Nauvoo - Day Two

I slept in on Friday morning, just for the sheer novelty of the experience, while Chad, who is unable to sleep past 6:30 at the latest, decided to go for an early morning drive around Nauvoo. He enjoyed the solitude because, except for a few joggers, he was all alone. He got some nice shots of a quiet Nauvoo morning.

"Prophet's Last Ride" statue across from the temple.

Nauvoo House and Mississippi River at dawn.

Nauvoo Temple as seen from the flats.

We ate our "continental breakfast" (excuse me while I snicker up my sleeve) and then went to examine the Temple up close. I don't mean to gush, well maybe I do, but it is a remarkable and beautiful building. We took so many pictures of it and I was struck again and again by the fact that as I looked up at it from old Nauvoo, I was seeing the same sight looked upon by pioneer eyes. Amazing!

At the Visitor's Center we heard that there was a wagon ride and a carriage ride available, the first was a trip around the old Nauvoo sites, and the second was a ride in the countryside. We decided to do both and had lots of fun. (The horses that pulled the wagon were named Tom and Jerry. I'm petting Tom.)

We spent the rest of the afternoon touring the Smith family sites operated by the Community of Christ Church. We had a very nice guide whose name was Sarah. She knew her stuff and answered our questions about the buildings very ably. We weren't able to tour the Nauvoo House because they rented it out. You can actually stay in the Nauvoo House! I thought that was crazy, but cool.

This is the Smith Homestead. The log part of the home was an exisiting structure when the Saints first came to Commerce. The Smith family lived there and nursed those sick with malaria. The original building was expanded to meet the family's needs and remained the home of Joseph Sr. and Lucy after Joseph and Emma moved into the Mansion House. Joseph Sr. died here. The frame part of the home was an addition put on by Joseph Smith III.

The Mansion House was built as a home for Joseph and Emma. It was expanded, soon after the main home's completion, into a hotel. The Smith's ran the hotel, but it was very taxing considering all their other responsibilities, so they hired a family to run the day to day business. The Mansion House is said to look like the Stowell Mansion in New York, the home of Josiah Stowell, where Joseph and Emma spent their honeymoon. The hotel portion of the home fell into disrepair after the Saints left Nauvoo and then was pulled down after a tree fell on it. Only the original portion remains.

This is the Nauvoo House. It was intended to be a boarding house where a traveler could come to "find health and safety while he shall contemplate the word of the Lord; and the corner-stone I have appointed for Zion." (D&C 124:23) It was planned out to be a large and beautiful building, but it wasn't finished by the time the Saints were driven from Nauvoo. Emma's second husband, Lewis Bidamon, later tore down the walls and used the bricks to build the home that is standing there now.

The Red Brick Store was the general store run by Joseph and Emma. Joseph was a bad grocer, though, because he sold lots of stuff on credit and gave the rest away. It was in the room over the store where the Relief Society was organized. The Community of Christ Church allows the upper room to be used for gatherings, and still uses the lower portion as a store where they sell lots of neat things, like Red Brick Store Rootbeer. It is $2 a bottle, but man it is good! Dang! We bought Grace a bonnet, Merritt a harmonica and Grant some finger puppets there.

We finished the day with a steak dinner in Keokuk and a crazy hunt through the city looking for the Mormon Immigrant Camp marker. After directions from a Wal-Mart cashier and three kids playing baseball, we were finally able to find the park. Then it was back to the Woodruff Hotel where we totally crashed!