Yet another beautiful, sunny day - gets a bit boring after a while! The campground is full for tonight, so we will be moving on.....short drive to Hurricane, then we can visit St. George from there. St. George was settled during the Civil War by Mormons sent by Brigham Young to grow cotton.
After getting set up at Willowind Campground, went to the Visitor Centre in St. George where we picked up a "Stroll Through History" brochure which is a walking tour of Historic Downtown St. George. The Visitor Centre is located in the old Courthouse, built from 1866 - 1876. It has many interestind and unique architectural features, including 18-inch thick interior doors, old chandeliers and a cupola.
Next stop was the winter home of Brigham Young, which was built around 1873, has been restored and contains 19th century furnishings. The fascinating part of the home was the fact that all the woodwork - floors, windowsills and furniture - is made of pine painted to simulate the grain of hardwoods. It was too costly to import hardwood. Sorry, no photos - was too interested in listening to the guide!
We walked on the the Mormon Tabernacle, which took 13 years to build, completed in 1863. It is built on 3-foot thick basement walls. The 52-foot trusses were cut & hand-hewn in Pine Valley then hauled into towm on wagons. The 140-foot steeple serves as a town landmark. Our guided tour offered insight into the history of the church as well as the people who contributed to its development.
It is at least 90F today and was 99F yesterday!
The spectacular twin circular staircases were meticulously hand-carved, complete with balustrades and railing.
Then it was on to the St. George Mormon Temple, which is a very imposing structure, built 1869 -1877, and was the first Mormon Temple built in Utah. Of course, we are not allowed inside, but went to the Visitor Centre. There were interesting displays and an interactive video shown which demonstrated Mormon beliefs.
That pretty much wraps up our day.
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