The night noises on the boat are going to take a bit of getting used to. Still, we were up on time and on the bus for our plantation tour of Nottoway. Our guides were real showmen in period dress. The big points were that the 64-room house (50,000 sq feet) took John and Emily Randolph 10 years to build, has Carrera marble throughout, uses bricks handmade by slaves, and housed the last 3 of their 11 children, seven of them daughters. One room is painted completely white to welcome each gift when she becomes a bride. The 7th child, Cornelia, was a daughter who was allowed to learn the Spanish guitar, quite scandalous for her age. And when the Civil War came to the area, John, the husband, and many of the slaves were off in Texas, leaving his wife Emily alone with the last of the small children including Cornelia. She managed both the Confederate and Union soldiers by offering the commanders tea, an expensive beverage, so rare that they were honored to try it. Because of her gentility, they did not cause any damage to her or the house, which had just been completed. Cool story.

Sugarcane is the big crop in this area and one of the ways that John Randolph made his money. The house was one of the first to have three indoor toilets, gas lighting throughout, and warm water (made possible by wrapping copper wires around the fireplaces!)

After a brief stop back at the ship, we headed out again on the long-awaited and much-revered “Swamp Tour.” Ta-da! This was a total Jungle Cruise complete with a snaky river through dense vegetation and full of all sorts of surprises. Our guide, Danny, is a large man and a Cajun. He had an accent and the kind of exaggerations that just make a person cooperate. “Get yo arms back inside the boat, else a gator likely jump up and take a bite!” He was very knowledgeable about the swamp and was the lead guide. He knew the history because he’d lived through most of it. And he knew the gators. Apparently, they like marshmallows because when he through a marshmallow in the water, gators big and small came swishing up to nab it. It was like a feeding frenzy from Jaws! Chomp chomp! The soft-shelled turtles knew to stay away, and we avoided “the nature show” just barely when the food meant for the turtles was noticed by the gators. But no worries. Everyone is okay.

We also saw a huge family of raccoons who wait in a little glen framed by live oaks for Danny to come by with feed for them. While they’re eating, it’s easy for a gator to come and pick off a little one, but they seemed content with marshmallows today.

And little did we know, swamps are haunted. Apparently, they’re very good places to hide dead bodies as well. Lots of people “disappear” in the swamp. Throw one in, and your job is done. The gators do the rest. Creepy funny, but real…Ooo hooo…