A Visit to Historic Latta Plantation

I am making a list of all the things I want to do/visit while living in Charlotte. Historic Latta Plantation was on the top of my list since it is close to home, and I love historical sites and such.

We started out the day with a picnic, which really turned into a fight to keep the giant-sized ants from over-taking us. They were all over the place, even on the stroller! Yuck! We ate fast, and got out of there. Looking back, I should have taken a picture. I've never seen black ants that big in my life!

Latta Plantation is a living plantation where they have tours, barnyard animals, gardens, and such. It sounded so cool, and I had in my mind Boone Hall, the plantation we visited in SC when I was 12, which has the long driveway with the mossy oak trees; a stereotype of the Antebellum period plantations. Latta Plantation was quite different from that, so it was a bit of a letdown at the time we went, but looking back, it's pretty amazing for what it is. The house was built in 1800, so it was quite exquisite for it's time. This is a view of the front of the house where the front door is.

The day we went they happened to have gold panning with sand/dirt from Reed's gold mine. For $2 we got to try our hand at one pan of dirt. I was hoping to strike it rich, but got nothing. After sifting through the bowl of dirt for what seemed like forever, searching for the ever tiniest spec of gold, I decided that I was not patient enough to be a gold prospector. Won't be quitting my desk job just yet.
Liz and Ellie tried to get rich too. No luck.

Chelsey got a little lucky. She found a small red garnet in her gold pan and got to bring it home. Not bad for a $2 investment. Well, maybe she broke even. ;o)

The house had a couple of slaves quarters to tour. The original plantation had 34 slaves. More on that later. Here's Chelsey and Cooper in front of one of the slave cabins.
We stopped to take a picture of Ellie at the water well, and just as she was smiling for the camera, this sheep started bleating. It scared her to death, which made us adults laugh. Cooper wasn't sure what to think, but it was the first time he'd seen live barnyard animals. He also saw chickens and a mule.

Coop was so hot and sweaty, but still smilin'!

After our hot plantation visit, we went and got slushies at the gas station and ate them at a park near home. Coop was being so cute with Ellie and Chelsey. Had to snap a picture. Chelsey babysits Ellie and Cooper.

More on my feelings about the plantation. There was a museum on site that listed each slave by name and their estimated value. There were also letters from the plantation owner to other plantation owners regarding the buying/selling of slaves. It was a very sobering tour. As I looked at the slave cabins, I wondered how on earth they survived in such conditions. Having my baby with me, I wondered how the women bore children, and how they raised babies on dirt floors. The most sobering was seeing a price of $400 or $100 next to a person's name. I nearly cried reading through some of the information. What a debasing practice slavery was. It sickens me to think of the suffering and humiliation borne by slaves on these plantations, and I almost felt silly touring it. But at the same time, it is one of those things that must be remembered so it is not repeated by future generations. I am so thankful to live in this time when human rights are for ALL humans.

The Saturday we went, it must have been in the upper 90s, nothing like sweltering, muggy, Southern summer weather to drive home the point that I live in the South, and to remind me how thankful I am for air conditioning, flooring in homes, kitchen appliances, the list goes on and on. As sweat dripped down my forehead and back, I couldn't imagine working in the kitchen house with a hot stove or fire all day! Guess I won't complain so much next time I pop something in the microwave for dinner.