IN WHICH The Girl Paints Tom Sawyer's Fence

So, let's just assume that anytime I say I will do something soon, it will be at least three weeks. I keep my promises though, and I promised some details on my trip through Mark Twain's boyhood home.

Mark Twain's Boyhood Home: National Historic Landmark

Over the summer, I borrowed a car from my parents to use for work. I haven't actually had a car since high school due to my city living. As summer came to a close, it was time to return the vehicle to Kansas City. As one of my best friends had recently moved back to KC from Chicago, a couple people decided to join in my trip and visit her as well. Road trip buddies!

We weren't able to leave Chicago until the evening, so we needed to stop somewhere along the way. After stopping for a late night dinner in Springfield at a very interesting Italian restaurant/cocktail bar that was still serving food at 11 PM on a Thursday and had a variety of dog pictures and statues, we continued on for a couple more hours to Hannibal, Missouri.

Now, I have made this drive before and remembered that Hannibal was interesting in some way, but in my head it was the town from Gone Girl. Wrong - apparently that was just a made up Missouri town. However, I then discovered it was Mark Twain's boyhood home. Way better!

Mark Twain's Home and the Famous Fence

We wanted to get on the road at a decent time the next morning, but we took an hour to tour Hannibal. Like any small town with a main attraction, most everything in the downtown area relates to Mark Twain. It's cheesy but adorable. Unfortunately, it was too early to do any of the activities, but they have a Mark Twain museum, gift stores, a paddle boat tour, the house itself, a diner, and much more. I'm sure it would be fun to spend more time there.

The Mississippi River

We did walk up to a look out point over the Mississippi river, and after passing it a few times, figured out exactly which house was Mark Twain's It was obvious; we were just oblivious. They even have this very disturbing life size Mark Twain in one of the upper windows. Guess what: there is actually a white picket fence outside! Sadly, I did not actually paint the fence, though I'm fairly sure I read that this is an option. Tom Sawyer's house is based off this home. Apparently there is also a Huck Finn house, where the boy Huckleberry Finn is based off lived, but we missed that. We did, however, see the home of the girl who inspired Becky Thatcher. Overall, it was a fun look into the settings of some classic American literature. Maybe my next pass through Hannibal will be during business hours, and I'll check out the museums.

Mark Twain Wax Museum

See the Creepy Twain Statue

Mark Twain Dinette

We followed all this cultural interest up by eating massive amounts of BBQ in Kansas City.

Burnt Ends Baby

Oddly enough, right after I got back, there was a huge box of free Mark Twain novels at school. I picked up copies of Tom Sawyer for each of my traveling companions.