October 9, 2014. Learning about Mormons

CAMPGROUND:  Second night at Nauvoo State Park

LOCATION:  Nauvoo, Illinois, on Mississippi River

WEATHER:  Off-and-on  rain. Highs in 60s

We escaped the rain by watching movies about Nauvoo's Mormon history at the Visitor Center.  Their leader Joseph Smith lived and was murdered here.  Very interesting.

In the afternoon when the weather cleared, we took a walking tour of some of the homes and shops they built, then had to abandon when they were forced to leave.  Each building was hosted by a Mormon Sister dressed in period clothes to explain things.

This one is the post office and general store.  Most of these Mormon hosts live elsewhere and are serving a 2-year "call" here.

Then, we stopped at the bakery and tasted a gingerbread cookie.

Then to the Gunsmith shop of the Browning family fame.

Most of the tourists seem to be Mormon.  There are a lot of cars with Utah licenses.  Our last stop was the tin maker's shop.

After all that history, we visited the town's winery with the oldest vines in Illinois.  Then we went to the town's inn and had a drink in their cozy 1850 pub.

In the evening, we watched a Mormon musical about Nauvoo life in the 1800s.  

DINNER:  Fall meal......leftover pork and sautéed cabbage seasoned with caraway seeds. I made a squash soup with leftover butternut squash, sautéed onions and buttermilk.