Third Day of Driving: Nauvoo, IL – Columbus, OH – 9 hours/486
miles
Stalker Van Exhibit #1
Our drive to Columbus was uneventful, except a creepy white
van followed us from the end of Illinois until Indianapolis, Indiana. We didn’t
think anything of it at first but the GPS kept telling us to get off at
specific exits and the van would follow. Benson would change lanes, the van
would as well. It probably didn’t help that we were reading, Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, which
intensifies irrational feelings and distorts reality. Anyway, Benson was
convinced he had done something to tick the guy off and I was convinced we were
going to die. Eventually we took an exit and the van went the other direction. I
still half expected to see the van pull up to us at our next stop. Alas, we
were in the clear. Phew.
Columbus was a nice city (sorry Mom) and we scored a great
four-star hotel right downtown. We got in late and were exhausted to we decided
to watch some TV and get some rest. Even though Benson is afraid of Sharks we
still watched Shark Week on the Discovery Channel. We happened to catch the
show that told story after story of people who had lost limbs because of shark
attacks. They even had graphic reenactments of each attack. How do you sleep
after something like that? Luckily the bed in the hotel was extremely
comfortable and we were exhausted, we slept great. Don’t worry, this story will
become more relevant in my next post.
We woke up the next morning and left to see some sights in
Columbus. I’m sure there is a lot to see if you have time…unfortunately the
only part we got to see was the main street by our hotel. We decided to stop at
a sandwich shop called Deli Boys to eat some breakfast before we headed on our
way. After we sat down and started eating a man walked in and asked the man working
for a coffee. When the worker asked him if he wanted sugar and milk the man got
kind of confused and asked if he could have it on the side. He then went into
detail explaining how he was taking a coffee to a woman he had fallen in love
with that worked in a nearby office building. His story went on forever and
involved lots of phrases like, “she wants a real man” and “you know how that
goes man!” After getting her a coffee and deciding to take her a bagel and
cream cheese he finally left the store looking confident and extremely pleased
with himself. Benson and I started laughing and then all the sudden he showed
up on the other side of the window, pointing at me saying, “You heard all that
right?” I nodded and smiled, giving him thumbs up and he sauntered on his way
just as confident as before. The man running the store started complaining about
the whole thing. According to him the man was wearing a whole bottle of cologne
and was probably on drugs. That’s just what the guy behind the counter said. As
we walked back to our hotel we could see lover boy trying to explain the whole
story to a security guard who was not going to budge. We had to continue on our
way but I imagine him sad, drinking the coffee, and totally disappointed
because he had used his whole bottle of Axe…Love hurts.
Then, we started our trek to Philadelphia.
Keep trying little buddy and next time use less Axe.
This was my first trip to Nauvoo, and I honestly could not
have expected more. It was so sweet and peaceful, the perfect rest stop on our
long journey! The first morning we woke up and headed to the Visitors Center
where we watched a short film on the history of the city. It’s amazing how much
the pioneers sacrificed and how quickly they built up a successful and
functioning city just to lose it. It takes great faith, I
am sure, to work so hard and leave it all behind. We then had the privilege of
taking a hay ride through old Nauvoo to familiarize ourselves with all the
extra sights we could see.
We arrived the same day that all the performing missionaries
were leaving which meant that absolutely no one was in Nauvoo. There were two
family reunions and some tourists passing through but for the most part it was
a ghost town. We got to be the only people in most of the presentations we
attended. We learned about the post office, supply stores, wagon making and
blacksmithing to name a few.
Being some of the only people around meant that we each got
a turn to try all the fun things at each store. We were only kind of
embarrassed by it all, but we didn’t want to miss out on the experience…or
disappoint the sweet senior missionary, who out of habit shouts, “who wants to
volunteer to bring in our daily water from the well? I’ll choose a boy and a
girl!” Oh, fancy that! There is only one of each anyway.
Here we are learning to carry water from the well…
One of the last historic sights we saw for the day was
Brigham Young’s home. At the end they are supposed to give you a tour of the
root cellar he built behind his house. The woman giving our tour informed us
that if we wanted to see it, we could take ourselves. It was totally creepy.
There are two doors that open up into a root cellar that is
partially in the ground, dark, damp and cold. As we left, shut the doors and locked
them, Benson informed me that he would love to come back around Halloween time,
dress up like a dead Brigham Young and emerge making scary noises when people
opened the doors. You guys, I had no idea my husband aspired for so much in his
life! As you can imagine I was thrilled…who doesn’t want to tell everyone that
in his spare time their husband likes to scare little kids and families while
they innocently explore an old time root cellar? But, if we are being
honest…that would make a killer Youtube hit.
After drinking some cold root beer straight from the glass
bottle, we strolled along Mulholland Street and looked at all the cute shops.
I’m really glad I wasn’t a pioneer because this is what it would look like:
We ate lunch while looking at the temple and soaking in the
beautiful sun. It was simple and divine. There truly is something so special
about Nauvoo. I just felt so happy and grateful for life the whole time and I’m
pretty sure Benson got super sick of me saying, “Aren’t you just so happy?
Isn’t this the best?” I appreciate that he always answered, even if it was with
a smirk or a laugh.
Since we haven’t talked about food enough and if you know me
you know I love food…Apparently in Nauvoo, if you want a good dinner, you have
to eat between 4:30 and 5:00 pm. Luckily, I’m hungry about 80% of the time…and
if I’m not hungry, I eat anyway. We were given a great recommendation to eat at
an all you can eat buffet provided by the cute Hotel Nauvoo. The dining rooms
were kitschy, just how I like my eating establishments to be. The tables were
covered in fake lace, plastic tablecloths and each had a vase of silk flowers.
The walls were lined with Christmas lights, some blinking and some not
blinking…and the main dining room was decorated like Old Nauvoo with brick
store fronts built into the walls and fake apple trees coming out of the middle
of the floor. It was dark with the soft glow of mood lighting coming off of
what? That’s right, Christmas lights. Of course I was wary at first, especially
because one of the special entrees was sweet ham balls. But, I was grateful for
the experience and truly enjoyed the food that was served. It was great home-style
cooking, buttery and warm and so delicious. The sweet ham balls, which I tried
just to say I did, were divine! Just goes to show that you should never let a
name stop you from eating something. I am sure they aren’t any good for me but
I ate like 10. I’d never heard of them before that day and I haven’t heard of
them since…I don’t even think it is a common thing for people to eat, but it
should be! I give our experience at Hotel Nauvoo 5 stars for the atmosphere,
company and hot ham balls!
After our nice dinner we had the pleasure of attending the
Rendezvous at Old Nauvoo, a musical history of the city performed by all of the
senior missionary couples in the area. The theater was small and held only
about 50 people. We thought that it would probably be pretty empty judging by
our earlier experiences around the town but we were wrong! The seats filled up
fast and because we were not children or elderly we got the side seats…bummer!
While we anxiously awaited the start of the show they played fun music and had
women dressed as Pioneers talking to the guests. I got super embarrassed
because Benson kept grabbing my arm and forcing it high in the air while
shouting “Woo!” or, even worse, forcing me to clap loudly while chanting things
like “Yee Haw!” and “Yipee!”, right as the performers would pass by us. Plus,
he did it in this high voice that made it seem like it was most definitely me,
and some kid with a stuffed animal snake on his head kept giving me the stink eye.
C’mon kid, who are you to judge? The show was incredible! Most of the
performers were not extremely talented, and the music was quirky but it was so
great! The spirit of the show and the messages they wanted to convey came off
so powerfully and it was definitely a must see part of the Nauvoo
experience…which is what we were told by every single senior missionary we met
that day. I’m glad we felt like we
couldn’t say “no” to their suggestions and that we ate dinner at 4:30 to be
able to be in attendance.
Here are some pictures from the show, mind you they don’t do
it justice…
This song was not sung but chanted and had hand gestures and everything.
The men in the background are demonstrating the choreography
This man looked like my grandpa Schmutz...totally got me teary.
This song was only sung by men and their guns.
This one was about the Relief Society which included them
eating, tying quilts and sharing the towns secrets. AWESOME!
After finishing the Rendezvous the whole town shut down. So
we decided it was better to call it an early night so we could get up the next
morning, attend the temple and still get on the road at a decent time.
The temple was such a beautiful part of our trip. I can’t
wait to go back again someday with all my family. Reunion spot 2015 everyone? Temples
everywhere always give such a feeling of peace and warmth…I’m truly grateful
that we made this a part of our Nauvoo trip.
This was the best self-portrait temple picture that we could get.
Yes, I have a snaggle tooth and normally it isn't this accentuated.
This one was taken while we waited for the
Rendezvous to happen and I like it a lot better
After one of our most memorable temple trips we were sad to
pack up and hit the road. On our way out of town we decided to stop and see
Carthage Jail, where the prophet Joseph Smith was martyred.
Of the historic sites we saw, this was the most emotional
and solemn but it was the perfect way to end our church history tour. Being in
the very room where Joseph and Hyrum Smith gave their lives for the Gospel
helped me to reevaluate my life and priorities and strengthened my faith in the
truthfulness of the prophet’s calling.
If you are like me then you would think that our trip couldn't possibly get better. I must admit that Nauvoo was incredible and relaxing but
Benson’s little sister Liz outdid everything else we could have planned when
she took us around Philadelphia and other neighboring areas. She was the
perfect tour guide and hostess and we were so lucky to get to have a few days
with her! I know it’s hard to believe but…I really can’t wait to blog about our
time with her!
Until then, I’m going to go and watch “Sherlock” until
hurricane Sandy shuts off our electricity and we are left to playing Hearts and
Scum by candle light.
Second Day of Driving: Grand Island, NE – Nauvoo, IL – 8 hours/458
miles
One of our goals on this trip was to see as much as we could and
drive only as much as was necessary. After driving more than half a day from
Utah to Nebraska we were delighted to see that our next destination was only 8
hours away and we could really take our time to get there. Unfortunately, there
wasn’t too much to see.
This is mostly what we saw.
But then, we stopped in Eldon, Iowa to get gas and the town was a
tiny bit creepy, and totally awesome. I know the creepy part is so judgmental
but of the 10 cars we saw in the town, 8 were missing windows and other big
parts. One car that followed us around for a while (mostly because the town has
like two roads) didn’t even have a hood! I don’t know why but it totally
freaked me out. Anyway, as we tried to kiss this little town goodbye we
couldn’t help but follow the signs leading to the American Gothic House. We
turned off our navigated path, ignoring the voice of our GPS frantically
telling us to “make a u-turn now” and arrived at a big parking lot with a tiny
house at the end.
This is what we saw.
Oh, you don’t recognize that you say? Let me help you...
...with this.
Still doesn't cut it? Let me help you one last time...
...and I'm out of ideas so I hope you get it this time.
Yep, that’s right
people. We saw THE American Gothic House. Used for this very influential
American painting by Grant Wood, a native of Eldon, IA. We were totally bummed
to have missed operating hours of the visitors center because they offered
costumes, exact replicas of the ones worn in this painting (pitch fork and
all), and someone took a picture for you…copying the painting. What!? Why did
we miss that? Boo.
Sadly/gladly, we had to leave Eldon and
carry on to our final destination of the day. But, the American Gothic House
lives forever in the memory of our cross country trip.
The rest of the day led us on back roads and across the
Mississippi river into Nauvoo, IL. I love the Mississippi river! Here are some
pictures of our journey across the bridge that crosses the river.
The Mississippi river is so big and industrial. I don’t know what
I love about it…maybe it was just monumental for our trip, actually being on
the East of the Mississippi. I also think it has something to do with my
childhood dream of owning a house on the river and sitting on my porch in
overalls, playing a banjo with a jar of fireflies as my light. Does anyone else
remember that part of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland? Anyway,
then I saw the reality show Swamp People and realized that no one wants to live
in a house where the threat of Alligators and West Nile Virus is always
knocking at your back door. But secretly, I still do.
Driving into Nauvoo was the perfect end to our travel day. We came
in from the back of the city and got to see all the cute Bed and Breakfast type
homes and old-time shops before we came upon the temple.
I can’t wait to actually blog about our time in Nauvoo, is it just
too much for me to write two posts in one day? Who am I kidding…it’s my blog!
Nauvoo was peaceful and spiritual and beautiful! It was by far one of the best parts
of our drive. Also, a shout out needs to go to Sir Perry (Dad) Brätt for
hooking us up with his housing connection, I swear he has friends everywhere!
Because of him we got to stay in Nauvoo for two days and really enjoy
everything we wanted to do. Stay tuned for details about our stay in old Nauvoo
including the Rendezvous, the best sweet ham balls this side of the
Mississippi, and so much more!
