A young woman in a flowering antebellum yellow dress gaped at the locked door to the patio. "That happens often. Some people say that a ghost is responsible," she commented, then told a man in our group how he could remove the lock. I shivered as I saw the black netting covering the mirrors in the lonely rooms, and observed an abandoned tea tray left on a bed.
When we exited the house, I marvelled at the beauty of the oaks in the garden. Two rows of them were facing each other, like the marines that held up swords out for contestants in the Miss Universe pageant. In this case, however, the star was not a person-- it was the plantation home.
We were at Oak Alley Plantation, one of the old sugarcane plantations of the South, located in Vacherie, Louisiana. A leaflet outside the house boasted the movies (Such as Interview with a Vampire), TV shows (Ghost Hunters, for example), and Beyoncé music video that had showcased the lavishly set home. A ride on a road alongside the Mississippi River bank will take you past several sugarcane plantation homes that are about 45 minutes away from New Orleans. Oak Alley (and several others, such as St. Joseph´s Plantation, Laura´s Creole Plantation) is located on the side of the river that is a bit more protected from the Mississippi River flooding.
Its restaurant features among many other dishes, several sumptuous desserts. The pecan pie I tasted was good enough to make me want to make it and compare it to my present favorite recipe. For this post, I chose their buttermilk pie, something I had never tasted before (unless butterscotch pie counts).
Oak Alley Plantation Recipe
1 3/4 cup raw or light brown sugar
8 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
9-inch unbaked pie crust
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (sprinkle on top of pie after it is cooked)
Preheat the oven to 350º. After preparing an unbaked pie crust, mix the pie batter. Melt the butter in the microwave, place it in a bowl, and add sugar, eggs, flour, vanilla, and buttermilk (you can make the buttermilk by placing half a tablespoon of lemon juice in a 1/2 cup measure, then add milk until it fills the cup--let it sit for five minutes). As you can see in the photo on the left, the batter resembles pecan pie batter, except it doesn´t have pecans. After you have mixed the batter properly, pour it into the pie crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. When it is done, sprinkle the cinnamon on top. 
Oak Alley Plantation Buttermilk Pie Recipe Postcard.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buttermilk_pie
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-buttermilk-pie.htm
http://www.oakalleyplantation.com/visiting/restaurant/
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