Paul and Mar Jean Lewis: Week 35 January 24

Monday after cleaning we returned to our apartment and changed clothes and met the Holloways down in the lobby. They went with us for three days. They are from Rexburg and we love them. Off we were to Connecticut. First to the subway 1 to Times Square then the shuttle S to Grand Central where we bought tickets for White Plains to pick up our car. We got a Nissan Sentra which we all fit into nicely. Off we went to Hartford CT. The leaves are all gone so you could see thru them to what lay behind. We started getting rain and by the time we got to the Red Roof we had snow and slush.

We got settled in and went to find dinner. We found a Friendly's, which the Holloway's thought was Freddy's, which they knew in Philly. We had nice rooms and a good nights sleep. We left about 9:15. Of course, Paul got up early to check things out and then got lost but finally made it back to the motel.

We drove to the Hartford Temple where we met Brother Earle Stone. He was so gracious and we spent a wonderful day with him learning much.

Hartford Connecticut Temple

Wilford Woodruff Monument

Grave of Wilford's grandparent

Gristmill he worked at

Noah Webster house

Wonderful Italian pastry

State Supreme Court Bldg. ceiling

State Capital

First LDS chapel built in New England. Now owned by another church

Chinese food at Black Bamboo, owner is a good friend of Brother Stone (in red)

Elder and Sister Lewis, you are in luck. I am available and would be happy to take you to see the Wilford Woodruff sites in the area, which include the memorial, the location where his home and the saw and grist mill of his youth were, the homes of his maternal and paternal grandparents, the grave sites of those grandparents and his mother, the school he attended, and some of the homes built by his great uncle, and possibly the grave site of Robert Mason who was so important in the spiritual development of WW. Also, the first LDS chapel built in New England is in Hartford. It was the chapel I attended in the mid 60's and is now occupied by another denomination. This "tour" usually takes 2 1/2 -3 hours, depending on how much I babble. There are other sites of general historic interest in Hartford/West Hartford which I would be happy to show you if you have time. Among those sites are the birthplace of Noah Webster, the homes of Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe, the Old State House in Hartford, the Colt Dome, the Colt firearms display, and much more. My ancestor, Samuel Stone, co-founded the City of Hartford along with Thomas Hooker. The church they preached in and the cemetery where they are buried are both in Hartford. If this is agreeable to you, let me know what your time frame on 1/24 will be. If you are able to be in the area longer than the 24th, there is more we could do and see. I have shown the WW sites to probably thousands over the past 30 years. It is something I enjoy doing, and is certainly not an imposition (in case you have such thoughts). I look forward to hearing from you. If you need to call, my home phone is
860-521-8218. If I'm not here, leave a message and I'll call you back. Earle

He did all this and more. We also saw much of Hartford and had a wonderful dinner at a Chinese restaurant which he knew and stopped at the most wonderful pastry shop where he gave us Italian pastry with ricotta cheese, sweet and delicious. Needs to be made fresh with a cherry at each end. Wish I had taken a picture.

Entrance to Hartford Temple

After a full day with Brother Stone we did some initiatories, an endowment session and a sealing session. Just a magnificent temple. The chandelier in the celestial room is stunning. Pres. Taylor met us at the door and everyone was so very kind and helpful.

Wednesday morning we stopped at Costco and then on to Manhattan where we dropped off the Holloways who were expecting a son and his family. We then headed to Philadelphia.

We stopped at Golden Corral on the way and got way too full. We stopped at the temple where we had a baptism appointment. Paul baptized me for ten sisters and he was baptized for five brothers. We then went and did an initiatory, then a session, where we were the witness couple and then sealings. What a special day. The Temple President, Pres. Winn and his wife were on the session.

We left and stayed at Microtel. A nice motel but such a small room, about the size of a bedroom.

Next day we drove back into town to see the Rocky statue and climb the stairs and then back to the temple where we did another session and sealings. We ran into Brother Bodine, who served in the Manhattan Temple with us.

Ran the stairs

We also stopped by Valley Forge. What a great place. We watched the movie on setting up winter

camp at Valley Forge.

Von Stueben Monument. He whipped the soldiers into shape for the rest of the war

Washington Memorial Chapel

The huts which made up the city

George Washington and his horse "Nelson"

Friday we drove on to North Carolina to the time share. It was a long drive, about six hours. After checking in about 7 pm we got settled in and Paul made all the changes he needed to be comfortable, moving the sofa etc.

Saturday we found out there was a parade in New Bern so we went into town and watched it. It was a Shriners Parade. What a great parade and reminded us of how many wonderful and caring people there are in the world.