Our second day in Nauvoo was full and busy with stops to the Trail of Hope memorial where the names of over 2,000 pioneers who had died while crossing the plains (a 1300 mile trek) were listed.
We saw the Mississippi river crossing where the pioneers took flat boats across the river or walked on ice to get across while being kicked out by force from yet another city they loved and temple they had sacrificed so much for.
We saw the 70’s Hall which was used for meetings back in the day and where many received their mission calls.
We then went on a wagon ride where we learned about many of the homes and buildings in the area. One sweet little girl got stung by a wasp just as we were getting started, (poor thing) and Debbi instantly went to the rescue and ran to her car for a first aid kit. She’s a school nurse and just the sweetest! ❤️
Side note: Debbi and I had a wonderful talk that morning on our hotel room bed about our siblings who had passed away and we have decided we
are now besties! 😂 I seriously adore her! 💕
Afterwards we went to the bakery, cultural hall, and then family living center where we learned how to make candles, barrels, and rope.
We were all hungry after that so we headed out to lunch and had planned to go to the Nauvoo hotel for their all you can eat buffet, but apparently it’s only open seasonally and only on the weekends until pageant season, so we couldn’t go! We at least got a picture since I had fond memories going there in 1996. 🥰
We quickly realized that Nauvoo doesn’t have a lot of lunch options (only two) so we divided and conquered and ordered at both since we all wanted different things. 😂
Then it was back to historic Nauvoo where we hoped to go on an oxen ride (which we were too late for) but we still got to hear some cool stories, which we really enjoyed.
Afterwards we headed to do some tours at the gunsmith, print shop, John Taylor’s house, and blacksmith where each of the kids got a mini horseshoe.
We then rushed back to our hotel to quickly change so we could go do baptisms for our deceased ancestors at the Nauvoo temple! The baptismal font was super backed up having a lot of big crowds so it took a little longer than expected, but was such a sweet end to our day! ❤️
We then headed back to our hotel for a pizza movie night! We were bushed!
