Peacocks and Pirate Treasure

Joseph Jefferson Mansion at Rip Van Winkle Gardens on Jefferson Island, New Iberia, Louisiana

We've all heard the name Rip Van Winkle. A fictional character in Washington Irving's short story by the same name, Rip was a henpecked husband who loved to tell stories and was well loved by those in his village. Unfortunately, he wasn't very fond of hard work which caused his wife to continuously nag at him. One day, to escape her nagging, he wanderd off to the mountains where he met a group of strange men playing ninepins and drinking moonshine. Rip drank some of their moonshine and fell asleep, only to awake 20 years later.

Another well known name is Jean Lafitte, famous French pirate from the 19th century who cruised the Gulf of Mexico in search of Spanish ships to plunder. There are many conflicting stories out there about the Pirate Lafitte. What happened to him? Did he die aboard his ship from an illness...did he change his name and start a new life...or did he rescue Napoleon, later dying in Louisiana??? These were but a few of stories that were told, along with stories of buried treasure. Buried treasure...my favorite kind of stories!

Well, in truth, pirates rarely buried treasure - they split it up and spent it as fast as they got it. But, Lafitte was an exception to the rule. He amassed quite a fortune during his life and was rumored to have buried treasure in many different places, including several in Louisiana. One of which was on the grounds of Orange Island near New Iberia, Louisiana, later renamed to Jefferson Island.

(If you're having a hard time reading the marker, click on the picture to enlarge.)

Well now, what do these two stories have in common you may ask? The common factor is Joseph Jefferson, better known by his friends as Joe Jefferson. Joe grew up in the theater. Both of his parents were actors and at the age of four, he first appeared on stage and continued on stage for the next 40 years. His most famous character was.......Rip Van Winkle ~ He played that role more than 4,500 times!

During his life, Joe married twice. When we was twenty-one years old he married Margaret Clements Lockyer and they had four children. Margaret died in 1861 and in 1867, he married Sarah Warren.

In 1869, he bought a place called Orange Island (Jefferson Island) in Louisiana and in 1870, built his winter home there on Lake Peigneur to enjoy hunting and fishing.

Beautiful views through the oak trees...

Enough about history! On to the good stuff...While I was visiting in Louisiana for my niece's wedding, I had the opportunity to visit Rip Van Winkle Gardens with my best friend, Laura. It was the perfect day...a little bright, but we couldn't complain. It was a very short drive from her house to RVW Gardens.

The entry to the Gardens is a very long tree-lined road.

The tree-lined entry is much prettier in person.

You could tell you were getting closer by the marshy land. 

At last, we came to the gated entry.

There were beautiful trees and landscaping everywhere.

Majestic live oaks everywhere!

Finally we came to the parking lot and entrance into the gardens.

The Gift Shop and Entrance to the Gardens.

You had to pass through the gift shop to enter, so we got a quick preview of what we wanted to take home for a souvenir. 

But, we were starving, so we headed straight into the restaurant for a delicious lunch.

There was glass on two and a half walls which gave a beautiful view of the lake and gardens.

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The "back door" of  the restaurant, into the gardens.

You could even eat outside under the trees.

I ordered a cup of seafood gumbo for Laura and I to split. For my entree, I had a seafood pasta dish, and Laura ordered a seafood baked eggplant dish. Everything was delicious. I wanted to take a picture of our food before eating. I managed to take a shot of the gumbo, but I ate my pasta before I remembered to take a picture of the dish, lol. Sorry! Just take my word for it - it was delicious!!

A cup of seafood gumbo.

After our lunch, we started our walking tour. There is a 10 or 15 minute video that you can watch, but we decided to forgo the video and start walking off our lunch.

The first thing that you come upon is the Balinese Gateway. It was custom carved in the town of Batubulan on the island of Bali, Indonesia. Batubulan is famous for its generation of it's expert stone carvers. 

The structure serves as a background for wedding ceremonies. The gateway faces west and the couple stands toward the east, the rising sun and source of light. After the ceremony is over, the newlyweds enter the gateway and a new life as a couple for life. The standing guardians guard the gate to prevent past lives from following them.

Behind the gate are the seated guardians, discouraging them from returning to a single life, as marriage is a lifetime commitment to each other.

The smaller structure behind the gateway is a barrier that symbolizes hurdles one must overcome in life. It's easier to go around them than to pass over the hurdle.

As we wandered through the 20 acre gardens, we found lots of beautiful stone carvings along the pathway and several fountains.

There was even a Japanese Tea House...

In the front of the tea house was a cement marker. As I read the marker, I realized that the architect, Hal Perkins, was a friend of mine! I had not known that he'd done work here at Rip Van Winkle Gardens...what a delightful surprise!

As we walked, we found several stone markers. Some marking special trees, some marking a particular style used in the gardens.

Reminds me of an Indiana Jones Movie!

There was one large fountain pool. The water was green because of the algae, I suspect, but it was still beautiful!

The famous Lafitte Oak where 3 chests of coins were found while landscaping.

And, the famous Cleveland Oak where President Grover Cleveland would nap while visiting.

The Cleveland Oak from a distance.

Near the house we found a marker explaining how the Gardens came to be named. It wasn't until we were in the house on tour that we found out more of it's interesting history...more about that in a minute!

We finally caught our first glimpse of the mansion since we'd been walking. It was set back with huge majestic live oak trees surrounding it, pieces of long flowing moss hanging from their branches. 

Waiting for the tour to begin...

How beautiful it was to take all in, including the peacocks that were resting in the trees and roaming the grounds freely, crying out every now and then with their mournful cry. We were even lucky enough, while waiting for the tour to begin, to have one peacock open his tail feathers and preen for us!

One on the ground and one silhouetted in the tree...

One peacock on the right branch and one on the left branch...

Preening for us...

Turning in circles for us...

Still preening...

Finally it was time for our tour. Our gracious tour guide, Maddie, gave us the full history of the house and land. 

Rip Van Winkle Gardens has had three owners. The current owner today is Mike Richard. One interesting fact we found out was that it wasn't named Rip Van Winkle Gardens until many years after it was built. John Lyle Bayless, Sr. of Anchorage, Kentucky bought the mansion after Joe Jefferson died. John Jr. inherited when John Sr. died and he was the one that began to develop the formal gardens surrounding the mansion in the late 1950's. He established the Rip Van Winkle Gardens and named it in honor of it's former actor-owner.

Of course, you can't take the tour without hearing of the day Lake Peigneur was almost drained! 

Lake Peigneur sits atop a large salt dome. On November 20, 1980, a Texaco oil rig accidentally drilled into the Diamond Crystal Salt Company salt mine under the lake and started to drain it! Due to a miscalculation, their 14 inch drill bit pierced the mine and started a chain of events that turned Lake Peigneur from freshwater into salt water.

There were no injuries; all employees were able to escape, including the employees on the drilling rig platform. The hole sucked the platform into the mine. Leonce Viator, Jr. was a local fisherman, fishing that day on the lake. He was barely able to get his boat to safety, but he did make it out safely as well.

The hole sucked in land - 65 acres, barges, houses, trees...John Bayless, Jr. loss the new house he'd built, The Gardens lost a lot of acreage but as a result, after it was all said and done, the lake was now much bigger and MUCH deeper! Very interesting history indeed...

Our day was very well spent - good food, interesting history, and beautiful gardens! If you're ever down that way, you really need to go and see it all for yourself. The photos just don't do it justice! 

You could even stay on the premises in one of their Bed & Breakfast cottages! Your stay includes breakfast (they provide it in the fridge and you cook it), a full day and a half on the grounds and a free tour of the mansion. Three of the cottages were located right behind the mansion itself. 

I look forward to returning to Rip Van Winkle Gardens next year and planning a "Sister's Getaway" with my BFF and three sisters. We'll stay in the B&B and I'll get to enjoy another delicious meal from their restaurant. Laura, Rachael, Chris, and Cathy - get your calendars out!

I'll leave you with a few more pictures....I hope you've enjoyed your "virtual" visit. 

You'll find the Roseate Spoonbill in abundance near the lake.

There were beautiful magnolia trees there - some of the biggest I've ever seen.

Cypress knees...

Can you find the helicopter???

All that is left of John Jr.'s house after the hole was punched in the salt dome.
(the chimney stack)

Telephone poles where they were once on dry land...