2022 Manuscripts, Mormons, and the "Make"

Manuscripts, Mormons, and the “Make” June 20—June 28, 2022

A journal kept by Susan Hanes on a trip with George Leonard to St. Louis for the Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance Studies and a drive north along the Mississippi River and into southern Wisconsin dairy land. June 20-28, 2022. Photos by Susan Hanes.

Cover: Cavanaugh Bottom, Iowa

Manuscripts, Mormons, and the “Make” June 20—June 28, 2022

In spite of current surging gas prices, the Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance Studies at St. Louis University provided an incentive for us to take an early summer road trip close to home. After attending the three-day conference where we heard varied presentations relating to manuscript studies, we headed north along the Mississippi River, making nine river crossings between Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin. We visited major Mormon sites in Carthage and Nauvoo, enjoyed tastings at breweries and distilleries, and learned, while visiting Wisconsin dairies and cheesemakers, about the “make” or process used for making a given type of cheese.

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Monday, June 20

to St. Louis, MO

It was sunny and mild as we departed at 9:30 for the 300-mile drive to St. Louis.

Strangely, the car’s GPS would not accept St. Louis as a destination. We reached the Element Hotel just after 2:00 and eventually found the entrance after multiple U-turns. At check-in, we were told that they had no record of our reservation; it was fortuitous that we arrived early so that they were able to easily accommodate us. Our room is pleasant but institutional. After dropping off our bags, we ventured across the street and tried the door of the Twisted Roots pub, but found it was not open. Checking on Google, we learned that it was closed permanently. Instead, we descended a long metal staircase to the City Foundry, a new food, shopping, and events venue that once was the home of the Century Electrical Foundry, one of the largest electrical manufacturers in the nation. The huge building retains its industrial vibe with concrete floors and open pipes descending from the ceilings. We sat at the Kitchen Bar and relaxed over cold local beers.

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After retrieving the car, we drove to Brasserie by Niche where we had reservations for the Monday night supper club. As we approached, we were impressed at the number of people sitting outside on this 96° evening. Thinking that we would get a special “club” menu, we were disappointed as we were led through the lively main dining room and into a back area that was somewhat subdued. There was nothing special about the menu; a small bowl of popcorn that was presented as an amuse-bouche should have warned us. Seated next to us was a young man reading a book. We didn’t pay much attention to him until his two large main courses were served, which he vigorously attacked in a way we’d never seen before. He devoured them both in under ten minutes. Our own choices of risotto and pork tenderloin were adequate at best.

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Tuesday, June 21

St. Louis, MO

We left the hotel just before 8:00am and set out for the Center for Global Citizenship on the nearby University of St. Louis campus. Proceeding west and then north, we realized that we should have gone east when we reached a deteriorating red brick building with boarded-up windows that was decidedly not the Center. This mistake gave us the occasion to traverse the length of the campus uphill, past the clock tower to the actual Center, where we completed our registration for the symposium. We had a problem finding the Pere Marquette Gallery, the main venue, not realizing that it was located within another building. After receiving help from several friendly groundskeepers and directions from Tom Madden, the Director of the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, we found it behind us. Our first session, from 9:00 to 10:30, was Manuscript Acquisitions in the 21st Century. Session 2, in the same hall from 11:00 to 12:20, was French Manuscripts of Ovidian Translations. During the lunch break, Jake and I sat outside in a shady spot by the koi pond where there was a nice breeze that offset the 94° temperature. Our afternoon session was Norse Literature and History. After our trip to Iceland and memorable visit to the Árni Magnússon Institute, we were looking forward to hearing the presentations. Sadly, two of the three speakers had cancelled. Because of the significantly reduced length of that gathering, we had a two-hour gap before the plenary session. The time passed pleasantly when we met Elizabeth Wade-Sirabian, a professor of German at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, with whom we shared an elevator. The three of us walked over to the plenary session, delivered by Barbara H. Rosenwein, a medievalist and professor emerita of Loyola University Chicago. The author of a number of influential works on the medieval history of emotions, Dr. Rosenwein’s topic was “Conflicting Images of Anger in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.” Afterwards, we adjourned to the Center for a wine reception and the opportunity to meet with other attendees and presenters. We met Brian Merlo, an Australian PhD student of early 10th century Papal Rome, who informed us of a significant shortcut back to our hotel. I also met Susan L’Engle, professor emerita of SLU, who currently edits the Manuscripts on My Mind newsletter. She remembered me as the “cake lady” who submitted the photo of my Codex Interruptus manuscript cake for a recent issue.

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Our return to the hotel was a lot shorter than our departure, and we were soon on our way to Vicia, a locally-sourced, award-winning restaurant where we enjoyed a three-course Farmers Feast with wine parings. Leaning towards imaginative vegetable dishes, the menu was much to my taste. Of the 13 dishes served, only one contained meat.

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Wednesday, June 22

St. Louis, MO

This morning we discovered that breakfast was included in our hotel package. After taking advantage of it, we made the (now) short walk to our first session of the day to find that two of three speakers had withdrawn. The topic had been Renaissance Art and Music, but the only presentation we heard was about the depiction of light in early Netherlandish paintings. We returned to Pere Marquette Gallery in time to catch the third paper of a session on Texts and Their Reception. We remained there for the next session, Manuscripts from Eastern Cultures, where we heard two presentations. The first was on The Concourse of the Birds, a 12th-century poem by the Persian poet Farid ud-Din 'Attar; the second featured a gospel from the Sanahin Monastery in Armenia, which we had visited on our trip to the Caucasus in 2016. During the lunch break, Jake and I joined a group led by Steven Schoenig, S.J. for a tour of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis. We had been ambivalent about taking the tour since we recalled having seen it on an earlier visit but we were very glad that we decided to go. No, we had not seen it before. Completed in 1914, it is known for its incredible installation of mosaics, one of the largest in the world. It was hard to remember that we were in St. Louis, Missouri and not Ravenna. Father Schoenig gave us an informative and entertaining tour, explaining many of the mosaics and detailing aspects of the basilica’s extraordinary architecture.

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Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis 1914

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After the bus returned to campus, Jake and I walked down to see the impressive St. Francis Xavier College Church, a large Gothic structure with beautiful stained glass.

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By then it was time for the wine reception where we joined a spirited table of Renaissance scholars and I chatted with Barbara Rosenwein about her newest book, Love: A History in Five Fantasies, which I have ordered.

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Our reservations this evening were at Indo, a tiny restaurant where we were seated by the door. Chef Nick Bognar specializes in foods with Southeast Asian flavors to create imaginative dishes that were exceptional. We loved the food and the casual-quirky but attentive service. I could eat there every day.

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Thursday, June 23

St. Louis, MO

After breakfast at the hotel, we walked the now familiar way to our first session at Pere Marquette Gallery, New Paths in Manuscript Studies. Afterwards, Jake and I split up: I attended the session on Boethius and the British Novel and he attended The British Isles. Afterwards we returned to our spot by the koi pond and compared notes on our respective sessions. In the afternoon, we attended Engaging Religious and Racial Others. Only one speaker of four scheduled was there: David Carlin, a Masters’ degree student at Oakland University in Michigan (hands pictured). We enjoyed meeting him at the wine receptions and knew that he was somewhat apprehensive about giving his first conference paper. In spite of his inexperience, he delivered his paper, Calabra and Portrayals of Women in Crusading Literature, with confidence. The final plenary session featured David Abulafia from the University of Cambridge, an English historian with a particular interest in the Mediterranean during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. His talk centered on Benjamin of Tudela, a medieval Jewish traveler who visited Europe, Asia, and Africa in the 12th century. Benjamin’s writings provide a reliable source of the geography and ethnography of the Mediterranean.

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After the final wine reception, we walked to Juniper, a restaurant with a southeastern flavor. We ordered the obligatory fried chicken and sides, and finished off the meal with a midwestern version of RC Cola and Moon Pie. We were not impressed and thought that we’d have done as well had we gone to KFC.

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Friday, June 24

to Nauvoo, IL

After breakfast at the Element, we were on the road by 9:15. We gassed up before leaving town, noting that a full tank was a good $30 less than in Chicago. We took the interstate to St. Charles, a northwestern suburb of St. Louis on the Missouri River. Founded in 1769 by a French-Canadian fur trader, it played a significant role during the US’s westward expansion. The Lewis and Clark Expedition came through St. Charles, deeming it the last civilized stop on their way west. We drove around the historic shopping district where we saw numerous restored buildings that are now restaurants and specialty shops.

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We proceeded to Hannibal, fighting the GPS in order to follow a scenic route when it was determined to put us on the fastest road. We explored the historic area, but did not stay long, crossing over the Mississippi into Illinois and continuing 25 miles to Quincy.

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Quincy Under a darkening sky, we drove along Quincy’s Maine Street, the street of mansions that we have explored several times before.

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This time we expanded our exploration to several streets where the homes are smaller but still very attractive.

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We found the John Wood Mansion, home of the founder of Quincy who served as the 12th governor of Illinois.

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We visited Woodland Cemetery where Wood is buried in a family plot, overlooking the Mississippi River. Gothic Revival and Classical Revival tombs dot green rolling hills, creating a place of peace and beauty. A soldier’s monument occupies a prominent point facing the river.

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In one gently sloping area, a large cross bears the badly worn inscription, “Woodland Home.” Beneath it are thirty tiny tombstones, each bearing a name: Blanche Hellhake, Cleon Clinard, Minnie Doyle, Roy O. Bockhous, Homer W. Hartley. Looking them up on Find-A-Grave, I saw that each dates from the first decade of the 20th century; none of these tiny souls lived more than a few months. I discovered that the Woodland Home, still located on Maine Street, was a haven for orphans that was opened in 1893 by the Ladies Union Benevolent Society. Many children were abandoned on Woodland’s doorstep or were brought in by family or friends.

Today the home serves abused women, men, and children and is still “a citadel of hope in our changing world.”

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We drove past the Dick & Bros Brewery, a rambling brick complex dating from the 1880s. Today it serves as an events venue and gathering place.

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Before leaving town, we stopped at the Eells House (c. 1835), the oldest two-story brick house in Quincy. The home was a station on the Underground Railroad in the 1840’s. Dr. Eells is credited with helping several hundred slaves make their way North to freedom.

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After encountering a road construction detour, we continued to Carthage, Illinois. Although it was nearing 4:30 when we arrived, we were pleased to find that the jail was still open. The Carthage Jail was built in 1839 and is best known as the location of the 1844 killing of the Prophet Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saints, and his brother Hyrum, by a mob of angry men. Today it is operated by the LDS Church, whose missionaries lead tours where visitors learn about the ministry of Smith and his final days. Our guide quoted from the Doctrine and Covenants that Joseph “sealed his mission and his works with his own blood; and so [did] his brother Hyrum. In life they were not divided, and in death they were not separated!” We learned that Elders John Taylor and Willard Richards, two of the original Twelve Apostles, were in the jail when the mob attacked, but were spared.

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The window through which Joseph fell after he was shot.

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This evening, we are staying at the Willard Richards Inn in Nauvoo. Richards was one of the two apostles who was with the Smith brothers at the jail when the mob attacked. Taking a series of county roads that carried us through fields of crops, often dotted with Trump signs, we arrived in Nauvoo just before 6:00pm and found the inn. We are staying in the Smith Room, a spacious room with a private bath on the second floor. (On our previous stay in Nauvoo in 2015, we had to negotiate steep stairs to the Nauvoo Room on the third floor.) We drove back into town, checking in for our dinner reservations at the Hotel Nauvoo. After waiting outside on the porch for our table, we were led through a warren of crowded rooms and seated near a table of women out for an evening together. After piling our plates with fried chicken, fried fish, fried shrimp and lots of sides, we sipped our wine and tried to overhear their conversation. “He is a little chunky—not fat—but decided that he wants to play baseball. He has absolutely no athletic talent. He just told his dad that he wanted to play and his dad said, ‘Well, start running.’ He asked, ‘Where?’” and “She bought a t-shirt for her dad that said, ‘Dad, will you marry Mom?’” When I saw them trying to take a photo at the table, I offered to take one with all of them, but one woman answered that they didn’t want the other two women in it. By the time we left at 8:30, the place had pretty much emptied out.

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We stopped at the Temple and took a photo of the Smith Brothers statue in the fading golden light.

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Saturday, June 25

to Le Claire, IA

When we came down at 8:30 for breakfast, we were greeted by the smiling innkeeper, Genna, a young member of a Church of LDS family that owns the inn and several other properties in the area. As she prepared and served French toast, scrambled eggs and sausage, we were joined by Doug, a member of the Church who is originally from Chicago. He now lives in Austin and periodically comes to Nauvoo. We stayed around after breakfast and had an extended conversation about LDS Church matters, including Carthage and the martyrdom of the Smith brothers. Genna told us about the Willard Richards family and artifacts in their collection. She told us that the house has been said to be haunted, particularly by Willard’s first wife, Jennetta, whose grave is located nearby.

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(From the Willard Richards Inn: clockwise from upper right) Hyrum read a few verses from the 12th chapter of Ether in the Book of Mormon. Before closing the book, he turned down the corner of the page from which he had read, marking it as part of the testimony for which the brothers were about to die.

The song that Joseph Smith asked John Taylor to sing in Carthage jail before a mob beat down the door of their room and killed Joseph and his brother Hyrum.

The clock is set to the exact time that John Taylor was saved by his watch when Hyrum and Joseph were killed by a mob at the Carthage jail: 5:16

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Death masks of Hyrum and Joseph Smith

At 10:15 we arrived at the Visitors’ Center where we got an overall view of the tours offered—all free, and all given by LDS missionaries temporarily assigned to Nauvoo. The tours tell the story of the early members of the Church who settled there between 1839-1846 and built a thriving and dynamic city on this bend of the Mississippi River. Nauvoo provided the Latter Day Saints with a resting place for several years until religious persecution again forced their departure in 1846.

We drove around the sprawling complex, stopping first to visit the William and Caroline Weeks home. Weeks was chosen by Joseph Smith to design the Nauvoo Temple. We then joined a large group to visit the home of Jonathan Browning, a successful farmer, blacksmith and gunsmith, who moved to Nauvoo from Quincy in 1840 with his wife and 10 children. After seeing the family’s living quarters and a large collection of Browning firearms, we visited the gun shop for a demonstration. We learned that the people of Quincy had supported the Church from the beginning and that the communities continue to be close today.

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Browning Home and Shop

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We were alone when we stepped into the home of Brigham Young and were welcomed by an LDS couple who were dressed in period costumes. Born in Vermont in 1801, Brigham Young was a skilled carpenter before joining the Church in 1832 with his wife, Miriam. She died later that year and Brigham moved his family to Kirtland, Ohio where he married Mary Ann Angell. He was ordained an apostle in 1840, succeeded Joseph Smith as the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1847, and led them to Utah in 1846. The brick home was quite sophisticated, reflecting the Youngs’ affluence. Our guides earnestly explained the artifacts in the home and after I asked questions, they started calling me “Sister.” As we were leaving, Brother pulled me aside and showed me a little scrap of paper that he read from, quietly adding that they are not supposed to proselytize.

“May we learn from the past and take Fresh Faith in the Future!”

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In a separate section of the historic district, Joseph and Hyrum Smith and Joseph’s wife, Emma, are buried at the Smith Family Cemetery, overlooking the Mississippi River. The site is owned and maintained by the Community of Christ, a denomination of the LDS Church.

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Fort Madison We drove 30 miles to Fort Madison, Iowa, briefly stopping to see the reconstructed fort and the original Iowa State Penitentiary (no photography).

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In Burlington, IA we drove down Snake Alley, a brick street built in 1894 and recognized in 2017 by Ripley’s Believe it or Not as the #1 Odd Spot in America.

The constantly changing slant from one curve to the next necessitated a complicated construction technique to keep the high grade to the outside. The Alley consists of five half-curves and two quarter-curves over a distance of 275 feet. Jake noted that it is so precipitous that one cannot see the side of the road from behind the wheel.

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Our drive to Le Claire was frustrated by the GPS that kept wanting to put us on an interstate, resulting in our adding 20 miles to the trip. We checked into our hotel and immediately departed to visit the Mississippi River Distillery where we tasted a flight of bourbon and single barrel rye (100% rye mash bill). I loved the bite and we left with a bottle of Cody Road. A half block further we continued our “tasting” at Green Tree Brewery where we sat at the bar. Dinner at the Bierstube was an adventure. The menu had an assortment of incongruous appetizers such as German Egg Rolls and German Nachos. We grossly overordered—the plates were anything but appetizers and could easily have fed six. The waitress admitted that she was surprised that we had ordered so much but then thought that perhaps we were really hungry. I should have taken a picture of the table.

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Sunday, June 26

to Galena, IL

It was a crisp, bright morning after days of muggy heat as we drove north to Clinton, Iowa. We admired the Romanesque Clinton County Courthouse and rediscovered the Van Allen Building, the 1912 Louis Sullivan masterpiece that we had photographed in 2013 on our trip following Lewis and Clark.

Clinton

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We crossed back to Illinois to visit the Dutch heritage town of Fulton to see the windmill and the dike. Heading north on the Illinois side, we took a detour to the US Army Corps of Engineers Lock and Dam 13 for a view of the barges on the Upper Mississippi. Noticing a church perched on a hill near the village of Luxemburg, Iowa, we were reminded of those that dot the countryside in Europe. I persuaded Jake to pull off to get a closer look and when I got out to take a picture, I saw a sign for the Way of the Cross Chapel behind the St. Donatus Church. I started up a steep trail and discovered a series of red brick stations of the cross. I would have liked to have continued to the chapel high above the old cemetery but I knew that Jake would be wondering where I was, so I reluctantly turned back.

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Mississippi River Lock and Dam 13 64

Cavanaugh Bottom 65

Luxemburg

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At Dubuque, we recrossed the river and proceeded ten miles to Galena where we had reservations at the Cloran Mansion. The navigation misdirected us to a decrepit house with dying plants and debris on the front porch. After ringing the bell, Jake tried to open the door, while I felt increasingly uncomfortable about being there. Sensing that something was definitely wrong, we Googled the address and were relieved that this was not where we wanted to be. The actual B&B was just up the road. The innkeeper, Paul, warmly greeted us and showed us to Sarah’s Suite on the first floor.

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Galena

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Pleased with our accommodations, we drove into town and walked around the historic area. We stopped for a beer at the Galena Brewing Company, listening to local chat at the bar. A couple of miles out of town, we sampled bourbon, rye, and a pepper spiced vodka at Blaum Brothers Distillery while we watched a large tour group being led through the distillery.

At 5:30, we had reservations at Fritz and Frites, a bistro on Galena’s Main Street featuring Alsatian cuisine, where we sat by the lace-curtained front window. When Jake asked the chef what part of Alsace he was from, he told us that he was Polish and had learned French cooking in culinary school.

Although it was a pleasant atmosphere, the meal was disappointing.

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Monday, June 27

to Mineral Point, WI

Served on English porcelain at a small table by the window, our opulent breakfast at the B&B was far more than we needed. This morning we headed northwest to Dubuque and on to Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin where we followed the northern bank of the Wisconsin River. Passing Spring Green (where we remembered spending a miserable night back in April 2014) we drove to Mazomanie and the Carr Cheese Company outlet where we bought a wedge of their award-winning Cave-Aged Marisa, a mellow sheep cheese.

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A series of narrow county roads carried us through rolling green fields to a gravel turn off and the home of Willi Lehner, “the mad scientist of cheese” whose Bleu Mont Dairy’s Bandaged Cheddar is almost legendary. Another of his creations, Big Sky Grana, is a parmesan-style hard cheese that is made in small batches. The word “grana” refers to a class of hard, aged Italian grating cheeses. Willi met us in a sleeveless t-shirt and a Norwegian ball cap. Although he makes his cheeses elsewhere, he stores them on the premises. He led us through the low doorway of a separate building where the grana is stored for at least two years. We were impressed with the care he exhibited to keep the area clean; he did not allow us to step beyond the threshold as he showed us the shelves of aging wheels. We followed him into the cellar of his house, where he was storing a variety of bandaged cheddars, some aged more than 11 years. After making our purchases, we were on our way, leaving him to pack and mail the day’s orders.

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In Dodgeville, we bought Uplands Dairy’s Pleasant Ridge Reserve from Schurman’s Wisconsin Cheese store. Named after the ridge in this Driftless region of southwestern Wisconsin, Pleasant Ridge Reserve is an Alpine-style cheese made only in the summer from the milk of grass-fed cows. It is the most-awarded cheese in American history. Six miles north of Dodgeville, we located the Uplands Dairy, but mistakenly chose not to visit them. We later learned that they welcome visitors.

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After driving through Wisconsin dairy farmland, it was nearing 3:00 by the time we reached Mineral Point.

Before checking in at the Commerce Street Brewery Hotel, we drove around the town, which was quiet after their weekend. The historic 19th century Cornish mining village of Pendarvis was closed. Although we could not enter the buildings, we were able to take photos of the limestone homes and miners’ cabins that comprise that attractive site.

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The pub associated with the brewery is also closed on Mondays. After showing us to a room on the second floor, our host, Mike Zupke, was most accommodating, pouring us a couple of beers at the bar and joining us for a spirited conversation. We learned that he graduated from Ithaca College in New York and later earned his J.D. from the University of Minnesota, passing the bar in both Minnesota and Wisconsin. He also earned a Professional Certificate in the Business of Craft Beer from San Diego State University. He has owned the brewery hotel for four years. He shared with us the story of his Beers-for-Betty animal rights fundraiser which encouraged people to buy beers in honor of the late Betty White. We sensed that he is an animal lover himself when we saw that his rescue dog, Octavia, is the official mascot of the Commerce Street Brewery and is pictured on t-shirts, glasses, and coasters.

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Upon Mike’s recommendation, we had dinner at Cruise Inn, where owner/chef/ bartender Cathy Schubert makes the best burgers we might have ever tasted.

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Tuesday, June 28

to Chicago

Just as we were leaving Mineral Point, we encountered Mike out walking Octavia.

We were glad that we had the chance to meet her, especially since she is such vital part of Mike’s establishment. We stopped to visit Hook’s Cheese Company, a family-run cheese-making business in a facility that was built into the hills of Mineral Point during the mining era. It is known for award-winning cheeses using milk from local cows, sheep, and goats. For over 50 years, Tony and Julie Hook have been the primary cheesemakers. Other family members assist in the process. We were greeted by Julie Marie, Tony’s sister, who answered our questions until Tony came out to meet us. We were impressed at how forthcoming he was about his “make,” or processes. We were impressed at the number of ribbons and awards that the Hooks have won over the years, particularly the Overall World Championship award for their Colby, which of course, we bought. We also went away with cheddars that had been aged two and seven years, and a Little Boy Blue.

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We drove on to Platteville, founded in 1827 by John H. Rountree, who had staked a claim near the Platte River where he found rich deposits of lead. We visited his home on Rountree Avenue and drove around the University of Wisconsin-Platteville where we saw Rountree Commons in the center of the campus.

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Six miles east of Shullsburg, we stopped at Roelli Cheese Haus next to the dairy, where we met Chris Roelli, a fourth-generation master cheesemaker. We departed with Red Rock cheddar blue and Little Mountain, an Alpine-style Swiss cheese, both of which have won numerous awards.

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In Monroe, we visited the Alp & Dell Store, part of the Emmi Roth complex, where we chose the Grand Cru Surchoix, their signature alpine-style cheese, and a Creamy Hvarti. We also made a brief visit to the Minhas Brewery and the Minhas Distillery before stopping for lunch at Baumgartner’s, across from the 1891 Romanesque Green County Court House.

Baumgartner’s, opened in 1931, is Wisconsin’s oldest cheese store. It is perhaps most wellknown these days for its signature sandwich: two slices of rye bread, raw red onions, and a thick slice of pungent Limburger, served with a mint to improve the breath after consuming.

Predictably, Jake ordered one, with a slice of braunschweiger to make it even more powerful. I had a Swiss on rye with a Spotted Cow, the New Glarus beer that is only available in Wisconsin. Five miles north of Monroe, we visited Chalet Cheese Co-op, the country’s last remaining Limburger producer. However, we chose not to buy any Limburger, settling instead for an Aged Swiss.

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Outside of New Glarus, we ascended a hill overlooking the town, where the New Glarus Brewing Company has just opened a sprawling complex that appeared to be a destination for bus tours. It’s faux Swiss design offered little charm, and we continued into town.

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My description from our visit to New Glarus, “America’s Little Switzerland,” in 2014 was pretty much still true: “plaster cows dressed in dirndls, chaletlike shops with heart-adorned shutters, and signs in Old German lettering that all seemed to end in “Haus.”

At 2:30, we began the drive back to Chicago, heading east to Beloit and following I-90, the final 15 miles in Chicago traffic taking an additional 40 minutes. We were home just before 6:00.

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Manuscripts, Mormons and the “Make” June 20—June 28, 2022

Monday

20 Depart: 1320 North State Parkway, Chicago by automobile at 09:00 Route: I 55 SW past Bloomington and Springfield; I 55, I 64 to St Louis, Missouri Drinks: Kitchen Bar at the City Foundry Dinner: Brasserie by Niche at 18:30: Brass Bar Monday Night Supper Club menu Element St. Louis Midtown: Standard King Guest Room; Room 214 3763 Forest Park Avenue, St Louis SAINT LOUIS, Missouri

Tuesday

84°- 95°; clear, sunny 310 miles

21 Breakfast: Element St. Louis Midtown Activities: Symposium on Medieval & Renaissance Studies (Saint Louis University Conference on Manuscript Studies) Wine Reception: 18:00-19:00: Center for Global Citizenship Dinner: Vicia at 19:30: Farmer’s Feast and Wine Pairing Element St. Louis Midtown Room 214 SAINT LOUIS, Missouri 85°- 96°; clear, sunny 4 miles

Wednesday

22 Breakfast: Element St. Louis Midtown Activities: Symposium on Medieval & Renaissance Studies (Saint Louis University Conference on Manuscript Studies) Sites: St Louis: 14:30-16:30: group tour of Cathedral Basilica of St Louis led by Steven Schoenig, S. J. Wine Reception: 18:00-19:00: Center for Global Citizenship Dinner: Indo at 19:30 Element St. Louis Midtown Room 214 SAINT LOUIS, Missouri

Thursday

82°- 94°; partly cloudy 5 miles

23 Breakfast: Element St. Louis Midtown Sites: St Louis: Activities: Symposium on Medieval & Renaissance Studies (Saint Louis University Conference on Manuscript Studies) Wine Reception: 18:00-18:45: Center for Global Citizenship Dinner: Juniper at 19:00 Element St. Louis Midtown Room 214 SAINT LOUIS, Missouri

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Friday

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Breakfast: Element St. Louis Midtown Route: I 64, I 270,I 70 NW to St Charles; State 79 N to Hannibal; I 172 N to Quincy, IL; I 172, State 110, State 136, State 94 N to Carthage; US 136, State 96 N to Nauvoo Sites: Saint Charles: St Charles Historic District Hannibal: Mark Twain Home and Museum; Historic Downtown Quincy, IL: Historic East End District; John Wood Mansion; Dick & Brothers Brewery; Dr Richard Eells House; Woodland Cemetery Carthage: Carthage Jail Nauvoo: Joseph Smith Historic Site; Nauvoo Temple Dinner: Hotel Nauvoo at 18:30: buffet Willard Richards Bed and Breakfast: Smith Room 950 White St, Nauvoo (Historic District) NAUVOO, Illinois 78°- 86°; cloudy, occasional sprinkles and sun

Saturday

273 miles

25 Breakfast: Willard Richards Bed and Breakfast Route: State 96 N to Fort Madison, Iowa; State 16, US 61, US 67 N past Burlington, Muscatine and Davenport to Le Claire Sites: Nauvoo: Joseph Smith Historic Site; Visitor Center; William & Caroline Weeks Home; Browning Gun Shop; Brigham & Maryann Young Home; Red Brick Store; Smith Family Cemetery; Grave of Jennetta Richards Fort Madison, IA: Old Fort Madison; Historic Iowa State Penitentiary Burlington: Snake Alley (North 6th Street) Le Claire: downtown district Drinks: Mississippi River Distilling Company; Green Tree Brewery Dinner: Bierstube at 19:30 Holiday Inn Express Le Claire Riverfront; King Bed Standard; Room 307 1201 Canal Shore Drive, Le Claire LE CLAIRE, Iowa 76°- 85°; cloudy, occasional sprinkles and sun

Sunday

26 Breakfast: Holiday Inn Express Le Claire Riverfront Route: US 67, US 52 N to Clinton; US 30 E to Fulton, Illinois; State 84 to Savanna; State 52 N past Sabula, Iowa to Dubuque; US 20 SE to Galena, Ilinois Sites: Clinton: Van Allen Building (Louis Sullivan); Clinton County Courthouse Fulton: Dutch windmill; Mississippi River Lock and Dam 13 (4 miles N) Galena: downtown district Drinks: Galena Brewing Company; Blaum Bros. Distillery Dinner: Fritz and Frites at 18:00 Cloran Mansion: Sara’s Suite 1237 Franklin St, Galena GALENA, Illinois

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144 miles

70°- 76°; clear, sunny 136 miles

Monday

27 Breakfast: Cloran Mansion Route: US 20 NW to Dubuque, IA; US 52, US 18 N past Guttenberg to Prairie du Chien, WI; US 18, US 151, State 60, US 14 NE past Spring Green to Mazomanie; US14, State 78, County K, FF and F SW to Blue Mounds; US 151 SW to Dodgeville; US 151 S to Mineral Point, WI Sites: Guttenberg, Iowa: Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin: Spring Green Mazomanie: Carr Valley Cheese Store (Cave Aged Marisa) Blue Mounds: Bleu Mont Dairy (Willi Lehner) (Bandaged Cheddar; Big Sky Grana) Dodgeville: Uplands Cheese Company (6 miles N); Schurman’s Cheese Store (Pleasant Ridge Reserve; Extra-Aged Pleasant Ridge Reserve) Mineral Point: Pendarvis Drinks: Commerce Street Brewery Dinner: Cruise Inn Bar and Grill at 18:30 Commerce Street Brewery Hotel: Room 1: deluxe corner queen 23 Commerce Street, Mineral Point MINERAL POINT, Wisconsin

Tuesday

84°- 95°; clear, sunny

227 miles

28 Breakfast: Commerce Street Brewery Hotel Route: US 151 S to Platteville; State 80 S to Benton; State 11 E past Shullsburg to Monroe; County N N to Chalet Cheese and New Glarus; State 92, 213 E , US 14 E to I 39; I 39 S past Beloit to Rockford, Illinois; I 90 E to Chicago Sites: Mineral Point: Hook’s Cheese Company Store (Colby; 2 and 7 year Cheddars; Little Boy Blue) Platteville: Rountree Mansion, Rountree Community Center; University of Wisconsin-Platteville; Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums; Historic 2nd Street Shullsburg: Roelli Cheese Haus (6 mi E) (Red Rock; Little Mountain) Monroe: Alp & Dell Cheese Store :Emmi Roth (Roth Grand Cru Surchoix; Roth Creamy Hvarti); Minhas Craft Brewery, Minhas Micro Distillery; Green County Courthouse Chalet Cheese Co-Op (5 mi N of Monroe) (Deppeler’s Swiss Aged Wheel) New Glarus: New Glarus Brewing, Chalet of the Golden Fleece Lunch: Monroe: Baumgartner’s Cheese Store and Tavern at 13:00 Arrived home at 18:00 CHICAGO

84°- 95°; clear, sunny

310 miles

Total Mileage: 1,351

99

100

A journal kept by Susan Hanes on a trip with George Leonard to St. Louis for the Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance Studies and a drive north along the Mississippi River and into southern Wisconsin dairy land. June 20-28, 2022. Photos by Susan Hanes.