Yep, we've stayed there a couple of times.
It's about a 45 minute drive from Baton Rouge, so it should be about an hour and a half to 2 hours from N.O.
Be sure to take the candlelight tour. It's alot of fun, and the history of that plantation is so interesting.
We've stayed in the guesthouses out back, and in the plantation itself. Yes, I absolutely *did* hear things go bump in the middle of the night. But I tend to be a skeptic, so looking back, I think maybe it was something the plantation management rigged up to increase intruige. But who knows...maybe it really *was* ghosts. It sure gave me a fright!
Have fun!
ETA: I forgot to answer your other question about what else is there to do in that area: really, not a whole lot. There are some quaint antique shops in St. Francisville, and you can visit the area where John Audobon worked on his bird sketches. There are also a couple more plantation homes that you can tour, but that's about it. But BR isn't far, and there are a few things to do there.