Hannibal, MO Boyhood Home of Mark Twain (aka Samuel Clemens)

We decided to take a drive up to Hannibal, MO to see where the infamous Mark Twain lived as a boy. It was a beautiful and scenic drive. We pulled into this historic town on the banks of the Mighty Mississippi and fell in love with it's charm. As always I researched and planned our visit so our first stop was at the Mark Twain Boyhood Home Museum. It's collection of buildings that are open for tours including Mark's home, Huckleberry Finn's home, Becky's home, and several more sites from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. We had a grand time exploring and peering into the past and what inspired such a great author. All that walking made us hungry so we pulled into the Mark Twain Dinette where we had house made root beer, a Maid Rite sandwich, and hot dogs for the girls. We were reenergized so we decided to make the 244 step trek up to the Mark Twain Memorial Lighthouse. While the lighthouse was closed we passed a pretty little park where the old Mark Twain Memorial Bridge was located and had a great view of the river. By that time we were all tuckered out and barely made it back to the Jeep as our legs were like jello after all those stairs! On our way out we pulled into Lover's Leap and read about the legend of two young Indian lovers who leapt to their death here in a Romeo and Juliet type ending. It was a site to see and thankfully there was fencing installed so we could safely view the incredible scenery from atop the mountain. Sprawling views of the great river and the tiny town that looked so small from us being up so high took my breath away. It was a marvelous end to our day time getaway!

http://www.hannibalparks.org/parks/mark-twain-memorial-lighthouse/
http://www.marktwainmuseum.org/index.php/visitor-information
http://marktwaindinette.com
http://visithannibal.com/index.php?lang=en