Bart and the Temple, Part Deux

Originally posted to ThisManMustBeStopped.com on 6/20/2007:

So... I did another one of those things that only I would do. Visiting a Mormon temple and visitor's center. Again.


Like the other temples I've photographed, the Oakland Temple sits on a nice big lot (which also houses a visitor's center and a big church administrative center and theater), so there's a feeling of remoteness and tranquility. The stream running down the middle helps with that too. This temple is architecturally unique, as it has 5 spires and no Angel Moroni statue.

Here's another view of the main building:


It was definitely a sunny day, and the sun hung in the sky at just the right angle to make getting certain pictures a big challenge:


Once you climb up the stairs to the temple's terrace, you get a better view of the grounds...


...and a tremendous view of the Bay Area; you can see downtown Oakland, and beyond it, San Francisco proper.


Down below the terrace, there was a nicely landscaped area. Here we have a bronze statue of a little boy, little girl, and puppy enjoying some Mormon-style scripture:


Here's another view of the bronze. I like that the puppy looks confused. "Huh? He got this out of a rock in a hat?"


Here's a close-up of the friezes on the front and back of the temple. FYI, another architectural distinction: it's the last LDS Temple to have decorative friezes.




I'm sure the second one would have looked better in the morning. It's just a hobby, people. I can't sit at a site all day to take pictures. The nerve.

I ended up going to the visitor's center on site, despite my previous unimpressed-ness at the visitor's center at the Los Angeles temple. Imagine my surprise, then, when it was... just what a visitor's center should be! Their big attraction was a first-edition Book of Mormon (that the nice young ladies working there were happy to describe using a replica), but they had a bunch of other high-tech displays as well.

I told the Sisters about my previous disappointment in Los Angeles. I was assured that the visitor's center there was undergoing renovations. I wonder if my constructive criticism had anything to do with it? Doubtful, but still.

So if you'd like to see a nice building, visit the lovely Oakland Temple. If you want to be the center of attention of a bevy of overly friendly, nicely dressed, college-age girls... visit the lovely Oakland Temple visitor's center. Seriously. That may be the most female attention I've had in my whole life. It bordered on embarrassing. If I didn't know it was their job to be friendly, I might have let it go to my head.

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