July 15, 2023
We started the day by taking the hour ride on the trolley of the Hannibal Tour Company. It was very interesting. Edward, our driver, told us about the history of Hannibal and some of its more famous residents. In addition to Samuel Clemens we saw the home of “The Unsinkable” Molly Brown (a Titanic survivor), Cliff Ukulele Ike Edwards (most noted as the voice of Jimny Cricket in Pinocchio. We saw the boyhood home of Mark Twain, and others that were inspiration for his books Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. One very interesting fact was how Mark Twain got his pen name. It has to do with measuring the depth of the water. A knot was put into a rope every 6 feet or 1 fathom. As the crew reached a knot, they would yell “mark one” and the next one was “mark twain” 12 feet. This came from his days as a steamboat captain.
The tour took us through Historic Downtown Hannibal and then to Riverside Park. In the park we could see the island that was the inspiration for the island in his writings. We saw the Mark Twain Lighthouse from the middle of town. It is a memorial to Mark Twain and not a lighthouse to guide ships. It sits atop a hill with 244 steps to get to it. Or you can drive most of the way up the hill, which we did later in the day. The tour drove us down to the river and then up to Lovers Leap.
The tour started for us at the Mark Twain Cave Campground where we are staying. There are also the Mark Twain Cave, the Cameron Cave, and Mark Twain Live attractions on site. Once we got back, we decided to drive through town again. Our first stop was lunch. We chose to dine at Becky Thatcher’s Diner. The food was very good. After lunch we drove up to the lighthouse. There were still too many steps to climb so we just took pictures from the parking lot.
After the lighthouse, we stoped at the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum. For the one price you got to tour the interpretive center (a timeline of Twain’s life) and from there you take a short walk to tour the Huckleberry Finn house. Then another short walk through a beautiful garden you arrive at the Mark Twain home. Upon exiting the home you go through the gift shop. Then another short walk you are in the home of Lara Hawkins (the inspiration for Becky Thatcher). From there you could walk through the office of Judge Clemens, Justice of the Peace (Samuel’s father). Then you walk into Grant’s Drug Store. Samuel and his family lived upstairs with the Grants after Samuel’s farther died.
Once you exited the drug store you were on Main Street and straight ahead is the statue of Tom and Huck. From there we took a short drive to the Museum and Art Gallery. On the way there I made a stop for Nancy, the Bits and Pieces Quilt Shop. Both quilt shops were recommended on one of our campground sites.
The Museum and Gallery was great. On the first floor were a few scenes set up to depict some of his great works. Two of my favorites were Huck Finn and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. The mezzanine level had a display of his steamboat days. The second floor had several artifacts but the neatest display was the original artwork of Norman Rockwell. Rockwell illustrated Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. The artwork was wonderful. After we finished this tour I wanted to get some pictures of the flag display in town. I was also curious as to what it was as I noticed Maryland’s and North Carolina’s state flags. As it turns out the flags are from the original thirteen colonies. Time to rest and shower for the main event tonight. The town has several murals painted on buildings. Beautiful artwork.
BOYHOOD HOME / MUSEUM PICTURES
The main event is a dinner cruise on the Mississippi River aboard the Riverboat Mark Twain. Unfortunately it was not a paddlewheel. However, it was awesome. We boarded the ship a little after 6:00PM after we had our picture taken. The weather was gorgeous. We were escorted to our table. We decided to get a drink from the bar before we left the dock. A little after 6:30PM we left the dock and we decided to go out on the deck for a bit before dinner. It was very nice. Our table was on the first deck and we went up to the second deck and sat in some chairs on the bow. It was very relaxing. The call came out to return to our table to prepare for dinner. It was a buffet dinner and you were allowed one trip through the line. Coffee, tea, and water were also included. The meal consisted of roast beef and/or chicken, green beans, the Captain’s Macaroni Salad, baked potato, green salad, and a dinner roll. The meal was delicious. Before and after dinner a band was playing. The music was very good. The staff was very friendly and provided good service. The dishes were cleared and they brought around dessert. Dessert was a very sweet and fudgey brownie. I could not eat mine. I prefer cake brownies.
After dinner we went back up to the second deck and sat down. We started conversing with the couple in front of us. It was an enjoyable time. The route was a half hour north on the river, turn around and go half hour south of our starting point and then back. The sky was very hazy as the Canadian wildfires are still causing issues. It was neat to see the Tom Sawyer island from a different perspective. And then to see Lovers Leap from the river was cool as well. We saw a few very cool houses from the river. After docking we walked to the Mark Twain Steamboat Captain statute. We also got a couple of good pictures of the lighted lighthouse. It was a great night. Another item scratched from the Bucket List.
