Louisiana Plantation Homes - Oak Alley & Nottoway

History is something that has always fascinated me, especially when it comes to Louisiana history and life in the 1800's. Lucky for me, my friends also share in the same love and on Saturday, we visited a couple of Louisiana plantation homes along River Road - Nottoway and Oak Alley!

I've made it a mission to tour as many plantation homes as possible and I've shared a few of my experiences here in the past:

• Shadows on the Teche Plantation Tour
• "The Shadows" Vlog
• Evergreen & San Fransisco Plantation Home Tours
• Houmas House & Bocage  (& an overnight stay for our 5th Anniversary)
• Houmas House Vlog #1
• Houmas House Vlog #2 

Our first stop was at Nottaway, a gorgeous plantation home located along River Road in White Castle, Louisiana. I hadn't visited Nottaway since I was a freshman in high school (we did this one year for our summer family vacation), so I was curious to see the changes made to the grounds and overall area. Well, they've made a lot of them over a 20 year time span, that's for sure, and it all looked amazing!

We loved hearing about the home and its origins!

The white ballroom is one of the draws to this beautiful and opulent home!

They still host events in this room to date. Wedding, anyone?

So, I had this amazing idea of creating a "jump shot" in front of the home. It took several attempts, but we finally got it!

This plantation home also serves as a "hotel" with rooms you can rent for an overnight stay. The grounds are full of activities that range from biking to swimming, and even swinging! No swings were broken in the making of this ridiculous photo.

After spending a couple of hours at Nottoway, we left and went on our way to our second plantation home of the day, Oak Alley. I'd visited Oak Alley as a very small child with my parents, so I had zero recollection of this home. I was excited to see it again, though!

The draw to this home is for sure the alley of oaks that line the front! They are over 200 years old!!

But first...before touring the home, we needed a bite to eat!

Oak Alley also has a very nice restaurant with a full service menu on their grounds. We all ordered something different and mine was delicious! I had the open face roast beef poboy.

After lunch, we shopped for a few minutes in the gift shop, then headed to the home for our tour. To be honest, I was not as impressed with this home tour as I have been with others I've taken in the past. The guide sounded like she was reciting from a memorized script. Although she was very knowledgeable when we asked her questions, I still felt as if this tour wasn't as personable as ones I've taken in the past. It was a beautiful home regardless, and I still loved learning about the history, I just feel as if the tour guide can make or break a tour for you and this one wasn't my favorite on my list.

I absolutely loved all of the beautiful flowers at each home!

I have a picture like this as a four or five year old at my parents house somewhere, so I had to recreate it!

These oaks line the back of the home and are about 170 years old!

After leaving Oak Alley, we decided to drive about an hour to the nearest town for dinner. If ya'll have been a blog reader for a little while, you know my obsession with McAlister's and my sadness when they closed down in my hometown. Well, we found one on the way home and HAD to stop. It did not disappoint!

We also stopped for dessert at a little place we found a few years ago that serves both Hershey's Ice Cream and Great American Cookies! This is our group tradition every time we are together here, so we couldn't pass it up!

Our day was filled with a lot of fun, laughter, history, and lots of memory making! We are already talking about the homes we would like to tour next and I can't wait!

San Antonio Weekend

This past weekend, my little family and I took a long weekend trip to New Braunfels, Texas to visit my brother for his birthday.

We left home on Friday afternoon and stayed in Texas until Monday, so our weekend was extended by a day which was nice!

Our fist stop upon arriving in New Braunfels was at In-n-Out Burger. We couldn't pass it up!

Since we were there for Brian's birthday, we celebrated that evening with cake and presents!

This boy LOVES cookie cake - it's his favorite.

On Saturday morning, we spent time shopping at the outlet malls in San Marcos. This area was HUGE and grew packed with people not long after I took this photo. Thankfully they had a Disney Store, so we were able to enjoy that! Oh yes, and a Banana Republic. That one ranks high on my list of favorite stores.

Saturday was my brother's actual birthday and he wanted to celebrate with a little Mexican food at Uncle Julio's in Austin. To be honest, we actually went to this restaurant because we heard so much about their chocolate pinata...

Jason and I split an order of fajitas and they were delicious! The tortillas were thick and homemade and just so so good.

After dinner, we ordered the famous chocolate pinata for dessert.

Y'all.

Oh my goodness this thing was amazing!

Once he busted into it, churros, strawberries, pineapples, and blackberries fell out. The dipping sauces were raspberry, chocolate, some kind of caramel concoction, and whipped cream!

The five of us devoured this thing - let's just say there wasn't much left by the time we were done!

On Sunday morning, Brian asked if I wanted to go for a run and I couldn't pass that up, especially after eating so much chocolate the evening before.

We saw a ton of deer along the way. It was so peaceful and serene!

We completed 2.5 miles, then cleaned up for our trip to Sea World! This was my first time to visit Sea World in San Antonio, although I have visited the one in San Diego and Orlando in the past. I wasn't sure what to expect, but this park was completely different from the others which was really nice.

Brayden loved seeing all of the marine animals!

We also enjoyed riding the roller coasters, too!

This park was so much fun and had so many things for kids to do. Feeding the ducks and flamingos was another favorite.

The kids area was themed after Sesame Street and included a giant splash pad.

Of course we couldn't pass up a ride on the carousel!

Brayden would have stayed in this area for hours had we let him!

We literally spent all day at Sea World. We had such a fun time and I do hope to visit again soon.

On Monday morning, I decided to get my first Orangetheory workout in for the week. I knew the week back home would be busy and wasn't sure when I would be able to get two workouts in, so Monday morning it was!

Visiting a different studio was interesting and fun at the same time. It was neat to see the similarities and differences between this one and my home gym. The coach for this class was amazing and I loved her!

After leaving Orangetheory, I happened to see a Hallmark. If you've been a blog follower for a while, you know I love Hallmark ornaments at Christmas and our store closed down a few years ago. Since the ornaments were out, I could NOT let this opportunity pass me by!

Another favorite of mine that we no longer have is McAlister's. Imagine my delight to see one in New Braunfels. As I'm sure you've guessed by now, McAlister's is what we had for lunch on Monday!

After lunch, we drove home and somehow managed to drive straight through without any stops. In all, it was a great weekend! We had so much fun visiting with my brother and his wife and exploring their new area. We can't wait to visit again!

Girls Weekend

Running, Shopping, McAlisters, and spending time with good friends - all things I love! This past Saturday, I had the chance to do all of the above!

It began on Saturday morning with a long run - my longest run since having a baby, at that! My friend Heather and I completed 10 miles! It was so humid, we were soaked from head to toe by the time it was all said and done. We have 12 miles next week, so I'm hoping for cooler weather and less humidity!

After the run, I came home to shower and get ready for a day of shopping out of town! Initially, I was wearing my bright blue compression socks for the drive over. However, as we were just about to leave, the mail lady pulled in my driveway with a special delivery....

My Legend black compression sleeves had arrived! Naturally, I had to change! These were so comfortable and just what my calves needed! Although I didn't wear these to shop and walk around, they made a world of difference with leg stiffness after a long drive in the car!

THIS little turkey spent four hours with us in the mall and he did great!

When we discussed places to eat dinner, McAlister's was the first thing on my mind! Isn't that sad....we were out of town and had a multitude of amazing places to eat but we chose McAlisters because they are no longer open in our town and we've been dying for a glass of their sweet tea for months? Story of my life. Whomp whomp.

This was EVERYTHING I'd been dreaming about!

The patriot with no tomatoes. I did try their Mac & Cheese for the first time and it was delicious!

So we might have been so excited, someone went overboard with ordering all of their favorite items. Eat.All.The.Things!

Needless to say, a to-go box was definitely used!

I might have been in McAlister's heaven.

After a little more shopping, we decided it was time for dessert! There's a place where you can get a scoop of ice cream and a Great American Cookie and a drink in a combo deal!

When you go out of town, the calories don't count, right?! 

The sunset on Saturday evening was gorgeous!

My little sweet pea and I had a great time at church on Sunday, too!

He was SO exhausted from Saturday, he took a FOUR and a half hour nap on Sunday afternoon!

Oh yes, we also tried green beans for the first time this past weekend!

I think it's safe to say, he liked them! 

Do you have a favorite restaurant you go to when you travel out of town?