Jay Langhurst - Summer Trip #1 - jlanghurst@gmail.com
Nauvoo
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Nauvoo, often called the Williamsburg of the Midwest. Well, I don't know if I would go that far,
but it is a very good day trip. The visitor's center is well kept and has excellent tour guides. The
second-best thing about Nauvoo is that nearly everything is FREE. The visitor's center,
carriage tours of the town, short movies on the history of Nauvoo, two plays nightly, and a
fireside meeting at sunset all of these are absolutely free. There may be some recruitment
pressure at times, but with a polite answer the subject is resolved. At the re-created bakery
in Nauvoo visitors will receive free gingerbread cookies (although miniature, they're still just
as tasty!). Also, if you visit the brickyard you can buy a brick with "Old Nauvoo Book of Mormon
Egyptian" (followed by supposed Egyptian characters) stamped on it for only 25 cents! There are also
tours of several other properties.
Now, here's where things get complicated. While most of the LDS (Latter-Day Saints) did
leave, some stayed behind. The group that stayed is known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of the
Latter-Day Saints. They own about half of the old properties in town and these properties are mainly
near the river. In order to tour those houses one must begin a full tour at their visitor's center.
The R-LDS (Reorganized Latter-Day Saints) visitor's center isn't as obvious to the quick visitor and
I didn't have time to take a look, nor did I want to get in the middle of what seems like a quite tense
situation between the LDS and R-LDS. The LDS visitor's center is the one most people visit, and it can be
found by following the billboard signs for around 50 miles away in all directions.
Pictures
[ Nauvoo Pictures, Page #2 | Nauvoo Pictures, Page #3 ]
The visitor's center from the outside
Inside the visitor's center
A statue of a woman with a LONG flowing skirt in the garden behind the visitor's center
Someone from Virginia REALLY likes Nauvoo
A close-up of the license plate
[ Nauvoo Pictures, Page #2 | Nauvoo Pictures, Page #3 ]
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