US History and LDS Church History Trip…and links to each days blog

This is a National Cemetery were many soldiers are buried from the Battle of Antietam.

Brigham Young’s Mill and Home Site

We visited 218 US History and LDS Church History sites in 47 days.  (That included visiting 54 different cities). Each day is blogged with information about places we visited, maps, photos and highlights of the day.

If you would like more information if you are planning a trip, you can email me at priceless6191@gmail.com.  I kept very detailed records including: budgets, trip plans, and calenders for the trip showing our day by day progress.  I also have tons of brochures and maps for specific places, although I did try to scan the most important details I have onto each blog page.  Below is listed each city we visited, and what we did there.  Click on a city and start exploring.

I made this blog because I realized I would have appreciated a site with more specific information.  I hope this is beneficial to anyone who wants to take a history trip.  It was our families dream trip, and we still refer to it often.

Here is a PDF with a summary of our trip. (If you would like an editable version, I have the spreadsheet version also.)
Trip Itinerary

** Just a side note as you look around the site…no my kids names are not Bazooka, Starburst, Jawbreaker etc…our kids just picked nicknames so they could have some privacy.  Have fun looking!!!!

Alcova, WY
Devils Gate, Church, Trek, Independence Rock

Custer, WY
Custer County Museum, City 4th of July

Crazy Horse, SD

Keystone, SD
Mount Rushmore 4th July Celebrations

Rapid City, SD
Dinosaur Park, Storybook Park

Wall, SD
Wall Drug

Omaha, NE
Winter Quarters Visitors Center, Winters Quarters Temple (E,B), Mormon Pioneer Cemetery, Glenn Cunningham Lake, Pioneer Courage Park

Council Bluffs, Iowa
Kanesville Tabernacle

Nauvoo, IL
Play “High Hopes and Riverboats”, Movie “Remembering Nauvoo”, Play “Sunset by the Mississippi”, Women’s Garden, Riser Boot Shop, Blacksmith Shop, Seventies Hall, Lucy M Smith Home, Brickyard, Heber Kimball and Wilford Woodruff’s homes, Movie “Joseph Smith-Prophet of the Restoration”, Joseph Smith’s Homestead, Mansion House, Nauvoo House, Red Brick Store, Smith Family Cemetery, Trail of Hope, Youth of Zion, Play “Old Anna Amanda” 2xs, Nauvoo Pageant 2xs, Carriage Ride, Pioneer Park Pastimes, Nauvoo Temple (B,E), Frontier Fair 2xs, Play “Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo”, Old Nauvoo Burial Grounds, Lands and Records Office, King Follet Discourse, Emma and Josephs Letters Vignette

Carthage, IL
Carthage Jail

Macomb, IL
Dinner with Steve -Guadalupes Restaurant

Petersburg, IL
Lincolns New Salem (camped there)

Springfield, IL
Springfield Vis Ctr, Lincolns Home Vis Ctr, Lincolns Home, Lincolns-Herndon Law Office, Old Capital, Lincoln Library, Lincoln Presidential Museum

Chicago, IL
Chicago Navy Pier, Magnificent Mile, Millennium Park, Cloud Gate, Chicago Temple (B,E)

Gary, IN
Just for Gas and Photos

Kirtland OH
Kirtland Ward, Ashery, Isaac Morley Farm, Newel K. Whitney Store, Whitney Home, Sawmill, Schoolhouse, Kirtland Temple RLDS

Parma, OH
Brian and Camilla’s Home

Hiram, OH
John Johnson’s Home

Middlefield, OH
Amish Country, Cheese Factory, Hiram College (where President Garfield attended and taught)

Kenmore, NY
Mags home, Keeners, Lindbergh Elementary, Pam’s Home

Niagra Falls
Niagara Falls, Cave of Winds

Buffalo, NY(2 sites or events)
Downtown Buffalo, Duffs Chicken Wings

Mendon, NY
Home built by Brigham, Early Meeting Home, Phineas Young’s Home, John Young’s Home, Tom Tomlinson Inn, Heber Kimballs home site, Camped at John Young’s Home, Site of Brigham Young’s Mill and Home, Baptismal Site, Tomlinsons Cemetery

Palmyra, NY
Palmyra Visitors Center, Palmyra Temple (B,E), Palmyra Pageant, Sacred Grove, Smith’s Log Cabin and Frame House Alvin built, Hill Cumorah, Martin Harris’s Home, Book of Mormon Publication Site (Grandin Building)

Waterloo, NY
Peter Whitmer home

Oakland, PA
Aaronic Priesthood Monument, Joseph and Emma’s Home Site, Grave of Emmas parents and son Alvin Smith, Susquehanna River

Jersey City, NJ 
Liberty Harbor

New York, NY
PATH Rail System, Site World Trade Center, 911 Memorial and Museum, Battery Park, Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, New York Stock Exchange, China Town, Little Italy, Noho, Washington Square Park, New York University, Empire State Building, Garment District, Bryant Park, Time’s Square, Theatre District, NBC Studios, Carnegie Hall, Central Park, New York City LDS Temple, Madison Square Gardens

Philadelphia, PA
Independence Visitor Center, Independence Hall, Congress Hall, City Tavern (restaurant), Carpenters Hall, New Hall Military Museum, Benjamin Franklin’s Grave, President’s House Site, Liberty Bell Center”

Hershey, PA
Hershey Amusement Park

Gettysburg, PA
Gettysburg National Park

WashingtonDC
Washington DC Temple (B,E), IKEA, Ford’s Theatre, Petersen House and Center for Education and Leadership, Spy Museum, National Archives, Washington Memorial, World War II Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Holocaust Museum, Lincoln Walking Tour, Arlington Cemetery, United States Capital Building, a Session of Congress, a Session of the House of Representatives, Smithsonian Natural History Museum, Smithsonian American History Museum, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, White House, Holocaust Museum, Nationals Game

Alexandria, Virginia
Mount Vernon

Centreville, VA
Bull Run Regional Park (Camping), visit with Tamara and family, Atlantis Water Park

Manassas, VA
Battle of 1st and 2nd Bull Run (Manassas)

Harpers Ferry, WV
Harpers Ferry

Sharpsburg, MD
Antietem Battle Field

Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria, VA Pier and Chick-fil-A

Chantilly, VA
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Annex

Middletown, VA
Cedar Creek Battlefield (2nd Manassas Battle Reenactment)

Charlottesville, VA
Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, University of Virginia

Buena Vista, VA
Southern Virginia University

St Louis, MO
St Louis Temple (B,E), St Louis Arch and Musuem, Old Court House (Dred Scott Case), Outside Busch Stadium, Feet in the Mississippi, Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Park and Grant Farm, Home Town Buffet, St Louis Cardinals Game, St Louis RV Park

Cottleville, MO
Joel and Christy’s Home

Independence, MO
LDS Visitor’s Center, Harry Truman Presidential Library, Missouri Mormon Walking Tour (things we saw on the tour: Clinton’s Soda Fountain, Jackson County Courthouse, 1827 Log Courthouse, Bingham-Waggoner Estate, Church of Christ Temple Lot, Community of Christ Temple, Gilbert and Whitney Store, Printing Office Site (Evening and Morning Star), Governor Boggs Home Site, and Partridge Home Site and School) , Campus RV Park (next door to the LDS Visitors Center), Vaile Mansion

Kansas City, MO
Kansas City Temple (B)

Liberty, MO
Liberty Jail, Eight Witnesses Monument

Richmond, MO
David Whitmer’s Grave, David Whitmer’s Livery site (marked by with a plaque), Old Richmond Jail Location, Statue of General Alexander W. Doniphan, Pioneer Cemetery (Monument for the Three Witnesses, Grave for Oliver Cowdery, Peter Jr. and Jacob Whitmer’s Graves)

Farwest, MO
Far West Temple Site

Jamesport, MO
Amish Country, Amish Baseball Game, and Shopping

Jameson, MO
Adam-ondi-Ahman , Jameson Town Fair and Parade

Doniphan, NE
Mormon Island

McKinnon, WY
Little America

Boston, MA
11 years later we went back to add Boston to our list or US/church history travels. Here is a link to the beginning of that trip. Yale, Scarburough and Prospect Ave in Hartford, CT, Mark Twain’s Home, Boston Temple, Boston Aquarium, Faneuil Hall, Boston Massacre Site, Old State House, Boston Latin School Site, Park Street Church, Granary Burying Ground, New State House, Boston Commons, Harbor Cruise, USS Constitution, Bunker Hill Monument, Old North Church, Paul Revere’s Home, Old South Meeting House, Union Oyster House, Omni Parker House, Cheers, Prudential Tower Observation Deck, Trinity Church of Boston, Old South Church

Other Valuable Links:
Mormon Pioneer Trail Auto Tour Route Guide
mormontrails.org

DAY 21 – July 19, 2012 – Palmyra, NY

Palmyra Temple overlooking the Sacred Grove

Mike and I started the day by going to the Palmyra Temple to do an endowment session. This is one of the MANY times the motorhome has been great. We just left the kids in bed and drove to the temple. We left them sleeping with a note to be dressed and eat breakfast when they woke up.

The temple is amazing. I think my favorite part of the temple is all the stained glass windows. They are murals of the Sacred Grove in the stained glass, and it is so beautiful! We had been told that the Celestial Room had a window overlooking the Sacred Grove. Well that is a piece of mormon folklore…but it was still wonderful. They do have a window towards the back of the lobby that overlooks the Sacred Grove, and it is a beautiful site. One of the temple workers said that most mornings you find workers standing there just enjoying the view.

After our session they asked us if we wanted to do some sealings. But we felt bad the kids had been in the motorhome for the last two hours and told them we couldn’t. When we got out to the motorhome we found six kids still snoring. Can you believe it! So we had to wake everyone up to get ready so we could go to the Sacred Grove.

One thing I am kicking myself I forgot to bring on our walk through the Sacred Grove is a map that we had been given when we were in Mendon by the senior

The Sacred Grove

missionaries. I guess he had walked through the Sacred Grove with one of the foresters, and drew a map marking some significant things to notice in the Grove. It lists things like which trees were witness trees (trees that were standing when Joseph Smith was there). It also marked where the old fences were from the Smith Farm (although those we were able to find). This is one of many things, I hope to post on the site once we get home and I have a scanner.

Fireball and Starburst in the Sacred Grove

It was hard to find a quiet spot in the Sacred Grove, there were a couple of bus tours there. But we finally found a reasonably secluded spot. So we sat down with our children and read Joseph Smith’s account of seeing God the Father, and Jesus Christ. After we read from the account, we had the older kids go find spots by themselves where they could pray and ponder. Mike and I sat down with the little kids and talked about all we had seen the last day or two. Both Fireball and Starburst wanted to pray also, and they knelt down right there and prayed. I love the faith of children.

Then we left the grove to tour the Smith grounds which includes a replica of their first log cabin, and then their Frame House that Alvin helped build. They also had barns and a cooper shed that are replicas of what the Smith’s would have used. I just can’t believe all the skills that one family had to maintain such a place. The rest of us would end up dying if we were left to try to live on our own the way they did. They did bee keeping, farming, gardening, coopering, built their own homes, soap making, and candle making to name a few things. How far we have come, I don’t know if its for the better.   We are so detached from all the things we use, we are such a dependent people.

Palmyra Pageant Costumes in the Visitors Center

We went back to the Visitor’s Center to finish our tour we had cut short the day before when the boys had gone to the temple. We took photos of the kids with the costumes. The front section of the Visitor’s Center showed costumes from previous years. I don’t know if it is because it’s their 75th anniversary, or if that is normally what is there. On the other side of the Visitor’s Center are stories, movies, plaques and paintings about the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, and Helaman’s Warriors.

Hill Cumorah Monument

Then we walked up to the top of Hill Cumorah. It is quite a steep hill. We had just been talking about how flat everything is back east. There are small hills, but really nothing. The Hill Cumorah is ‘the’ prominent large hill in the community. At the top they have a monument with Angel Moroni.

After that hike, we drove to Martin Harris’s home. He had

Martin Harris’ Home

quite the view. His farm area is beautiful! The house is made with rocks set in lines like bricks. It is very interesting to see. I guess that isn’t how his house was, his was white. The owners after him had the rocks put on, but it’s a unique thing, and the church has left the rocks up. You can’t tour the inside, but you can walk around the grounds at Martin’s home. Hyrum, Joseph Sr. , and Joseph Jr. all worked on Martin’s farm at different times.  This is how Martin learned about the plates and started working with Joseph.

Then we headed downtown to the site where the Book of Mormon was first published. The

Grandin Building where the Book of Mormon was published

church has done a phenomenal job of restoring the building.  They have new building wrapped around the restored building.  So you walk around the new building learning about the publishing house, then you walk inside the original building to see what it looks like. It’s pretty cool, I haven’t seen anything like it before, I’m not even sure if I’m explaining it well.   In the building they talk about how long it took to make copies of the Book of Mormon.  I can’t believe the work it took to make a book. It makes me love my books with a whole new appreciation.

Then tonight we are going back to the Pageant. We will be leaving tomorrow for Waterloo, New York (Peter Whitmers Log Home), and then Oakland, Pennsylvania where Joseph Smith and Oliver were baptized and received the Aaronic Priesthood from John the Baptist…then on to New York City.

Summary of Day 21
Drove:  40 miles

Places we visited or saw:
Palmyra Temple, Sacred Grove, Smith grounds which includes a replica of their first log cabin, and then their Frame House that Alvin helped build, Visitor’s Center, Hill Cumorah, Martin Harris’s home, Book of Mormon Publication Site (Grandin Building)
Favorite thing we did today:
Jawbreaker: Sacred Grove
Spitz:  Sacred Grove
Bazooka: Printing Press where Book of Mormon was published
Warhead:  Weapon Shed near Hill Cumorah
Starburst: Pageant
Fireball:  Burger King
Mr. S: Sacred Grove
Mrs. S:  Sacred Grove
NOTES ON THE PAGEANT:
Tonight we sat closer, on the 3^rd row, and the pageant better closer.  But I don’t think that’s necessarily the answer.  On a whim I grabbed some binoculars that we had brought for Mount Rushmore.  With the binoculars the pageant was incredible.  The details of the pageant are lost in the distance.  The set, costumes, and special effects are so amazing, and the binoculars enhanced that, and made it a whole new pageant.  I didn’t see anyone else have any, and I’m surprised no one else has thought of it.  If I were to make a STRONG suggestion, I would say, bring a blanket (just in case it gets cool, which it did), and bring binoculars.  I think it made such a difference, I would have brought a pair for everyone.  Because even on the 3^rd row, the set is so large, you are still very far away from the actors.

I also learned that it is said that 1/3 of the people who come to this pageant are not members of the church.  That really surprises me, and it’s so cool.  Just thought I’d share that side note…

Anyways, it was incredible.  We all agreed it was better than the night before.  Knowing what was coming, we watched with anticipation, and we kind of fought over the binoculars so we could get close-ups of our favorite scenes.  I don’t think my children will ever forget those 10 stories they shared from the Book of Mormon.  They were to brilliant in color, action and drama to ever leave their minds.  What a great pageant!

NOTES ON THE SACRED GROVE:

While in Mendon, Elder Servoss gave me a copy of a self guided tour he had put together.  It tells the history of some of the trees in the sacred grove.  I don’t think that my first time taking my family to the grove I would use this.  I wouldn’t want it to detract from the first experience there.  But if you were in Palmyra for a couple days wanted to walk through with this map, it does give a walking tour of the history of the grove itself.  Sacred Grove – Self Guided Tour by a Forester