Nauvoo

And for vacation installment #2: NAUVOO! Scott and I met in Chicago on Monday night and then started to Nauvoo on Tuesday morning. We thought it was going to be a sub 4 hour drive but it was more like a 5 hour plus drive. 

Should have looked that one up better...

We got things started with some healthy snacking. Why buy such a big bag you may ask? Because it can be resealed obviously!

Along the way we took a detour to President Reagan's home when he was ages 9-12. (It was right off the freeway and at the exit where we got our 'healthy' snacks anyway.)

The home.

A statue in his honor.

For lunch we went to this cute cafe and they sold some amazing ice cream. We loved the ingredients list! And yes, we did order ice cream despite the freezing wind outside.

Before getting to Nauvoo we went to the Carthage Jail where Joseph and Hyrum Smith were killed.

The jailhouse is just behind these statues of Joseph and Hyrum.

This is inside the jail where the jail keeper's family stayed.

The room where the prisoners were killed.

The window where Joseph was shot and then fell to his death.

Carthage was neat to go visit. I really liked the drive to Nauvoo from there because you could think about what those men felt as they were being taken to their death, perhaps unknowingly but not unsurprisingly. 

At the Nauvoo Visitor's Center there was a Monument to Women with a bunch of statues. They places women in various tasks that represented qualities of womanhood.

And we couldn't leave without a picture of me by a statue...

Tuesday night we went to Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo. It's a cute little show that the senior missionaries put on each night. They sing and act out a little storyline about establishing and then leaving Nauvoo. Scott and I both had a good laugh thinking about our parents doing this. Nauvoo may not be the place for either of them...

You can't tell by looking but we about froze to death taking this picture. 

There is some bitterly cold wind in Nauvoo! 

This picture is just to show you how poorly I packed. I didn't try on this jacket before leaving and as the days went by the jacket got tighter. Later pictures when I'm facing forward will better demonstrate just how poorly it fit!

We ate breakfast looking out over the Mississippi River. It was so freezing cold but the river wasn't frozen! The Saints were able to leave Nauvoo quickly since it had been an especially cold winter and the River was completely frozen. A blessing but also hardship; I would have froze to death I'm sure!

This is the Mansion House that Joseph Smith was working on when he died.

The graves of Joseph, Emma, and Hyrum.

Where Joseph and Emma lived for part of the time in Nauvoo. 

All of the directly Joseph Smith stuff is owned by the Community of Christ and they gave a nice really tour of all the sites.

The upstairs meeting room in the Red Brick Storehouse.

This is the blacksmith shop and they had a cool demo for making a tiny horseshoe.

We didn't exactly visit Nauvoo during tourist season so we got the extended tour at every stop. While very nice it also meant that we only had time to go to 3 places. Those visits took so long we decided to just drive by the rest of the buildings before eating lunch and going to the Temple.

A really important family lived in Nauvoo...

Brigham Young's home.

Heber C Kimball's home.

Lucy Mack Smith's home. She was Joseph's mother.

In the afternoon we went to a Temple session. 

It is such a beautiful Temple, inside and out. 

This shot took many attempts with me running back and forth to the camera and again, you can't tell by looking how freezing cold we are.

We had such a great time in Nauvoo and were sad to drive away so quickly Wednesday evening. We'd love to go back when it's a bit warmer and busier.

Next week: Installment #3: Chicago.