Sunflowers, Cotton Fields, and the Cairo Plantation

"Don't freak out Pierre, but I think we may be in Oz."

Back in June, we visited a stunning sunflower field on the outskirts of Shreveport.  It is in the small community of Dixie, Louisiana.  The entire area surrounding the sunflowers belongs to the Cairo Plantation.  That’s right, it’s the south, and we have a lot of plantations.  Most of them are antebellum homes reminiscent of Gone with the Wind.  This one isn’t that style, but it is a very lovely home nestled amongst giant oak, weeping willow, and southern pecan trees.

You can see by the boys' tongues that it was a hot and humid Louisiana day.

John Sentell established Cairo Plantation in 1893.  It has been owned and operated by the same family for over one hundred years.  The home was once partially destroyed by a fire.  Lowery and Antoinette Sentell rebuilt it in 1950.  The current occupants are the John Sloan family.  Mr. Sloan has lived on the Cairo Plantation in the big house and a home that was once the plantation office his entire life.  He farms cotton, wheat, and sod.  His wife is an artist.  They are responsible for planting the sunflowers.

There are historical markers all along the roads in the area.

After we walked the boys through the sunflower trails, we still wanted to do some exploring.  The plantation has an area across the street from the home where you can walk around and explore.  It is like strolling into the past and you can sense the history in the buildings.  There are several rusted pieces of farm equipment in barns or in the yard.

We walked up on the porch of an old white frame home that was an original structure.  It has been used as a farm office, commissary, and corncrib.  There were several rotten boards on the porch.  We avoided those and took a step inside.  If you are a fan of antiques, you’d have been in hog heaven.  There was an old cash register, stool, farm implements, and more huge holes in the wooden floor.  Since there was no room to move around safely inside, we hurriedly back out to the porch.

The boys and I would not have enjoyed Louisiana pre-air conditioning life.

It was a hot and humid Sunday afternoon, so we piled back into the air-conditioned car and drove further down the plantation's road.  The Cairo Plantation is a beautiful property and a working farm.  They have irrigation systems that move up and down the crops to keep them watered.  I hope that we will get to visit again and take photos in these cotton fields when they turn white. The sunflowers, scenery, and crops are definitely worth the trip to Dixie.

In Them Old Cotton Fields Back Home.

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