Nauvoo, Illinois

Many, if not all of you, know all about the Mormon faith.  It is not a religion that John or I subscribe to, but the history of Mormonism in the 1840s is what the town of Nauvoo is all about.  Visitor center, both in town and in the historic area provide plenty of information about Mormons, their faith and history.  Behind the Historic Nauvoo Visitor Center we toured a beautiful garden with statues of women at various stages in their life;  involved in activities ranging from courting, child rearing to the pursuit of the arts.

Speaking of the arts, it was interesting to see a closeup of a piece of the old temple in the visitor's center.  In the new temple, at the top, are sun moon and star stones.  They were modeled after the originals by craftsmen.  In the limestone stone pictured below is the sun shining through the clouds with trumpets surrounding it, a depiction of judgment day.

We toured the historic village of Nauvoo which has homes and buildings dating from the 1840s.  Joseph Smith and his followers came to the Indian village of Quashquema in 1839.  They renamed the village Nauvoo (beautiful city).  A successful missionary effort brought in large members from United States, Canada and England.  Nauvoo became one of the largest cities in Illinois.  The church immediately started erecting their temple, as well as other buildings and homes.

Pictured above is the Cultural Hall, which in 1840 was the Masonic Building that headquartered the Nauvoo Legion, police force, and community theater.  Inside we saw a small auditorium with a stage, and on the third floor is a ballroom with original flooring.

Also on our walking tour of the historic area we saw the Browning Home and gun shop.  Browning was the creator of the repeating rifle.

It would have taken John and I at least a good two days to tour this entire historic village.  The tour guides were quite friendly and anxious to share with us tons of information, but we were tired and hot- ready to call it a day.  We did stop to see the Smith homestead (pictured above) and family cemetery on our way out of the village.  Joseph Smith and his brother were assassinated in 1844.  Mainstream America was fearful of the Mormons and their beliefs.  In 1845 more than 200 Mormon farm buildings and homes were burned.  In 1846 many, but not all, of this religious group headed out for the Salt Lake Valley of Utah led by Brigham Young.

A Car Trip Along the Mississippi River

Our goal on this two day road trip was to visit the town of Nauvoo, Illinois.  We took highway 61 north which follows the Mississippi River, and and on that road trip saw the damage left by the river when it overflowed its banks this past spring.  Many small towns in America are struggling to survive because of people leaving rural areas and looking for improved opportunities in the big cities.  Now the overflowing river has increased the problems for the river cities.  We have visited Clarksville, Mo. in the past to watch eagle activity around the river in January.  We always found stores and places to eat on the main street of town, a street located parallel to the river.  In recent months flooding on the river came up to those doors and higher- many of the places are now shuttered and some closed.

Around Quincy, Illinois we were in need of a break to get out and stretch our legs.  We saw signs for a stone bridge and decided to use that for our stop.  The signs directed us into South Park (apparently the second largest park in Quincy) where we found the bridge.  It was a peaceful walk down a woodland trail, along Curtis Creek to the bridge- but yuck, the smell in this area was bad.  We got out of there quickly. John and I explored the park a bit more to get information on the bridge. We found some interpretive signs and learned the the bridge was  built in the 1890s by Quincy architect George Wood.  He also designed the band pavilion in the park.

 

 During most of our drive along the Mississippi we always saw the height of the Mississippi River located up to its banks, except for the area coming into the town of Nauvoo.  Here water lilies were blooming with large swaths growing in shallow areas along the banks of the river.  We got out to view them and detected a faint floral smell which was quite pleasant,  Not sure if it was the flowers or something else we were smelling!

The large Mormon temple overlooks the river in Nauvoo.  The current temple was dedicated in 2002.  The first temple was built under the direction of Joseph Smith in 1841.  Conditions in Nauvoo became unsettled after Joseph and his brother were assassinated in 1844.  The temple was hurriedly dedicated in 1846,  and an arsonist burned that first temple in 1848.  Pictured below is a statue of Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum.  More on the town of Navoo in my next posting.

Cosmic Caverns

One thing we have learned about Missouri is that it has plenty of caves to explore and there were a few very close to us, however we found one just over the border in Arkansas which suited us because of the entrance fee and formations to be seen.  It was also a good choice as it was doable for our little ones- a third of a mile long, but with very many stairs to climb.  The children were okay with that until the very end when they started to complain.  Our tour group had many children but the guide was a retired school teacher and knew just how to keep their attention.

Cosmic cave has some unique features.  It is one of the warmest caves in the Ozarks, keeping a constant temperature of 64 degrees F.  Bats love this cave for its warmth during the winter months.  We were assured that currently they are out of the cave, raising their babies and foraging for food.   It is also a very wet cave, heavy rains in the outside area immediately flood the cave.  The cave has been mined for cave onyx, that gem can be seen above.  The cave formations are translucent and quite pristine except in one location.

When cave tour guides have warn us not to touch the stalactites and stalagmite I always wondered what would happen if I did.  The blackened formation pictured above is what happens, and that piece
of the cave will no longer grow.  This was one place on the tour which we could touch.

This cave is famous for its helictites, one of which can be seen above.  In the upper spot-lit yellow area look at the twiggy- looking formation hanging down, like 3xes in a row.  That is a helictite.  I have been on quite a few cave tours in the past, and that was a new formation for me.

The cave was discovered in 1845, and has had 14 owners, the current owner has had it since 1980.  He has dynamited and explored parts of it over the years.  Two bottomless lakes have been found, but not explored.  One last formation I have here to show you is what looks like poached eggs.  We had seen on the tour stalactites which looked like bacon,  and here we found the rest of our breakfast!

And for lunch you may need a soda straw.  This cave has plenty of them!

Needless to say, it was a beautiful cave to tour, muddy to walk through and drips of water were frequently coming down, but well worth that discomfort!

Summer Vacation

I know, we are retired, so why do John and I need a summer vacation?   Well, we do still have the travel bug, so it is necessary for us to get out once and a while and hit the road.  Our daughter and her family had a small window of time between their son’s various summer camps to get away for a week, so we chose to join them on the first week in July at Table Rock Lake.  When we embarked on planning for this vacation at the beginning of this year we failed to take into account that many vacation rentals had already been booked.  We did find one available condo in Kimberling city, which is part of the Branson metropolitan area.  I was quite concerned as to whether we would find enough to do with our young grandchildren at a fishing resort, but it turned out to be a good week with them!

We found a scenic train at the Branson train station (actually an elderly Amtrak train from the 1950s) which took us out over the rolling Ozark hillsides two hours out and back.  Our 5 year- old grandson and 2 year- old granddaughter enjoyed that a lot- the dome and snack cars were their two favorite sections of the train.

Moonshine Beach is located on Table Rock Lake.  Nathan and Clarissa had been asking to go back to the beach in Florida, so this beach satisfied that desire.  Another day we went blueberry picking at Persimmon Hill farms- the cinnamon buns with blueberries at their bakery are quite delicious.  All five of us dove into one bun with our forks and it disappeared very quickly. 
And just because we were in a small town did not mean we missed fire works either.  On July 3 fireworks were shot over the lake, we had seats on a grassy hill near our condo- did not even have to take our car out for that.  Our two grandchildren also had fun trying out their fishing poles- patience is not a strong suit for children at this age! 

  We also toured Cosmic Cave with the children, that experience will be in my next posting.

Spring Road Trips

It has been a very wet spring and the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, both of which are close to our current residence, have been over flowing their banks.   Still, John and I have managed to find some very sunny dry days to take some road trips. 

I first would like to mention New Town, a town we were interested in seeing because of The Bridge, a not-for-profit coffee shop located in that town.  Walking through the city park we came upon some very large animal statues.  We had been told that they were moved to the park from Noah’s Restaurant- an establishment which met its demise many years ago.   We had some good memories of that dining establishment so I was happy to see the animals again.

A couple of weeks later our next adventure was to Dillard Mill State Historic Site- it is located fifty miles due west of Farmington.  We combined that trip with a visit to relatives in Farmington. 

The mill is located on the Huzzah Creek, and is a very picturesque site with water cascading down a rock dam.  The village of Dillard grew around the mill, which now is located in the Mark Twain Forest.

The first mill built in 1850 burned and was rebuilt in another location close by in 1881.  That one also burned in 1895, and after the turn of the century was rebuilt.  It was a water powered grist mill used to grind corn and wheat, and operated until 1965.  We spent most of our day there, taking a tour of the mill, as well as walking around the town of Dillard’s cemetery.  There we found names of people who first settled the area, including proprietors of the mill- one of which was Marie Mischke, born in Poland in 1872.  She ran the mill from 1907 until 1917, after which she sold it to her brother.   By the way, the Dillard family name can also be found in the cemetery.   Joseph Dillard Cottrell was the owner of the mill in 1881.  There is lots of fascinating history in this state park!

Pictured above is Sandy Creek Covered Bridge, located in another state park of Missouri.  In 1872 it was one of 6 bridges built to allow passage from Jefferson County seat of Hillsboro to St.Louis.  We are quite fortunate that the state of Missouri passed an act in 1967 declaring all covered bridges in the state to be state historic sites.  There are 4 remaining covered bridges in the state.  High waters removed the Shady Creek bridge in 1886, it was reconstructed in 1899 using about one-half of the original timber.  For this trip we took our grandchildren to give their Mom a break.  They spent a wonderful afternoon wading in the creek below the bridge.  The water was clear and the level low enough for the children to play safely.  Big rocks and logs in the creek also added to their fun.