Hannibal Things to Do

The cave Mark Twain wrote about in his novel Tom Sawyer, wherein Tom and Becky get lost, is really like a giant grid of passages with some neat attractions inside. Apparently when Mark Twain wrote about the cave, he really kept it close to reality. The cave is of the limestone variety, and was formed from the erosion by water and drainage. See my travelogue for pictures, but this is something you really want to do if you come to Hannibal. The total dark exhibit is cool. (They turn out the lights for 20 seconds or so.) The cost is $8 per person and everything is very safe, very well lighted and guided.

This is a bluff overlooking Hannibal and the river. Its an excellent place to take pictures. Apparently, if you sail down the river you will find a lot of these bluffs, all having the name Lover's Leap. Thsi one in particular has a legend of an Indian brave and Indian princess from warring tribes falling in love and, aftger being discovered, dodging the war parties by jumping over the steep cliff rather than live apart.

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There are a number of homes and shops to tour along the water front and also going up the somewhat steep streets. The pitch down to the Mississippi is a site to behold. The houses and area has all been restored and done quite nicely to take you back in time what it ws like in the late 1800's

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This is the place to see in Hannibal. Tour the home, both up and down and see the fence that Tom had everyone paint for him! Its a good way to understand where Samuel Clemens was coming from.

The tickets ($8 for adults) includes The Interpretive Center, the Mark Twain Boyhood Home, the Boyhood Home Gift Shop, the Huckleberry Finn House, the Becky Thatcher House, the J.M. Clemens Justice of the Peace Office, the Grant's Drug Store/Pilaster House, and the Museum Gallery.

March: 9:00 - 4:00; Sundays 12:00 - 4:00
April: 9:00 - 5:00 Daily
May: 8:00 - 5:00 Daily
June, July, August: 8:00 - 6:00 Daily New for 2006 Fridays & Saturdays the Museum will be open until 7:00 p.m.!
September & October: 9:00 - 5:00 Daily
November through February: 10:00 - 4:00; Sundays: 12:00 - 4:00

Becky Thatchers home is little more than a gift shop -- the upstairs has a little bit to see, but the downstairs is all a gift shop. Since your ticket to Tom Sawyers House includes Becky's house, make sure to stop by. Its just across the street when you exit Tom's house.

Cameron & Mark Twain Caves are sooo cool. Well worth the visit. Bring a sweater or jacket. It is cold, even in the summertime.
Hours:
SUMMER -8am to 8pm
April-May- 9am to 6pm
Sept.-Oct.- 9am to 6pm
Nov.-March- 9am to 4pm

Admission free for kids under 5, $6 for kids 5-12 and $12 for people 12 and up.

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We were lucky for having arrive in the late afternoon to see this festivity for we had not planned for it at all. It was a Friday evening, and we hoped to simply have a glimpse of the famous town where legendary Mark Twain was born and raised. I was most amused by the mud volleyball.

The small house in which Mark Twain grew up and lived during the 1830's is well-preserved and guarded by an excellent museums that documents his formative years. At that time , Missouri was a slave state and the economic heart of the midwest due to the life-giving commerce off the Mississippi River. The museum discusses how the young Samuel Clemens may have come about his anti-slavery views, to include the social contact he may have had with young black children and/or adults. It also introduces many of the other characters in his life, many whom were models for characters in his work. You'll enjoy a trip here and be able to purhase some of Mark Twain's books in the gift shop -- make sure you get them stamped as coming from his home!