Honey Island Swamp Tours
"Great, two hour tour along the Old Pearl River and it's swampy offshoots. We saw lots of alligators, birds, and raccoons. No wild hogs, unfortunately.We did see multiple alligators "jump" for marshmallows, about 2/3 of their bodies rising out of the water to snap the treat, which was both cool but also felt very staged... like a dolphin show at SeaWorld kind of. My kids ate it up, but my favorite aspect of the tour was actually hearing about growing up on the bayou, how the river has changed as a consequence of the surrounding development, and the life of people who still occupy the floating houses along the river, many of which are decrepit. The tour guide was knowledgeable and knew that area like the back of his hand. I'm not sure there was any question about those swamps he couldn't answer!One thing I'd note: the best seats in the house are definitely the ones near the guide. Also, I'm not sure if this was a fluke or if it's easier to turn the boat in one direction, but every single alligator and racoon "trick" was done on the side of the boat to the guide's right. It's not a big boat, so everyone on there could definitely see, but if you're strategically looking for the best spot for your short little kids, I would choose the seats at the back of the boat that face forward (behind the guide) or get as close to the guide as you can (and possibly aim for his right).Perhaps the most amazing thing we saw on the tour was not all the alligators, but all the people INNERTUBING on the river right next to them! I guess those guys snap up enough marshmallows every day to leave the legs of little seven year olds swimming in the water alone.Cute little gift shop - reasonably priced souvenirs. Cash only for everything."
Oak Alley Plantation, Restaurant & Inn
"The tickets are expensive to visit this plantation at around $28 per person and it is in the middle of nowhere - so you need to drive yourself if you have a car - or you'll book a tour with transportation 1.5 hours each way from New Orleans. We booked a 4.5 hour tour with transport and had 2 hours here to explore and do the tour. The ground are beautiful - the house was OK - the main star of the visit was the gorgeous Oak Alley for which the plantation was named which s about 0.5 miles to walk down some ancient oaks with a framing view of the home. Also, the cafe and restaurant and a nice gift shop were great and service/food at the restaurant was surprisingly good.Our tour of the home lasted about 25 minutes and it was decent - but I heard another guide going into far more detail about slavery and some of the artifacts in the upstairs rooms than we were told... so as with all tours like this of older historic properties, it's hit or miss. I don't think I would recommend this to someone on it's own as I just don't feel it was worth it to spend a half day and 3 hours round trip on a bus to see it. If you have your own car and can explore around or see something else and the other plantations on the same road - that's probably more worth it - but it wasn't something I felt was worth the time away from other things we could've done in the city for a half a day."
