This one time back in July we went to Nauvoo with our 3 favorite people in Missouri (who now live in NY!). And we had a blast (minus nearly getting eaten alive from chiggers). It was a first for both Michael and I. There is so much to do there and I wish we had had more than 1 day to see all the sights. But I am so glad that I had just taken the Joseph Smith and the Restoration class from Sister Black that past semester and the events of the Restoration were still fresh in my mind. We got there late Friday afternoon, had all day Saturday to explore the beautiful town and see the Nauvoo Pageant, and then left Sunday morning with just enough time to make it back to St. Louis for church at 1. We camped at the Community of Christ campground, which I highly recommend! Its just a small little place, but only $3 a night/per person and has free showers...SCORE!
Friday:
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| About to cross the Mississippi for the first time on our drive to Nauvoo |
Michael and I were able to stop at Carthage Jail on our way. What a wonderful experience! It was pretty rainy/gloomy/thundery, but it just emphasized the solemn atmosphere of the jail and the important events that occurred there.
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| Outside the Jail by the upper window that Joseph Smith fell out of when he was shot. We had a picture of Michael...but his came out blurry :( |
Then we drove the last 20 minutes or so to Nauvoo. We had just a few minutes before all the sites were closing for the day so we decided to stop by the Scovill Bakery for some yummy gingerbread cookies!
We took a stroll by the temple. Wishing that I had remembered to make a reservation so we could do a session there. Next time that is on the top of our list!
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| This statue is titled the "Last Ride" of Joseph and Hyrum and it is located in front of the temple at the approximate location that they stopped for one last look at Nauvoo and the unfinished temple before riding to Carthage where they both died. |
Then it was off to find our campsite and get our tinfoil dinners started so they would be there when Josh, Erica and Baby Charles got there. Thankfully the rain had stopped and the sky was clearing, or else we would have been sleeping in the cars that night! Actually the dampness from the rain made for the perfect evening, the weather was perfect and a great break from the normal hot and humid!
Saturday:
After a delicious breakfast at camp we headed off to downtown Nauvoo. Michael and I watched Baby Charles for a couple hours, so Josh and Erica could do a session at the temple. We had fun practicing being parents while visiting some of the historic buildings. We even got Charles to take a nap in the carrier, I was quite proud of that!
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| Right when we got there we ran into our friend Nathaniel, who was in my Raintree ward, and who was in Nauvoo for the summer as a performing missionary. He was super surprised to see us and gave us some great advice of top things to see that day. |
Some of the historic sites we visited: The Print Shop, Post Office/General Store, The Gunnery, Lucy Mack Smith's home, Brickyard, and Blacksmith shop.
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| How they would lay out the stamps when printing the newspaper |
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| Various fonts. I love how it says "this type" |
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| The phrase "mind your P's and Q's" came from early printing presses. I would certainly get these mixed up all the time! |
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| General Store on one side... |
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| ...Post Office on the other. Did you know that in order to save paper they would write over their words: first vertical, then horizontal, then diagonal each way! They passed around a copy of a letter like that and it was so hard to read! I can't even imagine trying to write a letter like that. |
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| Practicing being parents, in the gun shop of all places :) |
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| The blacksmith shop |
We also did took the tour offered by the Community of Christ Church. They own the Red Brick Store, The Mansion House, and a few other historic buildings. They don't allow photography in those buildings though, so no pictures :(
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| This is the view over looking the Mississippi |
When we ran into Nathaniel he told us about a musical that he was in later that afternoon. It was a great show and the perfect chance to sit and relax in a nice cool air conditioned building! The humidity is killer, I don't know how the pioneers did it!
Then it was back to camp for dinner. Erica and Josh brought all the fixin's for yummy brats and shish-kabobs!
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| I always seem to catch a picture with the men-folk by the grill! |
We finished our day with the amazing Nauvoo Pageant! It was wonderful and I love how they lit up the temple in the background during the finale. Such an amazing spiritual and uplifting performance. Plus the Relief Society president in our St. Louis ward and her family were performing in it so it was fun to see them.
And I know you were all dying to see a picture of our chigger bits :) As you can see mine were a bit worse than Michael's. Let just hope our kids get their daddy's genes when it comes to insect bites!
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| Mine. It took a lot of Aleve, ice and anti-itch lotion to keep from itching them. The worse part is they don't go away as fast as mosquito bites. They were still itchy a couple weeks later and I still have some faint scars from them and it is now October! |
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| Michael's. His were tiny! They look like just a little pen mark. Lucky duck! |
Oh, before the Pageant began they had pioneer games and activities. Erica and I learned how to make a braided rug. This is how mine looked a couple days after we got back. It was so much fun, and I was so excited to make it I decided to get some old sheets to make a bigger rug. Unfortunately, the technique they showed us only works for a bag or a hot pad- not a big rug. I haven't given up yet though! I still have all my rags and will someday figure out how to make a bigger rug. For now, this little one is getting put to good use as a fun little pot holder.
