#3 Burlington, Ia.

Our second day in Nauvoo was a little more laid back. The land around this area is hilly, and apparently good for growing grapes. In addition to the vintner’s home, now a museum on the state park grounds, we also visited Illinois’ oldest winery, Baxter’s, that dates back to the 1850’s. The original Baxter family came here as part of a French religious group, the Icarians, that settled this area after the Mormons left. We took a self guided tour and purchased some excellent grape juice and a bottle of vino.

Joseph Smith’s grave was hidden from the public (his wife fearing desecration) and almost lost for 84 years; but in 1928 it was found and he, brother Hyrum and wife Emma were re-interred near his home in a picturesque setting along the river.

Finally, we wanted to leave you with a puzzle from Nauvoo. Can you guess what this device from the Nauvoo Tin Shop is? You have to read to the end to find the answer.

The next morning we crossed into Iowa on a rickety bridge with twists and turns in it on the way to the river town of Fort Madison

Our next camping spot was a scenic Iowa State Park about 15 miles west of Burlington, Geode State Park. Named Geode because this state and this area is one of the few in the country where geodes are found. Here is a picture of a very large (maybe 20 inches in diameter) geode on display at the park office.

Driving around the park, we noticed right away that the spillway for the dam was dry, and apparently had been that way for some time. 

Luckily, we got here early Friday and had no problem getting a camping spot; by Saturday morning the place was almost full.

The fall colors seem to be coming a little early, maybe due in part to the draught of 2012. But it made for a lot of great picture taking opportunities.

Multi use path:

A full moon added to the great scenery. Here Anne and Duffy take a walk.

We spent Saturday in Burlington and they had their annual Heritage Days festival in progress. In addition to a car show, they had one end of the street roped off for a display of a Case Loader Backhoe and Combine. Kids were allowed to operate the backhoe boom (with help!) and try to hook and lift a small metal model.

At the Burlington visitors center we found a historical display of the Case Burlington Plant. I was particularly interested to see the history related to someone whom I had heard about often but never met, Elton Long. He was a pioneering engineer in the development of the loader backhoe.

We finished off our sight seeing with dinner at a well known restaurant in Burlington.

OK. Now the puzzle – it’s an early American mousetrap! Pieces of cheese are placed on the center paddle and the mouse has to step onto the paddle in the center of the bucket to get the cheese. The paddle spins, and down falls the mouse, cheese and all, into water in the bucket. Poor mouse!!

#2 Nauvoo, Il.

When traveling to Burlington, Iowa, for business, I often wanted to visit a nearby historic Illinois river town. Nestled between the Great River Road and the Big Muddy is the town of Nauvoo Il. that was once the home of a bustling community of Mormons under the leadership of their founder and prophet, Joseph Smith.  Between the years of 1838 and 1845, the area was granted a charter to operate somewhat independently of the State and Federal government. With a militia of 5000 (compared to the US Army’s 15,000 at the time), and a population of 12,000 (equaling that of Chicago at that time), the community began to politically and economically dominate the area. It soon raised the ire of many locals, and an incident where an opposing newspaper office was burned by Nauvoo residents tipped the scales; while being held in protective custody nearby, 39 year old Joseph Smith and a brother, Hyrum, were murdered. Two years later the Mormon community in Nauvoo was driven from their land. Under the leadership of Brigham Young, most of the Mormons migrated to Utah.

We are camped in nearby Nauvoo State Park and for the last two nights we were the only campers in the scenic pine forested campground.

Today, Nauvoo can boast a collection of original and restored homes and businesses with many antique artifacts that tell of the life and times of the early Mormon Residents. We started off the day taking one of two carriage rides through the property (originally 1000 acres). Can you find Anne?

At one point we stopped at a favorite overlook that Joseph Smith liked to frequent. Its more picturesque than the picture tells.

The home and especially the attached shop of gunsmith Robert Browning was quite interesting.

It was a treat to have a guide all to ourselves who gave us a 20 minute tour through the home and shop, where we learned about hammer forging flat steel into barrels in the 1840’s and how the barrels were hand spiraled on their inside diameters after 200 strokes of the spiraling tool.

Robert Browning and his son John were also inventors who sold most of their designs to companies like Winchester and Remington, who manufactured them. 

A similar tour in the Print Shop featured all the equipment to print flyers and the newspaper.

The guides continually provided us with very interesting tidbits of information, like the Print Shop guides who told how the name for Upper and Lower case letters came about. Can you guess from this picture?

From the upper and lower cases in which the Upper and Lower case print letters were filed, of course!

The Brickyard had an interesting presentation about how bricks are made and an exhibit of how the bricks were fired for several days in a large stack (or “clamp”) of green bricks made with multiple built-in fireplaces. There were seven brickyards in Nauvoo.

At the Post Office/Dry Goods Store, we saw how people conserved paper and saved on postage (6 cents per page mailed - a separate envelope cost another six cents) by writing in two directions on the same page and folding their letter to make it into an envelope.

Twelve years ago the current LDS church completed building their new temple on the grounds where the original one was constructed and it now stands on a hilltop as a gleaming monument to the faith and perseverance of the followers.

The tour guides injected information about the Mormon faith throughout the day and encouraged questions, but mostly their input was woven into their narratives and not overly emphatic.

The State Park has a historical museum housed in the restored home of a German vintner complete with his winemaking apparatus and wine cellar. The curator there was particularly helpful in explaining the history of the Mormons and how and why they were driven from Illinois.

With all the individual attention from the guides and well over 30 historic and sites and buildings completely furnished with period pieces and equipment, and with its excellent tour guides, Nauvoo, Il. is certainly a great stop for anyone wanting to learn about early American pioneers and how they lived and worked.

And, they have some good ice cream in town too!

And maybe best of all, there was no charge for ANY of the day’s activities!!

#1 Springfield, Il.

Hello again! We are making a short fall trip and thought we might update friends and family via a blog again. This time it’s a trip close to home to Springfield and through the Eastern part of Iowa. We have no detail plan for the trip and no reservations, but look forward to seeing some interesting things. Want to come along?

Once again, leaving home was hard to do – not so much because we hate to leave hearth and home, but because its just a lot of work to bring so much of your stuff along. That includes everything from nail clippers to pillows to electronics and everything in between! Whew!

Ready for a nap after loading the last of our stuff, we nevertheless left home around 1pm, arriving at our first stop, the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, Il., around 5pm.  The campground was filled with a fifth wheel group of 100 or so campers, but we were able to get a spot on the other side of the fairgrounds, near the fire house and security station. It’s a nice grassy spot. 

We had not been to the fairgrounds before, and took a ride around. The place is huge with many buildings for housing the various animals, grandstands, a race track and horse stables, an areal tram, and much more. 

We met a fellow who owns a pacing horse that he trains here, and he gave us a tour of the barn where his horse is stabled. His two year old has won $28,000 so far, but with hay at $6.50 a bale, one trainer handling every four horses, and a pacing cart costing upwards of $7000, it’s not an inexpensive proposition. Many horses in the barn often run at Maywood, and one recently won a race with a $250,000 purse.

Our main reason for starting in Springfield was to go to the President Lincoln Library and Museum where we had the good fortune to be photographed with the family.

Constructed in 2005, the museum is the largest and most well attended museum and library of its kind in the country, and we could quickly see why.  Although you can only photograph a few areas in the museum, it is unlike any other one you have seen with many dioramas of everything from frontier life – one showing Lincoln and 6 family members living in a 16’x16’ room - to the Lincoln white house including scenes from the oval office, blue room, and others. 

You learn so many interesting facts – one that comes to mind is how one of Lincoln’s most famous speeches, the 2 minute Emancipation Proclamation, which was given to an audience at the dedication to a military cemetery, came after the previous speaker finished a 2 hour speech!

Entering one of the two main viewing halls, you are confronted with a powerful display of a slave auction that practically assaults your emotions and drives home the horror of slavery. As you move through the hall, the story of Lincoln’s life and role in ending slavery is woven into the exhibits, and your admiration for this great man grows as your time in the museum passes. The museum did not disappoint in the least and was overall a great experience.

After the museum, we drove a circuitous route to Charlie Parker’s diner as featured on Diner’s Drive Ins and Dives (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHDtQCKfDnw). Built in a WWII era quonset hut, this breakfast and lunch place was colorful, and had your typical fare. We didn’t have the courage to try the local favorite Horseshoe (a conglomeration of burger patties, fries, gravy, and other ingredients), but did enjoy our lunch.

We traveled a few miles to Lincoln’s burial site with its 117 foot tall obelisk. Unfortunately, the tomb was closed, but we were able to rub Abe’s nose, thereby assuring our good luck for the rest of the trip.

Stay tuned…..