Day 6 of the Drive East: Nauvoo delivers

If you've been reading our posts for the last few days, you may have noticed that we didn't take the most conventional route east. We wanted to see the Grand Canyon, so Interstate 40 was the answer. But we also wanted to go to Kansas City and St. Louis, so Interstate 70 was the answer. But mostly we didn't want to go East without going through Nauvoo, the city that plays such a large role in our church's history, so our route hasn't exactly been direct. After spending all day here, though, we all agree that Nauvoo was well worth the extra miles.

The day was hot (93 degrees) and humid, but we didn't really notice. We started the day at the church's Visitor's Center, where we learned more about the pioneer heritage of the city and the sacrifices those pioneers made to not only build the city and its temple, but also the sacrifices they made to leave when mobs chased them away.

Throughout the day we could feel that the pioneers who left, wrongfully, under duress, were now at peace as we viewed the magnificent new temple overlooking the Mississippi River and the restored houses and shops of so many.


Inside the restored home of Jonathan Browning (a convert who invented the repeating rifle and started the Browning rifle company), we learned how Browning hand-made his early rifles in his blacksmith shop, and we also met Elder Dove, who is from Frederick, Maryland, and owns a home in the same subdivision we are trying to purchase a home in. We shared information, and later he sought us out so he could introduce us to his wife.


Speaking of buying a home, we heard a story of the ultimate home seller, Wilford Woodruff, as we toured his former residence. As angry mobs were pressuring the pioneers to abandon Nauvoo back in the mid-1850s, Woodruff managed to sell his house (not for what it was worth, but sold -- a feeling we can relate with). As he fled from the mob across the Mississippi River, he realized that he hadn't fixed a leak in the roof before leaving. So, risking his own well-being, he sneaked back across the river into Nauvoo at night, repaired the roof on the house he just sold, and re-crossed the river again before daybreak to avoid trouble. That, my friends, is a man of integrity.

We didn't just tour homes. We learned how the pioneers blacksmiths and wainwrights and wheelwrights made the wagons that helped the pioneers cross the plains; we visited the bakery and printing press that kept citizens fed and informed; and we learned how pioneer families made candles and barrels and pottery and ropes and bread at the Family Living Center. We were not only impressed at how the pioneers worked so hard to make their lives comfortable, but we also realized how good we have it today.





At one point of our walking around the city, Colin looked up at a street sign and exclaimed, "Oh! Hotch-kiss." We all looked at him. He explained that earlier in the day he read the Hotchkiss street sign and thought it said "Hotchicks." He liked the name, but couldn't figure out how it fit into Nauvoo.

We laughed a lot today. At the Nauvoo Cultural Hall we watched the play "Plain Old Anna Amanda." We especially liked the corny jokes (one eye said to the other eye, "just between us, something smells") and the storyline. Levi liked it so much he wanted to meet Anna Amanda and did, getting his photo taken with her.



We ended the day along the banks of the Mississippi for two shows. First, the Nauvoo missionaries (many of whom were called to "performing" missions) put on a variety show titled "Sunset on the Mississippi." First Carson, Dylan, and Levi made hats and got to march in the parade that opened the show. Then we saw everything from a trumpet quintent to old ladies dancing with walkers to a traditional version of "Old Man River" to a fiddle duel in "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" to a man playing a "hosaphone" (a trumpet mouthpiece attached to a hose attached to a funnel -- unbelievable) and much more. We were all smiles.




After that show, Brigham Young University's Vocal Point, a nine-man competitive a capella musical group performed. They were fantastic. The kids wanted to leave until Vocal Point performed its first song, then they were hooked. Levi was the only skeptic, until one performer did a five-minute human beatbox performance that turned him around. By the time they did their encore, Michael Jackson's Thriller (complete with choreography), we were fans for life. They were hilarious, and the music was fantastic. Levi insisted on meeting some of the performers after the show, even getting hoisted onto the shoulders of one of the singers.




On the ride back to the hotel, the kids recapped the events of the day, talking non-stop. Their conclusion: this was the best day of the trip so far, hands down (and we've had some very good days). Melissa provided the moral of the day: "there were a lot of things we (the kids) didn't want to do today, but we did and they were all fun; maybe we should do things we don't want to do more often." Amen, sister. Amen.

We finished a large pizza, root beer, and ice cream sandwiches at our hotel and shut it down, tired but fulfilled and rejuvinated.

Tomorrow, we're off for St. Louis. We'll see if the Gateway to the West can compete. Nauvoo set the bar high, but we'll do our best...