Nauvoo

On our first day of summer vacation we decided to take a trip to Nauvoo.  From here it is an easy 6 hr drive (unless it rains for the entire drive home).  We arrived about 3pm and went to the visitors center where we were able to watch a musical "High Hopes and Riverboats".  This performance is done by youth of the church (most looked to be about 16-18) and was a lot of fun.  We drove up to the temple and looked around before heading to Fort Madison and our hotel.

The next morning it was decided that I would go to a 10:00am session at the temple.  Conveniently there is an Arrival Center where you can change from your travel duds into Sunday go-to-meetin duds to enter the temple.  I cannot accurately describe how beautiful the temple is inside.  The use of a very dark wood for stairs, paneling, rails and accents against the pure white is beautiful.  There are beautiful murals on the walls of the various rooms and a really awesome spiral staircase.

The temple is built on the footprint of the original temple (finished in 1846).  The original temple was destroyed by firer and then a tornado and the rebuilt temple was dedicated in 2002.

The Sun stones are beautifully carved.  The grounds of the temple are immaculate and provide a great view of the Mississippi.

We took a wagon ride around old Nauvoo and were able to determine sites to visit on our own.  we went to the Land and Records office where a senior missionary helped us look at the data base to see if and Hawleys owned property in Nauvoo (I already knew they didn't) but we did find a Rufus Hawley who owned a plot of land.  He's not a relative (I'm sure at some point back a few years he is).
Then it was on to the brickyard where we got a brick to go with the last brick we got there on August 14, 1982 (that's the last time we were in Nauvoo).  From there we (mostly me) had to go to the Johnathan Browning Gunsmith Shop.  I didn't know that he was a church member.  In case you didn't know he invented the repeating rifle and his descendants later developed the Browning Automatic Rifle (Known as a BAR used in WWI & WWII).  From there we went to the Bakery where we ate a gingerbread cookie and then to the Family Living Center where there are demonstrations on quilting, making rope (we made our own 6 ft length of rope), candle making, weaving, carding wool and much more.  All of this is done by senior missionaries.

We then went to the Joseph Smith Historic Site which is owned by the Community of Christ (formerly the Reorganized Church).  Saw the grave site of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, the Smith home and the Mansion House.

There are tons of things for children of all ages to do and see.  There is a campground for those interested in that.  We opted to stay in Fort Madison, IA and cross over into IL.  Nauvoo hotels are a little pricey so we felt it was worth the $1.00 bridge toll to stay outside of Nauvoo.

The senior missionaries do a terrific job at each of the sites telling the story of that site and involving the viewers.  They also participate in one of the shows in the evening.  While we were there the BYU Folk Dance Ensemble performed (we were too tired to go to a show in the evening). 

You can easily spend 2-3 days there and it is so inexpensive.  There are no admission fees or ride fees just sister missionaries at the visitors center eager to talk to anyone who will listen and tell them where you are from.  One missionary we talked with was from Gilbert, AZ.

This is a great family vacation site, something for everyone.

There is a web site you can go to to search for names during the Nauvoo period. www.earlylds.com