After the Hill Cumorah, we decided we needed some lunch. So we drove into Palmyra village. The printing office where the Book of Mormon was first printed was closed for some kind of filming. So we kept driving to find food. We saw a couple of Mormons (they were in suits, like they came from the temple) at a hamburger/ice cream place, so we stopped there. It turns out that it's a very popular place for Mormon visitors. HUGE proportions. Like I had a burger and waffle fries. They gave me the entire package of the fries. I ate a few of them. We also had an ice cream cone. The small is practically a quart of ice cream, so we got the soft serve and asked her to give us just half as much. It was actually very good!
After that, we went to the Smith family farm and got a tour of the replica log home and the original frame home. Upstairs in the log home, there was an amazing feeling realizing that the angel Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith there. We were fascinated that the frame home was the same one that the Smith family lived in, then missionaries moved into in 1915 to help win friends for the Church and eventurally reacquire property that belonged to the Smiths or had historical significance. Sadly we were unable to visit the sacred grove because the high winds made it too dangerous, and they closed it. So from there we went to the Palmyra temple, just to walk around. It was a quick walk; the temperature was dropping fast.
Then we drove a ways (30 minutes or so) to the Peter Whitmer farm in Waterloo. We knew that the church had built a replica of the home the church was officially organized in. So as we followed our GPS and the road signs to the site, we were looking for just a log cabin. But there is a visitors center, and chapel there, which look pretty big from the street. There is also an old house next door which serves as a home for the missionary couple and 4 sister missionaries who work in the area and give the tours. And there was the wooden home. We remembered the house from April conference 1980, when one of the sessions was broadcast from that site in commemoration of the 150th anniversary (sesquicentennial) of the founding of the church. It was really neat to get so close to these sites and be reminded of such important events.
After that, on the missionary couple's recommendation, we went to Connie's Diner. Very traditional. Gravy on everything. Not bad. Especially liked the coconut cream pie.
On the drive home, the rain was turning to snow. What a day!
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