Since we were staying in Syracuse, we made a little detour on our way to Palmyra and stopped in Seneca Falls at the Women's Rights National Historic Park. Here, the kids had to complete scavenger hunt puzzles in order to get their Jr Ranger badges. They had one hunt for the little kids and a harder hunt for the big kids.
One of the most interesting parts of the park was the collection of bronze statues representing women (and a few men) who attended the first women's right convention right there in Seneca Falls. Nellie fell in love with the little girl statue. Every time we turned around, she was back to the girl, hugging her, looking at her carefully, and trying to play with her.
The movie here was made in the late 80's or early 90's, which made parts rather (unintentionally) hilarious. With a topic as dynamic as women's rights, I'm quite surprised the movie hasn't been updated. Then again, maybe that just shows how far we've come in the last 30 years? Regardless, the kids were able to successfully get another Jr Ranger badge.
Our first stop in the Palmyra region was at the Hill Cumorah Visitor's Center. I'd visited Palmyra exactly 15 years earlier, when Mark's sister Karen was sealed in the Palmyra temple, but we hadn't had time to visit many of the sites, so this was my first time at the Hill Cumorah.
We spent some time in the visitor's center, then hiked to the top of the hill. The view is stunning! The boys were impressed with the steep lawn area used for the Hill Cumorah Pageant. They really, really wanted us to let them roll down the hill. Sorry kids, not gonna happen.
An Angel Moroni statue commemorates the place where Joseph Smith retrieved the Golden Plates.
Next, we visited the Joseph Smith family farm. Our tour leader moved a little slower than five young kids would have preferred, but he had great information and shared a moving testimony.
We were left to explore and feel the spirit of the Sacred Grove on our own. If I needed wisdom, this would definitely be a place where I would want to go to pray, as did Joseph Smith. (And to clarify, Aubree is looking at pictures she'd just taken on her Ipod).
We had enough time to go to historic Palmyra and visit Grandin Printing, where the Book of Mormon was first printed. I was unexpectedly delighted with this tour. It was fascinating to learn more about how old-time printing presses worked and even better to learn about some of the interesting details in how the Book of Mormon was first printed.
Palmyra is a small town, but it does have one small grocery store. Once we were done touring the history sites, we stopped at the store to grab food for dinner, then made our way to the Palmyra Inn and Suites. We finished dinner early enough that we decided to take a stroll from our hotel to the Palmyra temple.
It was a perfect evening for a walk. We enjoyed seeing the temple (have I mentioned before that I love stained glass?) and looking out over the Sacred Grove from the temple grounds.
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