City of Joseph

We figured today is the perfect time to post about our stops in Nauvoo and Carthage on the way to Ohio. We intended to post long ago, but typing this up on the date of Joseph and Hyrum's martyrdom does seem fitting.

We only spent one day in Nauvoo--one very rainy day--and the next morning in Carthage. Of course, we didn't get to see everything, and didn't have the chance to go into the Temple, but it was great to see what we had time for. Here's a sampling:

• Nauvoo Temple--Jackson does amazingly well at identifying Temples. He says this word all the time now.



• Nauvoo Visitor's Center
• Jonathan Browning Home and Gun Shop--really cool. Makes me want to buy some Browning guns :)
• Lyon Drug and Variety Store--we were able to Sister April Longhurst here. We've been very fortunate to have been living in her beautiful home for the past 16 months in Orem.


• Family Living Center--saw rope making, candle making, wool and flax spinning, and lots of other things.


• While Jackson and Natalie napped in the car, I spent an hour in the Land Records Office and found the approximate locations of where Peter Shirts and Edwin Rushton lived--along with a few others of my ancestors who lived in Nauvoo. The next photo is on the land very near the Temple Quarry where Peter Shirts owned a lime quarry. Family records show he sold lime to the Rushtons to build a home. It's fun to think of my parents' separate families having interactions that far back.


• Nauvoo Temple Quarry




• Community of Christ Church visitor's center--we went on a tour with them of the Smith Homestead, Smith Family Cemetery, and the Mansion House.
• quick dinner at an overpriced buffet--good, but no Chuck-a-Rama.
• Cultural Hall--where we saw RENDEZVOUS, a play put on by the senior missionaries. It was a hoot. At least, what I saw of it was good. We took turns taking Jackson outside. He was done for the day at that point.
• Old Burial Grounds--unfortunately, most of the graves are unmarked. The names of most of those buried here are known, but not the locations of the specific graves. It was dark and a little rainy when we went. This is the spot where one of Jackson's soothers now rests in peace.

We loved our morning in Carthage. This is a special and sacred place for us. We're very glad we got to go. I like to think that if Jackson had been playing like this near Brother Joseph, the Prophet would have scooped him up and thrown him in the air and caught him.