Quaint Small Town America

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Ooh, did I fall in love with Hannibal, Missouri today!!! Hannibal is best-known as the boyhood home of one Samuel Langhorne Clemens, a riverboat captain who took the riverboat term for safe water as his pen name: Mark Twain. A lovely afternoon cruise on the Mark Twain riverboat was a terrific introduction to the town. The captain showed where a commemorative lighthouse was erected in honor of Twain on the sight where the woman known as “the widow Douglas” in the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn once lived. He explained the origins of Twain’s pen name, and also said that Twain only spent four years working on a riverboat (two as an apprentice, two as a pilot). Oddly, his route was from St. Louis to New Orleans, never taking him to his boyhood home of Hannibal. Out in the river, on the Illinois side, sits the island referred to as “Jackson’s Island” in the book. The captain explained that the islands in the Mississippi River are federal property, uninhabited (because they flood nearly every year), and open to anyone who wants to brave taking a boat to one and camping. (No, thank you. ) That’s not all I did, though. I found a great mom-and-pop barbecue place with smoked turkey that literally melted in my mouth, it was so tender. Sauce? Why bother? The meat was perfectly seasoned as it was! I also walked along the river bank and the main street, where many of the museums and tourist attractions (as well as the boyhood home of Samuel Clemens) are located. At the end of the street there is a statue of Huck and Tom, ready to go off on another adventure. Sort of like me. PHOTO COLLAGE: 1. The Mississippi River from the main deck of the Mark Twain riverboat. 2. The main street of Hannibal, Missouri. 3. Statue of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. 4. Lighthouse built in honor of Mark Twain overlooking the Mississippi River.