But, back to my story. Mark Twain, or rather Samuel Clemens, spent most of his boyhood in Hannibal, Missouri. As you may know, the books Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn are taken from experiences that Clemens had as a boy growing up in this charming little town. And many of the characters in that story are based on real people that he knew.
Hannibal is about 70 miles from Bevier, so, perfect day trip for us. The museum complex consists of several buildings.
Tim says he is smiling.
Huck Finn's Home
(Bet it didn't look this good when the Blankenships lived there.)
Here's what Clemens said about Huck Finn's origins in his autobiography,
"In Huckleberry Finn I have drawn Tom Blankenship exactly as he was. He was ignorant, unwashed and insufficiently fed. But he had as good a heart as ever any boy had."
Just a restful and pretty area between buildings.
The Samuel Clemens home had some very nice displays. If you enlarge the pictures, I think you can read his quotes on the boards.
Becky Thatcher's (Laura Hawkins') home as it looks now.
Here are a few quotes that I like from Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain):
"I am old; I recognize it but I don't realize it. I wonder if a person ever really ceases to feel young -- I mean for a whole day at a time."
"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates." from Life on the Mississippi
"Be careful of reading health books. You may die of a misprint."
Hannibal is such a pretty town, right on the Mississipi River, just like Clemens described it.
Hannibal was also the birthplace of "Unsinkable Molly Brown."
Her real name was Margaret Tobin Brown.
The movie starring Debbie Reynolds was loosely based on her life.
Her childhood home (above) is also a museum, but it was closed the day we were there.
When asked by reporters how she survived the Titanic sinking, she is said to have replied,
"Typical Brown luck. We're unsinkable!"
Not part of the museum, but we saw this car on the street in Hannibal. I think we have seen at least one old restored automobile every day for the past two weeks.
Sometimes we have seen a 6 to a dozen of them driving down the road.
Okay, I know I said I was just about through with DisneyWorld, but we were so close to Marceline, Missouri, where Walt Disney grew up. We couldn't just not go there. Anyway, I don't blame him for the direction his little mouse friend has taken. Mr. Disney passed away before the plans for DisneyWorld were hardly off the drawing board.
However, most of the exhibits were in glass cases, so I didn't take many pictures there. I'm tired of trying to fight the glare.
I need to explain about this picture. When DisneyLand opened in 1955, Walt and his brother Roy invited their sister and her son to come to the grand opening. She declined the offer, because she didn't like crowds. But the whole thing was going to be covered by one of the big television networks, so Walt sent her family this television, so they could watch the opening on it.
Marceline, Missouri was more than just the town where Walt grew up. It was his inspiration for the Main Street area of Disneyland. He revisited Marceline several times throughout his life, and donated several things to the town. This is the street sign for Main St. in Marceline.
And, this is the house where Walt Disney lived. It's just outside of town.
I have no idea what it looked like when he lived there. It is privately owned and occupied now. Imagine being able to say you live in Walt Disney's house!
Okay, you must have know they were coming...Disney quotes!
"The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing."
"There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island."
"Adults are only kids grown up, anyway."
That last quote perfectly describes my Cowboy!
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