Blogs from Hannibal, Missouri, United States, North America

Years ago, we traveled through Hannibal and tried to tour the Mark Twain Cave. There was extensive flooding, and the area was underwater. This year, on our drive to Arkansas, we decided to stay near Hannibal and finally get to the cave! Many roads and highways are under construction near Des Moines right now. We ended up traveling east first, and our route took us through Pella and down near Keokuk. We listened to a dramatized audiobook on the way, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. I thought I downloaded an edited version for children, but that was not the case. We ended up having a conversation about language and slurs. Anyway, we made it to our destination! The drive was scenic and beautiful. It was mostly a two-lane highway the whole way, and we drove through ... read more

Today's target was the Mark Twain country of Hannibal Missouri. Driving from St. Louis to Hannibal you travel the Avenue of the Saints, a 4 lane expressway (not freeway) presumably so named because it goes form St. Louis to St. Paul. It allows you to see agricultural America at its most bland. Miles of corn and soybeans. Miles. Hannibal is a small town of 17,000 people that long served as a hub of commerce with a good rail connection and frequent stops by Mississippi River riverboats. It is, of course, best known now as the hometown of Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens), and much of the town now revolves around Twain tourism. In later life, Twain revealed the real-life inspirations for many of his characters, and their homes (or reputed homes) have in some cases been ... read more

7/24/13 - Today we are leaving Galena, Il. going to Hannibal, MO. On the way we will stop at Nauvoo, IL to see the temple and other monuments. We are traveling on the Great River Road. Stopped in Nauvoo, Il and walked the main street down to the Temple. Photo'ed some of the statues of Joseph and his brother Hyrum, also some other statues. Very pretty flowers at the temple. All was beautiful around the temple. Made it to Hannibal, MO to Injun Joes Campground - decent campground. We will be here two nights.... read more

Wednesday, June 2nd and Thursday, June 3rd. Today we plan to travel east along the Missouri River to the Mississippi River and then travel north along the river up to Hannibal. On our way along the Missouri River, we stop at Herman, a tidy town which capitalizes on its German heritage. We visit the Stone Hill Winery to try out their white wines, but don’t leave town without sampling some German-style beer as well. We follow the Missouri to Saint Louis, where it joins the Mississippi. We zip along the waterfront to view the famous arch and then head north along the Mississippi. We spend the night at Clarksville, where our motel overlooks the river and we can watch the tugboats pushing huge barges of cargo south. The next morning we continue moving north on The ... read more

Today we drove from Pere Marquette state park, Illinois to Hannibal, Missouri. We saw Mark Twain’s house, 2 museums, and 2 old houses from the 1800’s. One was a doctor’s house and it had lots of old medicine and tools in it. We also got to see Huck Finn’s cabin. It was very small and had vegetables growing around it. WE climbed a lot of stairs and saw a lighthouse on top of a hill. It was very high up and we had a pretty view of the Mississippi River and the whole town from up there. After we were finished seeing everything in Hannibal, we drove to Springfield, Illinois to spend the night.... read more