Hannibal Things to Do

Another famous native of Hannibal was the irrepressible and unsinkable Molly Brown. A child of Irish immigrants, Margaret lived in Hannibal until the age of 18 when she moved to Leadville, Colorado to work as a clerk in a store. There she met and married J.J. Brown, a prominent goldmine owner and engineer. Margaret became an educated woman, even a writer for Denver newspaper. She was enroute from Europe to Hannibal on the Titanic's maiden voyage when the ship collided with an iceberg. Margaret survived, of course, and became well known. Some say that she never went by the name Molly during her lifetime, and that name was dreamed up for the musical 'The Unspeakable Molly Brown.'

A museum dedicated to her life is located here.

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There is a park and boat ramp on the Mississippi. To get there one has to walk or drive across the railroad tracks, which are in routine use. Naturally, an excursionary paddlewheeler has regular trips that leave from the waterfront.

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America's greatest author has a memorial lighthouse on the hill over Hannibal. Built in 1935, this lighthouse has been visited by American presidents Roosevelt and Clinton. Unfortunately, we arrived to late to visit. But, here are some images of the picnic area and other places within the park. There's a fine bronze statue of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, Twain's most enduring character's

....Okay, it's just a fence and Tom Sawyer never really existed, right? So, you still wonder if this guy is paying or being paid to paint the fence.
....For those who don't know the famous storyline from the opening of the novel Tom Sawyer, Tom was being punished for his normal prankish behavior by having to wash the fence. When the kids of the town came by to make fun of him, he convinced them that he was painting the fence because he WANTED to and it was so much fun he wouldn't let them do it even if they paid him. The reverse psychology worked and soon he had legions of Hannibal's youngest generation paying him to whitewash the fence while he watched.
....Before you laugh too hard, consider this: wouldn't you pay a dollar just to paint a slat or two of this fence so that you coould say you painted Tom Sawyer's fence and paid for it. You would, wouldn't you?

A statue placed at the end of the main road in town shows Tom and Huck. Stop by and take a photo -- its about as close to the real boys as youll get! The statue was sculpted in 1926 and is life size.

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The festival is no small event. There are several venues for music, and the music variety is broad. This is also time for traveling amusement park to visit.

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Even during ordinary days, Hannibal is worth a visit for it's collection of antique stores and sidewalk cafes. The old downtown has well kept 19th century commercial buildings.

Mark Twain's boyhood home. A museum stands next door to the left. Also shown in the photo is Tom Sawyer's Fence.