July 23 - Hannibal, MO, Home of Mark Twain

  We decided to go into the nearby town of Hannibal, MO.  The birthplace of Mark Twain is actually in Florida, MO, just a few miles from our campground.  We actually stopped at the Homestead museum to see the 2 room cabin he was born in.  But, his family moved to Hannibal, which is where he grew up, and from which Samuel Clemens got much of his inspiration for Tom Sawyer and Hunk Finn stories.  As well as for when he became a steamship pilot on the Mississippi river and wrote. Life on the Mississippi".
We toured the Mark Twain Museum, showing his life story.  All over the town, there are Mark Twain-related shops and items.  We had lunch in a very hip coffee shop and walked about town.  Then we went on a riverboat sunset/dinner/live music cruise.  The singer/musician was great, the dinner passable, the weather perfect, the sunset delightful.
  As this is July 23rd, I kept thinking of my wedding to Ed Pless, on 7/23/1972, 47 years ago.  And of the fact that he did a month-long canoe trip down the Mississippi river, and here we were, cruising down the same river 47 years later.  Ah, the cycles of life.

Coffee shop and Mark Twain photos:

Riverboat sunset cruise:

Huge, long tugboat