Saturday the 31st: DAY 3

Day Three was kind of adventurous, well we drove a lot. So you know how we thought we would be just fine with going to bed late and getting up early… That did not work out too well for us. We needed to leave Beccy’s by 4am so we could make it to Nauvoo, IL early in the day. We wanted to explore this historic city because it was a city the pioneers of our church settled in the late 1830’s. Nauvoo is now a tribute to these early pioneers with demonstrations on how people lived in the that time from rope weaving to running a brickyard. Well, Jaime thought I had set an alarm and I thought she had set an alarm. Never assume. Beccy came in at 6:30am to wake us up. We changed super fast and were out the door by 6:45am. Today was not a day for stopping. We had to get going! So we drove and drove.

I started the drving this morning because Jamie was pretty exhausted. She was up a little later than me. We stopped once at Panera Bread for a bagel and a cheese loaf to nibble on. We stopped a couple times for gas as well, but we pretty much drove most of the morning. We were able to make it to Carthage, IL by 1pm.

(Who knew you could get to IL via MEXICO!)

We stopped in Carthage because here is the jail where the Prophet Joseph Smith was martyred. They have restored the jail and now give tours to visitors. We were able to take a tour and really reflect on the sacrifices of Joseph Smith and the early saints. We both felt a strong Spirit as we pulled up to the jail and were guided through the tour.

We then headed about 30 minutes down the road to Nauvoo. Here we were able to walk around the beautiful temple, see various demonstrations on brick-making (they even gave us a souveiner brick), games played, and iron-making (we got prairie diamonds here).

We also went shopping of course in the general store where we got a few postcards. We also went to the fudge shop. Who can resist delicious fudge.

Later that evening our friend Tessa who we know from Athens met us in Nauvoo. She is staying with her mom in Burlington, Iowa which is just 40 min from Nauvoo and they offered us a place to stay for the evening. So Tessa met us around 6pm in Nauvoo and we went to this amazing restaurant for dinner. It was the Historic Nauvoo Hotel. While they have a hotel in the upper portion of the home, the bottom portion is a very nice restaurant. We all three had the buffet which consisted of an amazing salad bar, entre and side buffet, and a dessert bar. Jamie’s favorite dish was an orange salad while I enjoyed the rice/stuffing bake and Tessa loved the mashed potatoes. It was all delicious though and we were all stuffed to the brim after that big meal.

We then headed to the Nauvoo Pageant. This was like a musical/play about the pioneers in Nauvoo. Church members volunteer their time to perform in this pageant. It was a beautiful show, very tastefully done, and inspiring.

After the show Tessa led us to her mom’s home in Iowa where we stayed the night. We do have to mention how wonderful and hospitable Tessa, her mom, and stepdad were to us as well as how gorgeous their home is. They live in a beautiful Victorian townhouse with a clawfoot bathtub and ceilings you can trapeze in. Tessa’s mom is also an antique collector so we were able to see gorgeous furniture pieces, dishes, etc. She showered us with undeserved but much treasured gifts.She was just too sweet to us. We were very blessed to be able to stay with Tessa and her family.