{Carthage Jail}
We traveled through the night and made it to Carthage, Illinois at about 10am. Our final destination today is Nauvoo, but Carthage is on the way (kindof) so we stopped here first. We are so excited to be touring these sights on July 24, Pioneer Day. It adds a little something special to the experience knowing that Mormons around the world today are celebrating the arrival of the pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley. The morning was beautiful and we just about had the place to ourselves. The missionaries were so great with their stories and testimonies.
This is the upper room in the jail where Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith were killed. The Church has done a really great job of restoring and preserving this home-turned-jail to as much of it's original state as possible. The window behind the kids is the one that Joseph fell out of after being shot.
The jail still holds the original door that was shot through by the mob...
After touring Carthage Jail, we made our way to Nauvoo a little after lunch. Our first stop was the Nauvoo Temple. I shot this picture as we drove onto the grounds...
Our favorite part of Nauvoo is the variety of activities offered on Main Street. Here, they have actual houses that were lived in by the early Saints, restored and each with something different to teach about pioneer life in the mid-1800s. The activities are presented and taught by Senior Missionary couples. First, we learned how to make rope...
...which Lance quickly turned into a jump rope...
...then there was barrel making...
...the blacksmith shop...
...tin making...
...and bread making...
Our favorite house is the Browning House, the house where the Browning family of gunsmiths lived. After touring Main Street, we spent the rest of the evening at the Frontier Country Fair while we waited for the Nauvoo Pageant to start...
The pageant is presented each weeknight for about 4 weeks every summer. We were excited to be here to see it tonight and loved every minute of it. The actors, the music, the story...all of it was great. Especially beautiful was the Nauvoo Temple standing in the background...
When the pageant was over, we packed back into the car to begin our 18 hour journey home...
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