Fall Odyssey 2006
September 22, 2006--Clarksville, MO to Beardstown, IL (230 mi)
Part Two--Hannibal, MO to Beardstown, IL

So, from Hannibal, Missouri I headed up to Nauvoo, Illinois, but not until I had made a stop over in Carthage, IL where there sets an interesting footnote in history--unless you're Latter Day Saint, then the Carthage Jail site is very significant indeed. The jail was the setting at which the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith was martyred by an Illinois mob in 1844. I know the history well, so I found the tour fascinating. I took a handful of photos of the exterior (see statue photo above) as well as the interior (see shot of bedroom below) where the mob busted in on Joseph and his mates and started firing rounds into wood & flesh alike. I took a close-up of the antique window casing wood trim (below) because I'm interested in grassrooots carpentry--the effort it required to create ANYTHING before power tools ruled the world.

I left Carthage, IL around 1:30pm and headed up north to Nauvoo, IL by way of the Hwy 96 river road which was very scenic indeed. It was inspiring to view the newly restored Nauvoo LDS Temple (see photos above & below--white structure....duh) from several miles south along a river road hilltop vantage point. When I arrived in Nauvoo I was forced to take a nap in my car for about an hour because I was instantly bored by the place. I'm just joking. I actually did take the nap though--I was exhausted for some reason. Once I was refreshed again I headed over to the temple grounds for a little walkabout. I was impressed with the temple structure. The sunlight made it look even more majestic--not that my stupid camera did it any justice.
I spent the hours between 3pm and 5pm touring the smaller restored shops & homes (see photos below--note close-up of 1840's wood floor) along the dirt roads of the historic townsite. I was enthralled by the place! I had no idea this site was so completely untainted by 7-Eleven, McDonalds and Walmart and the like--it's a pure time travel experience to a frontier setting. After a few hours of considering the events that occured there in the 1840's I began to understand how heartbreaking it must have been for the Mormon settlers to have been forced out of their beautiful riverside village. The place really is beautiful, and I really lucked out to be there on a perfect weather day.
I had a nice conversation with two of the ladies minding the Cultural Hall (see photo above: three archway windows and wood floor close-up). All "staffers" in the Nauvoo historical district are actually full-time LDS missionaries sporting 1840's era clothing. They don't stay "in character" though, so I could talk with them without any weirdness.

One of the ladies was really interesting to talk with. She invited me to attend a play put on that evening right there in the Hall. I did return at 7pm to attend the play/musical and did enjoy it since I know quite a bit about LDS history. Before the play started I spent about 2 hours walking down the "Trail of Hope" (where hikers can read pioneer journal entries posted on trailside placards) and then along the east banks of the Mississippi to watch the sunset while chatting with my sister Andrea on the cell phone.

It was about 8:15pm when I drove out of town and took Hwy 96 south, Hwy 136 east, and then Hwy 67 southward to my night's stop at Beardstown, IL--a totally random place where I was just too tired to travel on any further. I stopped briefly in Macomb, IL to "commit McDonalds" for dinner--sometimes there just is no pride, and those times are perfect for McDonalds. I guess I had had enough frontier setting for one day. Some fine pioneer I am.