We drove the sixty miles south of Keokuk to Hannibal, which is where Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) grew up and had many of the adventures he later wrote about in his books. Many of the characters in his books are based on people he knew here in Hannibal during his boyhood. We had a really fun day in Hannibal, went through the homes, a museums, and then took a one hour riverboat cruise. Here are the pictures we took that day.
Huck Finn’s Home, or a rebuild of it, as the original fell down years ago
Low ceiling beams in Huck’s home
Inside Samuel Clemens home. A few of the items in these rooms actually belonged to the Clemens family
We could only step into the doorway of each room. They had heavy plastic plates across the doorways so some of the flash is reflected back and there are other reflections here and there in the pictures
In the background is an image of young Samuel sneaking out his bedroom window
View across the street to the building where Samuel’s father had his law office and was Justice of the Peace
White house is the actual Clemens home
That is a bucket of whitewash where you could see what it was like to whitewash a fence and have your picture taken doing it.
Across the cobblestone street is Becky Thatcher’s home
Displays inside Becky’s home
This is a view of the law office of Samuel’s father, who was also Justice of Peace.
Display of an experience Samuel had as a boy one night in his father’s office. If you can read the signs, it is a rather humorous incident.
The dead body. Again, we have reflection from the heavy plastic keeping us out of the room
The story
Street with museums. Justice of the Peace office is small white building in the center
Park at the end of the street
Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn
Sign in front of the riverboat dock
The Riverboat. It was named the “Mark Twain”
On board the boat. Notice the calliope
Wheelhouse
Mark Twain memorial bridge across the Mississippi River is a freeway. Just a bit further upriver you can see a railroad bridge
Flood stage of the Mississippi
Temporary riverboat dock as we moved out onto the river. Their usual place of business was flooded. Their parking lot was under water and the flood gates had been closed to protect the city streets of Hannibal. We had a hard time finding this place but it was worth it. We had a really fun ride on the riverboat.
The Mark Twain memorial lighthouse. It was never used for navigational purposes.
Along the river we saw “lovers leap”. The captain told us a very tall tale about it
Out on the Mississippi
Lots of islands in the Mississippi River
Flood waters covering the island
Deck where we were able to sit and enjoy watching the river go by. There were many species of birds in the trees along the river. We were able to see only a few but we sure heard a lot them
In the dining room of the Riverboat. They also offered a dinner cruise every evening but we didn’t have time (or money).
Our day in Hannibal was fun from start to finish. We left Hannibal early enough that we were able to get home just before dark. The weather that day was hot but out by the river and on the boat, there was a cool breeze so it was very enjoyable plus, we found a very nice spot in the shade of the deck above us.
No comments:
Post a Comment