late summer day it is relaxing to stroll along these small and colorful streets.  Summer can be a slow time for the tourist business here and some shops were just reopening after a few renovations in preparation for the coming Halloween season.  Fresh paint covered many of the historic facades, in some places, the painters were still brushing on colors as approved by the Vieux Carré Commission, the city planning board dedicated to preserving the historic appearance of this village within a city.  Crisp, new flags seemed to hang from every other balcony.  Expectancy charged the air.  I had the feeling that tourist buses were already loaded and crossing the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, their arrival mere minutes away.

I always love to see all of this activity in the Quarter.  Mornings are especially fun.  Delivery vans fill the streets, shops are opening up, streets are washed down, there is a brisk, sometimes hectic combination of tradesmen getting to work on whichever project is on the day's schedule.  This is the face of the French Quarter that most tourists miss as they sleep in from a late night of partying.  But it is the time I enjoy the most in this little corner of the world.

Don't get me wrong.  The streets weren't empty.  And a few street artists were out to entertain those of us enjoying the afternoon.  As you can see, construction is always underway here, even when there isn't a wall to support a ladder.  This hard worker is determined to get that first two by four nailed in place.  I've always thought he should start at the bottom.  But He seems to know what he is doing.  And in case you weren't familiar with this demonstration, be assured that ladder is not bolted down to the stone.  

Be sure to carry a pocketful of one dollar bills for the street artists.  Jackson Square wouldn't be Jackson Square without the playful tunes of a dixieland band.  And these entertainers aren't paid by the city.  They will do their utmost to entertain, they won't be shy about asking for donations and if they see you dropping a little something in the bucket they are quick to voice their appreciation.  

It was here on Jackson Square that I helped out an older couple from Manchester, England.  You can always find a pair like this, taking that single shot with a camera when what they really want is a photograph with both of them in it.  After helping them get a few photos in front of the Cathedral I talked with them a little while.  It was their third trip to New Orleans.  It was just a few days before Scotland voted on the question of independence from Great Britain.  They were hoping the Scots would stay in the Union.  They could see no advantage to either Scotland or England if Scotland went their own way.  I'm sure they were happy to read the news from across the pond today when it was announced that Scotland had chosen to keep Britain unified.

If you head over to Canal Street (which is technically outside of the French Quarter) glance up at the lamp posts that flank the street cars.  There is some nice detail work between the lamps.  But what you'll also see are plenty of beads hanging around from Mardi Gras.  Some of them will be covered in beads, and some will have only a few.  This one I captured has just the one strand, seemingly laid carefully to match the design.

At St. Charles and Canal Streets, if you're patient, you'll see one of the historic St. Charles street cars pass its modern cousin, the Canal street car.  That's the one you'll want to catch if you want a ride over to the Garden District.  (Even better than the Garden District is Lafayette Cemetery Number Two.  The St. Charles street car  will take you to both places.)

Not every house in the French Quarter has been freshly painted.  And I'm glad.  It adds to the charm of this place.  It helps us to remember that we aren't walking down a street in Disney World, where everything has been engineered for our entertainment.  It helps us remember that this village will be three hundred years old in just four years from now.  It has stood up to the winds and rains of uncounted hurricanes, the changing politics of the Spanish, the French, and the Americans, and it will be here long after the tourists pack up and leave at the end of this coming season.  It is, after all, a living neighborhood where its residents work and play and go about their everyday lives.

Oak Alley Plantation: An Iconic View (Part One)

Oak Alley Plantation, Vacherie, Louisiana

To walk the grounds of Oak Alley Plantation is to walk the history of Louisiana.  This grand antebellum Lady of the Deep South provides one of the most iconic views of a Creole sugar plantation.  One hundred and Seventy-Five years ago, in 1839, Jacques Télesphore Roman built a home on the banks of the Mississippi as a gift for his wife Celina.  Although it would eventually become known as Oak Alley, its signature rows of Virginia Live Oaks were not planted by the Romans.  The man responsible for the 28 oaks, planted in two rows spaced 80 feet apart, is unknown.  It is believed that they were planted about one hundred years before the Romans built the main house.  Today, a short trip south from Baton Rouge or a short trip north from New Orleans will bring you to this amazingly restored plantation.

The largest oak on the grounds has a girth of 30 feet with a 127-foot spread of limbs.  The oaks in the alley were inducted into the Live Oak Society in the mid-nineties, each oak being registered with a name.  Since live oak trees can live as long as 600 years, these 300 year old oaks are now in the prime of their life.  Having lived this long, one can only imagine how many hurricanes they have endured.

The house is surrounded by 28 columns, representing the 28 oaks.  The walls of the home are sixteen inches thick, constructed of bricks that were made with mud from the Mississippi river, and covered in stucco.  A porch runs around the entire home with a portico that does the same on the second floor.  Our visit was on a hot day in late summer, yet the air was pleasant with a slight breeze and we sat in the shade quite comfortably.  Sipping on a Mint Julep made the experience even more pleasant.

 The plantation is open every day of the year except for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Day, and Mardi Gras.  From March through October the hours are 9 am to 5 pm.  From November through February it closes a little earlier at 4:30 pm on weekdays.  Tickets to enter the grounds are $20 for adults and $7.50 for young adults (13-18).  Tickets for children ages 6 to 12 are only $4.50.  The restaurant opens earlier, at 8:30 am.

The southern porch looks out over a second alley of oaks that were planted by the Romans in the 1830s.  (The Stewarts, who owned the property from 1925 to 1972, added a few more oaks to the back alley in the 1930s.)  It is here on the back porch where you'll get a chance to order a few drinks to quench your thirst.  Tea and lemonade are available for the kids (including a virgin Mint Julep) and of course genuine Mint Juleps for the adults.  

We'll revisit Oak Alley for a look at the back alley and the slave quarter memorial, as well as the restaurant in our next post.  We'll save the tour of the house for our third installment, which will include the tragic story of the Romans.

And let's finish with one last look at the front of the house, as seen from the oaks.

Bayou Rum: A Little Taste of Local Flavor

Bayou Rum, Louisiana Spirits, Lacassine, Louisiana

Just a few miles east of Lake Charles, Louisiana, a new distillery is attracting attention.  Room With No View took advantage of a beautiful day to stop in and see what Louisiana Spirits is all about.  Impressed with what we saw on the outside, we stepped inside and were disappointed to discover that we'd missed the last tour of the day.  A very gracious and apologetic young lady invited us to watch a short film on the distillery and assured us that we could still enjoy a taste test afterwards.

The film highlighted the use of Louisiana products in this locally owned and operated company.  Once it was over we learned just how local the ownership really is.  To our surprise, one of the owners of Louisiana Spirits was on hand and offering to give us a personal tour.  We were more than happy to accept.

Our host was Skip Cortese, part owner and one of the creative forces behind Bayou Rum.  (His partners are Tim and Trey Litel.  Trey is a former Bacardi Rum marketing and sales representative.)  After introductions we were taken back to the distillery floor where we could see a hand-painted mural depicting a scene from a Louisiana bayou.  Painted by Skip's brother, Peter Cortese, the scene evokes the days of old when rum was distilled by rum-runners paddling the back waters of this state.  In the center is T-Boy, heading out on a rum run.  That's him in the bottom right corner as well, with his bag of crawfish and a bottle of Bayou Rum.  He's wearing a no smoking sign around his neck which is a precaution he may have learned the hard way while working around his still.  According to Skip, T-Boy is on each bottle of Bayou Rum five times.  He assured us it was five times, though I've only found him four times.

We visited the bottling room first.  It is there that the bottles are first labeled then washed.  The label design was an eighteen-month process and I think their time was well spent.  There are many Louisiana products that cater to the tourists and end up looking quite tacky in their zeal to highlight what outsiders imagine is the Louisiana/Cajun culture.  But the Bayou Rum label has a classic look that includes an alligator, a French motto (L'esprit de la Louisiane) and the Bayou Rum seal with T-Boy at its center.  The new bottles are washed to ensure there is no contamination of the product.  And what better cleaning agent can you think of than rum?  This helps keep the rum as pure as possible.

Back on the distillery floor Skip explained how they processed the sugar and molasses.  (All of the sugar, molasses, and other ingredients come from Louisiana.  Louisiana produces more sugar than any Caribbean island.)  The distillation unit is a very clean operation.  Stainless steel shines everywhere save for the 18 foot copper tower which is the heart of the still.  The rum is drawn off from the center of the column; the heart's cut.  The heads and tails (the products taken from the top of the column as well as the bottom of the column) are sold off for fuel.  It is important that the column is made from copper; the presence of the copper in the process destroys the sulfides that would otherwise naturally end up in the rum.

Once drawn off the copper column, the rum can be used in several different ways.  Presently there are three rums produced here; Bayou Silver Rum, Bayou Spiced Rum, and Bayou Satsuma Rum.  A batch of rum can be bottled or put into barrels for aging.  The barrels, made from American White Oak (the same material used in the Tabasco sauce process), are charred on the inside which caramelizes the rum.  You can see in the image below a top from one of the barrels that demonstrates this.

It was fascinating to hear Skip as he worked his way along the tour.  His passion for the business is quite evident and this made the tour that much more interesting.  He was eager to point out that Bayou Rum is now available in five states along the Gulf Coast.  In fact, demand for it has grown such that Louisiana Spirits has had to be careful not to expand too quickly.  It is their intention to continue to build a strong customer base along the coast, though don't be fooled.  They are well aware of the tourists who flock to New Orleans and the Gulf shores and are quite pleased to hear of so many of them returning up north to their homes with tales of an excellent new rum on the market.

In fact, Bayou Rum is getting some impressive attention.  Bayou Spiced Rum was just named Best in Class (Spiced Rum) at the 2014 Miami Rum Renaissance Festival.  In March of this year Bayou Rum was awarded Best in Class by American Craft Distillers.  And Caribbean Journal included Bayou Rum in their 2014 America's 10 Best Rums.  In addition to these accolades, Louisiana Spirits is now able to proudly say they are America's most decorated rum.

Once the tour was over, Skip put us in the hands of Megan at the tasting bar.  Laid out in a neat row were small cups with all three rums.  (Megan assured us that it was not enough to get us in trouble with the many State Troopers prowling the interstate.  In fact, they are not allowed to sell drinks at the bar.  It is for tasting purposes only.)  After listening to Skip brag about their rum it was time to find out for ourselves if all of these awards meant anything.  We were not disappointed.

The silver is the smoothest rum I've tasted.  I'm not much of a rum connoisseur but my impressions of rum have always included a fairly strong fuel-aftertaste.  There was none of that here.  And the spiced rum wasn't too strong.  It was perfectly flavored so that you noticed it, enjoyed it, and weren't overwhelmed by it.  But the real treat was the last of the three; the Satsuma Rum Liqueur.  The fruit flavor is sweet, but there's just the right tinge of bitterness to remind you that this wasn't a mixed drink.  

And speaking of mixed drinks, the last taste of the day was a small serving of a Bayou Blossom.  Made of two parts Simply Lemonade and one part Bayou Silver Rum, we poured into this mix what was left of our Satsuma Rum sample.  I have a strong feeling we will be hearing about some new awards being handed out when the Satsuma Rum is entered into next year's competitions.

Once in the gift shop you'll no doubt want to get a bottle (or three!) to take home.  But while you're there, be sure to look around at the shop and bar.  Everything around you is beautifully decorated with a variety of historic materials.  The pews in the film room were made in 1852 and purchased from a New Orleans church that was damaged in Hurricane Katrina.  The timbers were reclaimed from a century-old textile mill in North Carolina.  Old bricks and wrought-iron fences have been re-purposed throughout.  The design, by Architect Randy Goodloe of Lake Charles, is really top-notch.  I'm not sure I've ever seen a mere gift-shop look this magnificent.

Be sure to get at least two bottles of rum so you can get the Bayou Rum bag you see below, though honestly I'm not sure how you could decide which rum to leave behind.  

Bayou Rum is available in most stores in Louisiana now, and many restaurants.  We were told that the Ritz Carlton in New Orleans is offering a drink they call a "Blonde Hurricane" which features Bayou Rum.

Room With No View would like to thank Skip Cortese for his hospitality and we encourage our readers to read more about Bayou Rum at their home page.  You can also follow them on Facebook.  To take a tour of the distillery just exit I-10 at Lacassine (exit 48) and you'll see Louisiana Spirits on the frontage road to the west.  Unless it is gone on a promotion, you'll see the Bayou Rum truck parked out front.  They are open Tuesday through Saturday.

Cities of the Dead: Double Vision

Cities of the Dead, Jason Phillip Reeser

For newer readers of Room With No View, I'd like to let them know about my most popular book, which is perfect for this time of year.  Cities of the Dead is a ghost story collection set in the cemeteries of New Orleans, Louisiana.  Tales of ghosts, pirates, thieves, and dead rock-and-rollers can be found in this eclectic congregation of mystical chronicles.

Back in 2006, my wife and I took a guided tour of Lafayette Cemetery Number One in the historic Garden District of New Orleans.  It was the first time I'd been to one of the many above ground cemeteries that are nestled into the various neighborhoods of the Crescent City.  Due to the fact that the city sits below sea level, burying the dead is not possible, since the dead seemingly refuse to stay buried.  Citizens of the early city discovered that the saturated ground always shoved the dead back to the surface.  The simple response was to bury the dead above ground in crypts.  As a result, the cemeteries look like...well, let's let Mark Twain describe it.  His view on it sums it up the best:

Lafayette Cemetery Number One

There is no architecture in New Orleans, except in the cemeteries. They bury their dead in vaults above ground. These vaults have a resemblance to houses--sometimes to temples; are built of marble, generally; are architecturally graceful and shapely; they face the walks and driveways of the cemetery; and when one moves through the midst of a thousand or so of them, and sees their white roofs and gables stretching into the distance on every hand, the phrase 'city of the dead' has all at once a meaning to him. Many of the cemeteries are beautiful and kept in perfect order...if those people down there would live as neatly while they were alive as they do after they are dead, they would find many advantages to it.

Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi, 1880

During our 2006 tour, which was just one year after Hurricane Katrina devastated that venerable city, amid the rasping wail of power-saws and chattering hammer blows (evidence of New Orleans' second reconstruction phase), we followed our guide past sun-bleached sepulchers and vibrant green alleys of thick, recently mown grass.  As a writer, I was struck by the crowded nature of this necropolis.  I began to wonder just what it would be like for ghosts to live here.  We generally think of ghosts in lonely, empty places like an abandoned house or a distant moor.  But here, if a ghost were to haunt the earth, it would not be lonely.  It would, in fact, be heavily beset by other ghosts.  Many of the crypts are family crypts, and family members are stacked in on top of one another like chord-wood.  Imagine, I thought, what sort of complications would arise between them all?

At the 2012 Louisiana Book Festival--look for us again on Nov. 2, 2013

Before long, I had begun to write a few stories along this theme.  Over the next four or five years, I added more stories, until I'd completed thirteen of them.  It seemed an appropriate number on which to stop.  Since the book's publication, it has been well-received.  It is a mainstay on the tables of a handful of stores down in the French Quarter, and was a popular item during its release at the 2012 Louisiana Book Festival.

Several of the stories are available here at Room With No View.  Just click on the links below to read them.

The Wanting Dead  (originally printed in The Louisiana Review, Spring 2008)

The Soldiers' Home

And now for the Double Vision!  Beginning this month, Saint James Infirmary Books has made it possible for costumers who purchase the print version of COTD to receive a free eBook version along with it.  Even better, if you purchased a copy of this book through Amazon in the past, you can log in and receive your free eBook copy also.  We are offering the same free eBook copy from the Saint James Infirmary Books website.  If you purchased a print copy from us (and all of our copies can be signed if you request it) or you choose to purchase one from us now, we will send you a free eBook copy of the book.  So be sure to get a copy today if you don't already have one.

For more information on the book, check out our website here.

To order a signed copy, just click this link.

Or you can use one of the Amazon links below.  The Kindle edition is on the left, the print edition is on the right.

2014 Calendars from Saint James Infirmary Books

From our Paris (Black and White) 2014 Calendar.

From our Paris 2014 wall calendar.

From our New Orleans' French Quarter 2014 calendar.

From our New Orleans Doors 2014 calendar

During the month of October, all of our calendars have a 30% discount.  Choose from our selection of New Orleans and Paris collections, and enter the code 2014CALENDAR at checkout.