Last weekend, we were somewhat caught up, but I felt so blah with the scorching heat. I was tired of being cooped up inside. I had the itch to go somewhere close by, and then when I woke up to the news of the Orlando shooting Sunday morning, we made a last minute decision to get out of town. I had looked forward to going to church after such a long break, but I honestly just wanted to process out and about and outside of church.
We scratched another local place off our list: Hannibal, Missouri.
Hannibal is about 100 miles away from our place and is located on the Mississippi River. It is most known as the home of Samuel Clemens (pen name: Mark Twain). Don't tell anyone but I've never read the Adventures of Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn. I wish I had so I would have appreciated this quaint little town so much more.
We arrived and the town was so quiet. Like, ghost town quiet.
We walked to the square that had museums. It was hot as blazes outside.
We first went to the boyhood home museum of Mark Twain. Also included here is the home of Huck Finn.
Huckleberry Finn house
Next, we went to the home of Becky Thatcher.
This is a fun spot with the camera so you can have your friends log in and see you - it would be great if we had reception in this area.... #fail
Interracial Tom Sawyer & Becky Thatcher
We walked up the road to see the statue of Tom Sawyer & Huck Finn. I had noticed the lighthouse when we first arrived. I saw that there were steps leading up to it. It seemed like a few so we went up only to realize there were just a few more. After a few rounds of "few mores," we made it to the top. We were drenched in sweat. It was so hot out there!
After this escapade, we went into the Mark Twain brewing company to have lunch.
On the way out, I really wanted to stop by the haunted house because I had seen the wax figures on Roadside America. The older I get, the more easily spooked I get. We were the only people in here aside from the receptionist. The wax figures were amazing - so real, so intricate. It's worth the stop to see these ($4 admission pp). We rounded the corner until the haunted house part and my stomach dropped. Luba said, "you aren't going to like this!" followed by "Why did we buy tickets for something you knew you'd be scared of?" He didn't know I wouldn't make it through. One can always hope, right? My legs would not move as I stared at this dark room with a toilet and a neon hand sticking out of it moving in a circling motion. I sent him along first with his flashlight to see what happens around the next corner, and a smoke machine went off. It was loud and sudden, and "someone" might have come high-tailing it back to where I waited. I turned around and exited through the entrance. Nope. No way. Not one chance in hell. I sent Luba back in solo so he could get his $4 worth (we wouldn't want to flush that $8 right, at least we could recoup the $4), and he returned through the entrance doors less than 1 minute later. So, we can't tell you how this place is.....
All of the figures (characters) are marked on the floor so you know who they are. It reminds me of a Criminal Minds episode.
nope, this girl in the front has no body...
this is why we don't have family reunions -- I'm scared the family picture would look like this
just kidding, sort of
check out the look the girl in the middle is giving....
We took a few more photo opportunities on the way out and headed back home.
on Roadside America list
this is a photo opp outside of the square: take a pic of your friends on the bridge
how perfect was this on this day of the Orlando massacre
I'd recommend this close, "easy to do everything within a day" spot if you want to get out of town on a Saturday or Sunday. I'm glad we didn't spend the night -- there would not have been that much to do.
To do next visit: haunted tour in the evening! Seems a pretty spookalicious (or creepy) town!
Danielle
