See America 2008

That goes for the Field of Dreams and for Nauvoo. We spent about an hour this morning at the Field of Dreams movie site in Iowa. The weather was sunny, hot, and as humid as we have experienced. Jake pitched from the mound. Cathy and I played catch with Jake in the outfield. Kimberly and Jake reprized some key scenes from the movie. We bought some souvenirs.






We can check that off of life's list. Applause to the farmers who own the property for keeping it open, free, and noncommercial.



From there we angled our way south to Nauvoo, IL. We ate lunch at the Grampa John's cafe, where they serve a "luncheon", which is basically a cafeteria-style line of entrees and sides. I went through the line being highly skeptical, but was pleasantly surprised at how good each dish was. The fried chicken was excellent, as was the cole slaw.


We toured around the restored town site and the visitor center. In the visitor center we ran into our neighbors 3 doors down, the Van katwjck's, from Richland. Our first "small world" sighting of the trip. We visited the Brigham Young home and the John Taylor home. We also saw the restored Times and Seasons publishing office. The main event, however, was the Nauvoo Pageant. This is an outdoor stage production depicting what life was like during the building of Nauvoo, and the early prosperity of the LDS Church. I think we all found it outstanding and well worth sitting in the muggy and buggy environment.















We had dinner at the Nauvoo Mill & Bakery, a nice little sandwich shop on Mulholland. Of note, they offer "Maid Rite" sandwiches - a hybrid of the hamburger and the sloppy joe. Prior to the pageant, the kids engaged in some of the pioneer games in the period fair provided. Kimberly took tot he tug of war, and Jake was humbled somewhat by a game of stick ball. We stayed in the Hampton Inn in Keokuk - very nice for the bargain amount of points covering our stay.















Plan for tomorrow: We will visit the Carthage Jail, where Joseph Smith was martyred. Then its on to St. Louis to see the Gateway Arch, and have a Concrete at Ted Drewes Frozen Custard. We will stay the night in Evansville, Indiana.