Book of Mormon, Boats, and Border [Travel]

This was our Ultra Travel Week. The last time to see it all before we leave the East Coast. We've tried our best to "go there, see that", but it's generally within a 3-4 our distance. We took our road tripping to a new level to prepare ourselves for longer car rides. 

This week we visited Palmyra, NY and Niagara Falls. 
Oh how absolutely lovely it was. 

Palmyra: a town of just 7,000 people, filled with green trees, fields and a lot of Latter-day-Saint history. With only one place to stay, we found ourselves at the Palmyra Inn. Our room was a rather large size, however it was close to 90 degrees in there. We switched the AC on and left to go eat at what was described as the "best place in town". The Yellow Mills Diner, highly recommended by locals and 5 stars on Trip advisor (reviewed by the same person 4 times).  The service was fantastic but the food tasted awful, meaning we ate McDonalds the rest of the time we were there :(. 

Regardless of the food, the historic sites were AMAZING! 

We started off at the Hill Cumorah and visitor's center. 

 We walked outside to the top of the hill. There is a trail that goes back and forth so it isn't too strenuous. 

A view from the top overlooks the area! It is beautiful 

I was hoping the cement box where the BoM, sword of Laban, and the Liahonoa were buried would be outlined but its not! There is however, a beautiful monument up there. 

After our jaunt we went to the Smith Family Farm. Their property is massive, and after some trading and compromising the Church was able to reclaim all of their land. 

This is the Smith Log home. It is not original, but it is built on the real foundation. 

 When it was rebuilt in 1997, they used hand tools and wood from the property- to ensure that it is as authentic as possible. 

 This is upstairs of the log home! Angel Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith RIGHT HERE! Amazing. 

Everything is so close! You can see the Palmyra temple from the Smith home.

Alvin Smith began building this frame home, but was unable to complete it before his death at age 25.  The frame home was completed a few years later and the family moved in. 
This house is 85% original, including the furniture inside. There were some things that obviously needed to be fixed in order to preserve it, but for the most part it is original. 

Joseph Smith hid the golden plates under the bricks. He managed to lift them up, dig a small hole and cover them back up with the bricks and make it look untouched. 
This hiding place only lasted about a month, before the public knew about it. 

This garden would have had to be about an acre to feed the family of 10. 

This barn was actually belonging to the Young Family. It was taken down and moved to this location where the Smith's had an identical barn. This is 90% original, down to the nails. The roof was recently renovated for preservation purpose. 

This barn was not for animals, rather for separating grain. They also harvested their chickens in here and kept tools inside. 

This is the tool shed where the Book of Mormon was hid under the floor boards. Joseph Smith one day received revelation to move them right away. He put them on the top loft. That night a mob came in and tore up the floor boards. Little did they know the plates were right above them. 

After our tour of the Smith Family Farm we were released to explore the Sacred Grove. 

After we got deep into the woods we sat on a bench and read the First Vision in Joseph Smith History 1:17. The wooded area was beautiful, quiet and peaceful. Despite the millions of mosquito bites we got (we were warned by the sister missionaries) it was a great experience. 

We later went to the Print Shop of the Book of Mormon, EG Grandin building. 

This place was rather fascinating. 

The first edition had 5,000 copies. Usually during this time a run would be 1,000. This was a huge order! Martin Harris put a $3,000 mortgage on his Farm. Each copy of the Book of Mormon sold for $1.25, which was about 2 days wages back then. 

Hyrum Smith would bring about 12 pages of the Book of Mormon to the EG Grandin building everyday and take back the prior days copies to ensure that nothing would happen to them. 

Each letter of the Book of Mormon had to be placed in upside down and backwards. 16 pages were printed at a time, folded and compressed. After all were printed, folded and compressed, the book was sewed together, glued, cut and bound. What a process!

The Book of Mormon and the Holy Bible were the only books during this time that were bound in leather. Everything else was bound in cloth. 

Our Next stop was the Alvin Smith's Gravesite and the Martin Harris Farm. 

These were very quick visits. There is someone living in the Martin Harris Farm currently so we were only able to view the exterior. 

 

 We later drove to Fayette, NY to go to the Whitmer Family Farm where the Church was restored. 

6 members sat around this table as the church was restored. 

upstairs in this room is where Joseph Smith Translated the Golden Plates.
They have a new Visitor's Center here that was just finished about 3 weeks ago. They had some beautiful videos about the restoration. Our tour guide was new sister missionary so she wasn't able to answer all of our questions we had. 

I loved Every bit of this day! It was so much fun, and I learned so much! 

Our next stop was about 2 hours away: Niagara Falls 

We went to the Canadian Side. It was a piece of cake getting into Canada, but getting back into the US wasn't as easy. We were heavily questioned. It was intense. 

We had so much fun on the Hornblower boat. It took us right into the falls and we got wet! So wet. It was worth the experience though. The water was flying into our faces with such force, but I stood there as long as humanly possible.

However in Canada they have so many activities for families from mini golfing to arcades. 

We mini golfed that night at the dinosaur course. 

The next day we visited the US side. The park was under heavy construction, but you still couldn't fight the fact the scenery was amazing. Even better we could see a FULL rainbow. 

What a fun trip! We had a blast. The drive wasn't too horrible, despite the massive windshield crack we got. This is only to prepare us for our Cross Country trip that starts tomorrow....