Presidents and Patriotism: Mount Rushmore National Memorial
They might be the most popular attraction in South Dakota in the summer, but fall is really the best time to see Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln, as an adventure with grandkids proves.
Photos and text by Laurie Williams Sowby

Travel in the Footsteps of Lehi & Sariah
If you have ever wanted to trace Lehi's trail from Jerusalem to Bountiful, here is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take this grand adventure. Read all about it here.
By Maurine and Scot Proctor

Start Planning Now for Adventures in Banff
If you are already planning next year's vacation, the combination of refreshingly cool air, eye-popping vistas, and plenty to do makes the Banff area a favorite summer destination.
Text and photos by Laurie Williams Sowby

Exploding Postal Scales and Other Adventures
American tourists learn that people in other areas of the world have as many misconceptions about Americans as the Americans have about everyone else.
By John S. Higham

The Pageant That Isn't
Historic Kirtland doesn't have a pageant like the ones in Nauvoo or Palmyra. Instead it presents a live musical theater production. For professionalism, entertainment value, and spiritual content, the audience says it doesn't get much better than This is Kirtland!
By Sunny McClellan Morton

The Remarkable Nauvoo Pageant
A phenomenon in Church pageants was set in motion in July 2005 with the debut of the Nauvoo Pageant. Now in its third year, this unique celebration is expected to bring tens of thousands again to this beloved little city on the bend of the Mississippi River.
By Marjorie H. Rice

The Kirtland Temple Quarry: A New Tour Partners Church and Community
A creek trickles over a rocky ledge. Dense foliage shades a quiet path in the woods. This is Church history? Yes. Visitors to Kirtland, Ohio can now enjoy guided tours at the Stannard Quarry, where Joseph Smith helped cut stone for the Kirtland Temple in the 1830s.
By Sunny McClellan Morton

MCL (Meridian Cruise Lady) Travel Times
We have some exciting upcoming trips we want to tell you about this week, some have only a few cabins left, others are wide open. We have found that the only thing more fun than traveling to exotic and wonderful places is traveling to those places with other Latter-day Saints. Come and see.
By Scot Facer Proctor

Travel Times with Meridian and Cruise Lady
Your response to the new MCL (Meridian Cruise Lady) Travel Times list was wonderful. Here are the hottest trips this week. Come and take a peek, even if it's just for the photography. Why not join us on one of these wondeful cruises?
By Scot Facer Proctor

Travel Times
With Meridian and Cruise Lady
People ask us all of the time: How do you make money at Meridian? Actually, the more-often-asked question is: How do you survive financially at Meridian!? We’ll tell you. It’s a miracle. But there are ways we do bring in a shekel here and a senine there. Travel is an important part of Meridian’s business model. If you are a loyal Meridian reader and you are considering traveling sometime in the near (or even distant future)—come and travel with us. You’ll be glad you did. And if you like traveling with other Latter-day Saints, come and see what we're offering. Come on--click on through.
By Scot Facer Proctor

Summer Vacation News for LDS Travelers
Although trips to amusement parks are fun, visiting Sharon, Palmyra, Kirtland, or Nauvoo will have a much more lasting impact on you and your family. Imagine visiting the site of the Prophet's birth, or reliving the last moments of his life inside the Carthage Jail.
By Becky Cardon Smith

Orlando — Beyond the Mouse
If you're looking for an alternative to Disney, you may want to consider visiting a theme park dedicated to scenes from the Bible.
By Geoffrey Biddulph

Meet The Cruise Lady:  Meridian’s New Travel Partner
Meridian is announcing a new travel partnership with an old friend. We are going to take you on cruises and land tours in conjunction with Diane Lovell, the Cruise Lady. One thing we can promise: An adventure is in store for you. Come and see!
By Maurine Jensen Proctor

Gettysburg: On Hallowed Ground
The site of bloodiest battle of the Civil War has been preserved as a peaceful tribute to soldiers who fought there.
Story and photos by Laurie Williams Sowby

Meandering Down Boston’s Literary Trail
"I went to the woods to live deliberately," wrote Henry David Thoreau in Walden. Some 150 years later, many literary aficionados go to the woods northwest of Boston to see where Thoreau lived with nature.
Story and photos by Laurie Williams Sowby

Kirtland Activities — After the Church Sites
Once you have spent a quiet moment in the Kirtland Temple and toured the Whitney Store, there are things to do in the Kirtland vicinity that will round out your vacation with a bang.
By Becky Cardon Smith

Kirtland Sites — Fascinating for the Whole Family
There is so much to do in the Kirtland area that you'll wish your vacation lasted a lifetime. From church historic sites to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Kirtland has it all.
By Becky Cardon Smith

Kirtland Temple — House of Spiritual Manifestations
The Kirtland Temple stands majestically atop the hill as a reminder of the sacrifices made by the early Saints while constructing this important edifice.
By Becky Cardon Smith

Kirtland — City of Faith
Visiting Kirtland, the "City of Faith and Beauty," helps Latter-day Saints to more fully understand the significance of the Kirtland period in the history of the Church.
By Becky Cardon Smith

New National Park Celebrates Historic Trek
For the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the winter of 1805-06 was a critical time to update journals, organize scientific data, and prepare maps that would help ease the journey home.
Story and photos by Laurie Williams Sowby

Carthage Evokes Martyrdom Memories
In 1844, one of the most significant and tragic events in Church history occurred in the Carthage Jail. Only Willard Richards survived the ordeal without injury.
By Becky Cardon Smith

Lexington, Missouri
A pioneer tragedy occurred here: the explosion of the steamboat Saluda, which took close to a hundred lives. Many of those killed were pioneer Saints en route to a new home in the Rocky Mountains.
By Becky Cardon Smith

Salt Lake City — A Reflection of Faith
With all the fascinating historical sites that are scattered throughout the Salt Lake Valley, conference-goers can listen to living prophets during conference and commemorate prophets of the past during the breaks.
By Becky Cardon Smith

Summer Vacation News for LDS Travelers
The summer of 2005 is a great time to take a family vacation to Church historical sites. To help you plan your family trip, we want to update you with some of the latest dates and changes.

George Washington Slept Here – for 45 Years
Though in summertime the wait is long for the mansion tour, it's well worth it. Winter lines are blessedly short, and fall and springtime are also good times to visit.
By Laurie Williams Sowby

Leaving Winter Behind on a Caribbean Cruise
It doesn't matter if you've never been to the Caribbean, or even if you've never been on a cruise. One of the great things about a cruise is that the only decisions you have to make are the decisions that are fun to make.
By Kathryn H. Kidd (photos by Clark L. Kidd)

Explore Africa and Change a Life
Do you have a yearning to make a difference? Come to exotic Ethiopia and have the trip of a lifetime doing a humanitarian project.
By Kathryn H. Kidd

Lexington and Concord, Where Muskets and Poetry Collide
Your heart races, just as the hearts of the settlers must have raced 230 years ago. Surrounded by American history, you can’t help but feel as though you are part of the birth of this great nation.
By Kathryn H. Kidd

Ultimate Church History Tour Shows Everything       
If you are the kind of person who wants to go everywhere and see everything that is related to the founding of the Church, you will finally have the opportunity to do so this summer.
By Kathryn H. Kidd

Good News for First-Time Cruisers
You don't have to leave your religion at home to enjoy a cruise vacation .... Just as your friends have different personalities, cruise lines (and even individual ships) have personalities of their own.
By Kathryn H. Kidd
Photography by Clark L. Kidd

Can I Picture Myself in Alaska?
The quiet of a crisp Alaska morning is unlike anything you may have experienced for decades.

Mary Fielding Smith
Upon reading of the trials Mary Fielding Smith faced throughout her life’s sojourn, one cannot help but place her near the forefront of stalwart sisters we seek to emulate
By Becky Cardon Smith

Young Polish Convert Helping Church Grow
Marcin Dabrowski, a 25-year-old LDS convert of three years, is in many ways typical of the 1,500 faithful Saints in Poland.
by Laurie Williams Sowby

Lorenzo Snow—Seeking and Finding the Lord
In this series, Becky Cardon Smith, teaches us about important people in Church history and tells us where to visit or travel to learn more about them. Lorenzo Snow was a superb missionary, a believer in answered prayers, and the prophet who reminded us to pay our tithing.
By Becky Cardon Smith

The Healing Fields
Display of U.S. flags is part of Healing Fields across the nation. But there's an LDS twist to the July 3-12 Idaho Falls event.
by Laurie Williams Sowby

Anne Frank's Spirit Lives on in Amsterdam
The house where her family and friends hid for more than two years is preserved as a museum that promotes tolerance. Anne would have been 75 years old this month.
by Laurie Williams Sowby

Omaha Beach D-Day Sites are Touching and Memorable
Visits with two sons at American Cemetery and remains of German battlements at Point du Hoc inspire feelings of patriotism and gratitude.
by Laurie Williams Sowby

Spirit of the Garden Tomb
Shielded from noisy streets around it, this peaceful enclave in the Holy Land has ever more appeal for Christians, even though visits are way down from previous years.
by Laurie Williams Sowby

Is Mesoamerica the Setting of the Book of Mormon?
When the Lord told the Nephites that if they did not serve Him, they would be swept off the face of the land, he was as good as his word. Never have we had a clearer sense of that than when we first traveled to Mexico and Guatemala with our camera in hand to create a photographic book on the lands of the Book of Mormon.Archaeologists have touched perhaps only 5% of the ruins of the ancient civilizations that once dotted these lands, and they estimate that there may be as many as 100,000 sites to explore. Come and see.
By Maurine and Scot Proctor

Central American Trip Detailed Itinerary
With Scot & Maurine Proctor and Blake Allen
May 6-20, 2004
Here is the most detailed itinerary you could ever want for the Central American "Lands of the Book of Mormon Tour" with Scot and Maurine Proctor and Blake Allen. Come and take a look at this never-to-be-forgotten journey.

Humanitarian Trip to Kenya
August 3rd - 17th, 2004
How about spending your vacation this year doing something that can really make a difference in people's lives? Meridian Magazine is partnering with Reach the Children to take a group of volunteers to Kenya, Africa to help build a school for elementary school children and to spend time with the Saints of Chyulu to see their miracle well.

History Hidden in Valley Forge
The six months Washington's troops spent at Valley Forge are synonymous with sacrifice, suffering and ultimate triumph.
by Laurie Williams Sowby

8-Day Hawaiian Islands Cruise: "Putting it Together, In Paradise"
with David Christensen and Jack S. Marshall
What would you do if your wife and two daughters returned from Africa filled with descriptions of the great poverty and need, and with a passion to help?
by Brian Mickelsen, Steve Dana,and Kristin Holt