DISCLAIMER: THIS POST IS FREAKING LONG!!!
To celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary, I flew to Chicago to meet Tim (he had been there on a business trip) and we ate a marvelous gourmet dinner in Schaumburg and then the next morning we drove to Nauvoo, Illinois to visit our church's historical sites.
On recommendation of a good friend that lived his life in Chicago and still goes there often, (Bob Gruen), Tim took me to dinner in the town of Schaumburg outside of Chicago at a restaurant called "Shaw's Crab House". Knowing my love for filet mignon and crab, Tim decided this was the place. And my oh my was it definitely the place!
My dinner...filet mignon, scallops and crap legs. I didn't even have to crack the legs myself-they were split in half with all the meat exposed already! Fancy!
Tim's meal...lobster, prawns and scallops.
The place was seriously decorated like a 40's mobster movie restaurant. I loved it. Tim was embarrassed because I kept taking pictures. And he was making fun of me because this was by far the fanciest restaurant I had ever been too, and he goes to these kind of places all the time with clients! Brat!
We had a lovely meal, ate like pigs, I know the check was extremely expensive, and I love him for taking me to just the perfect place for ME!
Friday morning we drove the 4 hours to Nauvoo. Right when we were leaving the Chicago area there was a massive thunderstorm (I guess it was totally typical for the mid-West) and I was amazed at the clouds. There was no clouds, then all of a sudden there was a WALL of thick, black clouds and it was pouring!
After about an hour, it was all clear again! And we drove over flat flat flat corn filled land to Nauvoo.
Working on the Blackberry while we are supposed to be on vaca? j/k..
The picture is blurry, but this is a convenience store and gas station named "Kum & Go"...
The route we took to get from Schaumburg to Nauvoo took us across the Mississippi into Iowa for a bit, then back into Illinois. This was my first time encountering the Mississippi River and it was enormous, and grand, and just plain impressive!
The first thing we drove to when we got in to Nauvoo was the temple. Positively breath-taking.
The five-pointed stars (inverted) represented as the morning star. The descending ray of the temple's inverted five-point starstones was extended downward. Such an orientation suggests the morning star. This "star" is not a star at all, but the planet Venus, Venus' brightness is a reflection of the sun, which is invisible below the horizon. The extended ray portrays the source of the morning star brightness, not the planet itself, but the sun's brilliance.
Tim bought me a necklace and pendant with the five-pointed inverted star on it, colored red and blue, as on the temple.
This plaque is shown just below the statues of Hyrum and Joseph Smith on horseback in front of the temple, facing the temple with their backs to the river.
It reads: "The Prophet's Last Ride. On the morning of June 24, 1844, Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum left their families, homes, and fellow Saints for the last time. Traveling on horseback, they paused on this bluff. Joseph looked admiringly at the unfinished temple and the city of Nauvoo and declared:
This is the loveliest place and the best people under the heavens; little do they know the trials that await them. Joseph and Hyrum then continued on to Carthage, Illinois, where they faced legal charges and eventual death at the hands of a mob."
Looking that the temple from in front of the statues.
I love this - the American flag fying proudly right next to the temple.
Behind the statues looking out onto the Mississippi...breathtaking. Absolutely beautiful.
The LDS Visitors' Center. This was very well done, we very much enjoyed not only the air conditioning, but all the artifacts and stories and scripture, etc. displayed therein.
A drawing of the temple long after the Saints had left Nauvoo, after the tornado hit it.
A painting depicting the martyrdom of our prophet.
Above is the Ballot Box ..."Ballot Box used in Times & Seasons Building (newspaper), Nauvoo, Illinois. It was in the building when I purchased it", signed by the then owner. This was the ballot box from when Joseph ran for office.
This states: "The River. Nauvoo's location on the Mississippi River had practical as well as aesthetic benefits. A veritable highway, the river brought immigrants, visitors, and supplies of all kinds from ports far and near. Missionaries departed from and converts arrived at Nauvoo's simple boat landing. Tourists came to see the city and to meet its prophet. Merchants received manufactured goods from Saint Louis, Cincinati, and beyond for resale in Nauvoo's stores."
Huge statue of The First Vision
A poster advertising for the Nauvoo Pageant. We didn't make it to the pageant on Friday night, and planned to go on Saturday night instead. There was an actual tornado warning Saturday afternoon in Nauvoo (which is extremely rare I guess) and it stormed a bit. The winds calmed down and it was just raining. We went ahead and went down to the Country Fair, where the pageant is held. It continued to rain, however, just before the pageant was scheduled to begin, the rains completely stopped, and the temperature had dropped a good 15 degrees, making all the difference in the world as we sat in our chairs on the grass. No bugs bothered us and we didn't sweat while watching the pageant. We enjoyed the magnificent show, and I was bawling by the end of it. Not 15 minutes after the show was finished, it started to sprinkle again.
This is one of the remaining sunstones. There is another one in the Community of Christ's visitor's center.
These were the horses that pulled the wagon that we were to ride early Saturday morning...
Our quaint little room at the Zion Mercantile Hotel.
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