Show Me Hannibal - Turner Travels Day 3

Some days I wonder why I chose to be an engineer.  I really like history and literature, and I love to read for hours on end when I have the time.  When I travel, I enjoy learning all about the area I am in, and if I find a book by a local author, I consider it a score.   Today, I was able to indulge in the history of America's Hometown - Hannibal, Missouri - with a heavy dose of Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) and topped off with a bit of steamboat technology.

We started off our adventure at the Hannibal Visitor's Bureau where we chatted with a lovely lady who informed us of all of the great things to see and do.  And there was a treat today, because the American Queen steamboat cruise was stopping in Hannibal from 12:00-5:00 pm.  We pocketed a few brochures and trekked toward the lighthouse for our first stop.   At the bottom of the 244 steps, we found statues of the famous best friends, Tom and Huck.

And at the top of the 244 steps, was this lighthouse. Too bad we couldn't go in, but a great way to get our cardio!

We strolled Main Street taking photos, reading signs on historic places, chatting with folks, and generally getting the feel of the town.   One of the places we explored was the Hannibal History Museum.  There were exhibits about famous people from Hannibal - like "The Unsinkable" Molly Brown and Bill Lear  (Lear Jet) as well as a section dedicated to Mark Twain that included the Tom Sawyer Diorama exhibit.   After a quick walk to the riverfront, we decided to work in a riverboat ride after lunch at a local establishment - Becky Thatcher's Diner.

Good food, great service, and even better soundtrack for the 60's diner experience - "What's New Pussycat?"  "Daydream Believer" and "I Left My Heart in San Francisco"  were a few of the tunes we heard.  Once we were refueled, we journeyed down to Mark Twain's boyhood home area.  The ticket allows entrance to his childhood home, Becky Thatcher's home across the street, Huck Finn's house, his father's Justice of the Peace office, Grant Drug Store, and the Mark Twain Museum down Main Street a block.  Photography was allowed inside but proved difficult due to the glass walls and tiny spaces.  However, we did manage to participate in one of my favorite parts of Tom Sawyer - whitewashing the fence.

Next, we drove to the riverfront and hopped aboard the Mark Twain for a one-hour Mississippi River cruise, complete with corny jokes and tall tales.  I learned that Samuel Clemens chose Mark Twain as his alias from a steamboat term "mark twain" that meant that the water was 12 feet deep and safe for steamboat travel.   

The American Queen was an impressive vessel to view from the Mark Twain, and even though we couldn't go aboard, it was interesting to watch her pull away from the shore and lower the stacks.

                       

The one thing that I really enjoyed was the music that the boat played when it was arriving as well as when it was leaving.  I especially enjoyed the way in which it was played -- via steam whistles.  Of course, I had to wonder if they had modernized it with some sort of programmable control system.  Always the engineer. *sigh*

"Take Me Out to the Ballgame"

One last stop was on our list for today - Mark Twain Cave, which was a significant location in the Tom Sawyer tale.  

This also gave us a reprieve from the heat, even though it was quite tolerable for us Southerners.   The cave is a comfortable 52 degrees year round.   Our tour guide did a fantastic job with showing us the cave and answering a good amount of questions from one lad.  He also had his share of punny jokes as well.   I was fascinated by the signatures on the upper walls and highly entertained by the creative names for some of the formations.  

Hannibal has shown me a lot today, and I didn't even get finished.  There are still two other historic districts with what I assume can only be really cool houses to see.  I guess we'll save that for the next Nationals trip.