Nauvoo

Well, today was a busy day. We didn't get to see very much, but what we did see was incredible.

We stayed the night at the Motel Nauvoo. It was a *tiny* room, but it was cute. :O)

For breakfast, we enjoyed a free breakfast buffet offered to the motel and hotel guests at this "Grandpa John's" Buffet. It was kind of a greasy spoon place, but it was still yummy enough for a free meal. I ate enough to last me the whole day until dinner!

Our first visit was to the temple. Unfortunately, we were unable to do a session last night. Their winter hours are 2:00 -6:00 pm. So we arrived too late last night, and had too much else to see today. I was pretty bummed about it. But at least we got a pamphlet with pictures of all of the rooms inside. It's such a beautiful place. I wish we had gotten more detailed photos of the workmanship on the temple.

Here is the statue of Joseph and Hyrum on their "last ride" to Carthage.

This is right across from the temple.

I just love the water tower (beside Wendell's head....in case you were confused). Ours aren't like this, so I got a kick out of seeing these everywhere.
And so pretty set right by the temple. lol. (or I guess, the rebuilt temple came later....)

After this, we went to the LDS visitor's center and got a map and list of places we wanted to see. We started with the Joseph Smith homestead, Smith family cemetery, the Mansion House, and red brick store. It was a guided walking tour run by the Community of Christ, formerly known as the "Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints." We had to pay $2 per person. lol. No biggie. But the guy was really nice and fun to talk to. You who know Wendell can imagine he had a ton of questions for him, and we chatted for probably a good hour just about his religious beliefs and his church as a whole. If you're ever interested in what we talked about, I'd be happy to fill you in! But I don't have the time or energy right now. :)

Anyway, it was amazing to see these sights. To think that the Prophet Joseph actually lived here and walked where we were walking. Although I will say there is a MUCH different feeling on these sights than on the sights operated by the LDS church. It was nice, but I definitely noticed the Spirit isn't as strong. It was weird. Not to complain. It was still a very neat experience.

This is the Nauvoo House. Emma lived here after she remarried, I believe. I have to go look at the picture of the sign we took. I think it was a hotel they were in the process of building when Joseph died. So it wasn't finished. She died in the corner room, you can see here. We didn't get to go inside this house.

Here are the headstones for Emma, Joseph and Hyrum. This is their final resting place. Joseph and Hyrum's bodies were buried in secret and moved a couple of times before they were dug up and finally placed here. I was touched to know this is where the Prophet of the Restoration lays. His parents are in the little area behind this, but we didn't go back into it. We were on a time crunch and forgot to go back there after our tour.

Next, we went to the log cabin that was originally the home of Joseph and Emma and their 3 boys. It was a tiny, two room cabin. The white addition was added by Joseph's son, Joseph III, when he lived there with his family.

The Mansion House was where Joseph lived for less than a year before he was martyred. He only enjoyed it for a few months. There was a hotel wing added for the many visitors who came to stay with the Smiths. Even though it's called the Mansion House, it's still not that big compared with our homes today. There were a couple of rooms for them to use upstairs, and a couple of parlors downstairs. But that was it. Very cute and charming. I love the old homes we saw.

This is Brigham Young's home. It was a very brief tour. But very interesting. Cute house, too. He was in England, I think, when the prophet was killed. I never knew that! It's funny the little things you sometimes miss in a lifetime of church education. lol.

Here is the Browning gunsmith shop. Yes, the same famous Browning gunmaker that ended up located in Utah. It was a very interesting and insightful tour. I have more cool pictures....but they take FOREVER to upload, so this one'll do!

Wow, this post took me FOREVER! I'll post the Carthage pictures later. Goodnight!