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

Our Families Favorite LDS Historic Sites

You can’t really rank any church or US historical sites, because all of it was amazing!  But since most people don’t have 47 days we thought we’d have our kids rank what they would say were the sites that were a must see.  Our kids were told if they could only visit 3 of the church sites we went to, what would they choose.  So here their choices….some of them surprised me a little…

Jawbreaker (male teenager)
1st Nauvoo, 2nd Martins Cove, 3rd Palmyra

Spitz (male teenager)
1st Nauvoo Temple, 2nd Nauvoo, 3rd Martins Cove

Warhead (male teenager)
1st Martin’s Cove, 2nd Nauvoo, 3rd Palmyra

Bazooka (male pre-teen)
1st Martin’s Cove, 2nd Nauvoo, 3rd Palmyra

Starburst (female 7yrs old)
1st Nauvoo, 2nd Martin’s Cove, 3rd Palmyra

Fireball (male 6 yrs old)
1st Nauvoo, 2nd Martin’s Cove, 3rd Palmyra

Mr. S (adult male)
1st Nauvoo, 2nd Palmyra, 3rd Kirtland

Mrs. S (adult female)
1st Nauvoo, 2nd Adam-ondi-Ahman, 3rd Palmyra or Martin’s Cove

Favorite thing about Nauvoo:
Jawbreaker: Nauvoo Temple
Spitz: the Nauvoo Pageant and the people
Warhead : the missionaries
Bazooka: the play “Sunset on the Mississippi”
Starburst: the play “High Hopes and Riverboats”
Fireball: the play “Just Plain Anna Amanda”
Mr. and Mrs. S: Celestial Room in the Nauvoo Temple, the Pageant

Favorite thing about Palmyra:
Jawbreaker: Palmyra Temple
Spitz: Palmyra Pageant
Warhead: Palmyra Pageant
Bazooka: Sacred Grove
Starburst: Palmyra Pageant
Fireball: Palmyra Pageant
Mr. S: Palmyra Temple, Sacred Grove
Mrs. S: Palmyra Temple, Sacred Grove, Pageant

Favorite LDS Site in Missouri:
Jawbreaker: Kansas City Temple
Spitz: Kansas City Temple
Warhead : Kansas City Temple
Bazooka: Adam-ondi-Ahman
Starburst: St Louis and Kansas City Temple
Fireball: Liberty Jail
Mr. S: Kansas City Temple
Mrs. S: Adam-ondi-Ahman

DAY 20 – July 18, 2012 – Mendon NY and Palmyra

Before I get going I want to post this blog:  http://www.servossnyr.blogspot.com/

This is the missionary’s blog that shared us the tour of Mendon.  His site has some stories and information about Mendon, and is well worth looking at.

Brigham Young’s Mill and Home Site

We started the morning at 8:30 am with a tour continued in Mendon.  If you head east on the road that John Young’s home is on the first speed limit sign you see (about 200 yards away) on the right side of the road there is a creek that heads south.  If you follow that creek it will lead you to the back of the churches property where there is a sign showing you where Brigham Young’s Mill and home were located.

Elder Servoss also shared with us a drawing that one of the locals did for a school project in the early 1900’s.  She was trying to figure out what Brigham Young’s Mill would have looked like, and based on her interviews, she diagrammed how she thought the mill would have appeared.  He game me a copy of that.

Area they believe Brigham had dammed up and they performed baptisms there.

There is a sign there that says that Brigham Young was baptized there, but that is not correct.  If you follow a path that is on your left when you are facing the sign, it will take you to a small bridge that crosses the creek.  They think it was in that area that so many in Mendon were baptized.  Brigham had dammed up the water there to build pressure for his Mill, and it was a great place to baptize people.

After we visited these sites we separated from the group and headed up to the Tomlinson Cemetery.  There are gravestones for President Kimball’s grandfather, and Brigham Young’s wife.  One neat story about Brigham’s wife…she was sick in bed with tuberculosis.  But after reading the Book of Mormon she wanted to get baptized.  So she got out of her sick bed to be baptized in the creek.  A couple of months later she died.  What faith these people had.

This is the skyline looking down from Tomlinson Cemetery. We read Heber’s vision here as we looked over the valley.

While we were up at Tomlinson’s Cemetery, you have a perfect view of the valley, where the Young’s homes were, and the Inn.  You can see the sky from the East to the West.  Heber C. Kimball’s vision happened in the sky over this area.  So we sat in Tomlinson’s Cemetery and read his vision.  Both he and Brigham Young had the same vision on the same day.  And later in Kirtland they started sharing the story with each other and realized they both had seen it.  The vision happened on the day the prophet received the Gold Plates.

There were a couple more homes we could have driven by in Mendon, but we thought that was a great way to end that part of the trip and headed to Palmyra.  Mendon was so much more than we expected.  It’s a place I would love to learn more about, the it is so thick with history.  I was told if anyone wants to learn more about Mendon that there are a series of books written.  The first one is called “The Mendon Saints: Their Lives and Legacy” by Stephen G. Schwendiman.  I was told it has so much information about these Saints it is going to take him 4 volumes (I believe is what I was told) to tell their story.  Definitely something I will be looking for when I get home.

We drove into Palmyra, and had time to walk through the front part of the visitors center and watch their new movie “The Restoration”.  They also had a display of old Pageant Costumes that our kids loved.  It was clear from the beginning this was going to be nothing like Nauvoo’s Pageant.  Everything was so colorful and intricate…the kids were very excited.

Palmyra Temple

After the movie, we had to rush out to make it to the Palmyra Temple so the boys could do baptisms. The Palmyra Temple is beautiful, and overlooks the Sacred Grove.  It is quite a site.

After the baptisms we had a little free time for dinner and cleanup before the Pageant.  We got to the pageant just as it was getting dark.  As we walked out of the parking lot to the seats we were greeted by Nephites and Lamanites.  They have some of the people in the pageant out to welcome everyone.  It was fun to look at their costumes.  We probably passed 60 costumed people greeting us before we got to our seats.

You could tell right from the beginning this was not Nauvoo.  The set is way more complex, and that’s what we thought before the show, once the show started we realized this was an understatement.  The set looks like South American ruins.  But during the pageant, waterfalls came out of this set, fire shot out from multiple spots.  Mist and water surrounded a large boat as it crossed the ocean, and what looked like volcanic matter shot from this set.  They also had a baptismal font in it, two different places for people to be burned on the set, and Christ came out of the heavens, which left my younger children speechless.

The Palmyra Pageant

Everything about the Palmyra pageant is large, the costumes, set, and the scope of the story they tell (they go through many stories in the Book of Mormon).  It was a must see, and you could never choose between the Nauvoo Pageant or the Palmyra, they are just too different pageants completely.  I have some kids that said they would love to be in the Nauvoo Pageant, and others said they would much rather be in the Palmyra Pageant, and all for different reasons.

Warhead passed the shed where they stored props including all the Book of Mormon weapons, he just stopped to drool and said, “Look at that toybox!”  He has made sure to walk back by that shed multiple times.

It was a great night.  We were all so exhausted, we don’t stop too often.  I don’t know how Mr. S is doing it, because our rest time, is usually when he is driving.  But everyone including Mr. S is loving this trip.

Summary of Day 20
Drove: 72 miles

Places we visited or saw:
Brigham Young was baptized Brigham Young’s Area where old Mill was and Baptismal Site, Tomlinson’s Cemetery, Palmyra Visitor’s Center, Palmyra Temple, Palmyra Pageant

Favorite thing we did today:
Jawbreaker: Palmyra Temple
Everyone Else: Palmyra Pageant
Mrs. S: Palmyra Pageant, and Tomlinson Cemetery