October trip to New England
Way back in October, I took a seven-day work trip to New England with the team of historians and editors working with me on Documents, Volume 5 of the Joseph Smith Papers. The purposes of the trip were to research at various libraries and archives in Boston, and to get to know the lay of the land to understand Joseph Smith's 1837 trip to Salem and Wilford Woodruff's 1838 mission to Vinalhaven and North Haven islands in Maine. Along the way, we had a heck of a good time, especially once Michelle joined us on day 4. Flying in, I looked out the window just as we were going over the Finger Lakes in upstate New York. Palmyra is somewhere down there. When we got into Boston Monday afternoon, we stopped by our hotel and then headed to the North End. We went to Union Oyster House (oldest restaurant in Boston and one of the oldest in America). I had swordfish and clam chowder. The mashed potatoes were the best part. While we waited for a table, we headed over the Paul Revere house. As...