I am in New Orleans on a business trip. My meetings ended on Friday afternoon, but I scheduled a Saturday night stayover. So today I played tourist, very happily. I did a plantation tour and a French Quarter walking tour, and I was reminded of the value of stories.

We visited 2 plantations; "Laura" and "Oak Alley." Oak Alley was opulent and matched the images we have of southern plantations; Laura was a modest, business-based abode. Laura was only recently restored, and the presenters are part of the research/restoration effort. The plantation was in the same family for 4 generations (managed/owned, by the way, by the women in the family -- the Creoles were progressive about women owning land, and daughters could inherit the property if they seemed like they would be more suitable managers than their brothers.) Oak Alley has a more fragmented past, with the establishment being bought and sold throughout its history.

The entire tour group seemed much more interested in Laura, despite the fact that it wasn't nearly as grand as Oak Alley. And that's because we have a number of passionate stories associated with the Duparc-Locoul family that gave it meaning. I followed this up with a walking tour in the French Quarter that tracked the family's events in the city. A straightforward description of the history of the Creoles would not have appealed to me at all (or, at least, not for the 6 hours I spent on the tours today.) But incorporating Creole history and culture while talking about Laura's extended family was both fun and memorable. There is probably no better way of teaching history.

I signed up to buy Laura's memoirs -- they're supposed to be published in a few months.