The Escape/Part 2 Missouri

 April 3, 2022

Somewhere in Missouri

Our next super secret undisclosed location is not only super secret but also off the grid. We did not know that until we got there. No cell service at all. It was a long travel day for us.  7-8 hours. So in that time I invented a new travel game that I will share with you. Feel free to play it, along with the other popular travel games, such as slug bug, which is always a winner. Also the antelope game but that only works out west. 

My new travel game is called "Name that Dead Critter".  It goes like this. As you are driving along, the first one to name correctly the dead critter wins the point. You can play to how many points you want. Sometimes it can be very hard to identify a critter so it becomes challenging. We played up to 11 because Lisa started feeling sick from looking at all of the dead animals in different levels of decomposition. So I ended up winning!

Our next super secret undisclosed location is Mark Twain State Park outside of Florida, Missouri.

I can tell you our locations now because by the time the paparazzi reads this, we will be long gone. Now if you are at the bar playing trivia, this question may just come up and you will know the answer because I am going to tell you. "What famous american author was born in Florida, Missouri?" The answer is Mark Twain. Or Samuel Clemens. I kind of gave it away in my first sentence. I guess beer and blogging really don't mix.

So anyways, we were at Mark Twain State Park. They have three camp ground loops and we had one loop entirely to ourselves. Maybe 3 other campers in the whole park. Love the off season.

My travel agent Lisa has really been doing her homework on this trip. I thought there would be no way to top Sioux City but she did it. My socks are officially knocked off. 

Our first stop was the visitor center where they had Mark Twain's house that he was born in, inside it. It was on a Monday and I guess that is the day they are not open. Wah! Wah! Next we drove to Florida. The village, not the sunny warm state. There we saw the spot where the cabin once stood. At least we saw a picture of the cabin. Just as good.

There is not much left to the village. A few houses. It's not a place to really go out of your way to find unless you really want to. So we left Florida and headed to Hannibal, Missouri.

That is what Mark Twain fans are going to be familiar with. The old downtown is nice. A little touristy. They have Tom Sawyer's house, Huckleberry Finn's house and Becky Thatcher's. At least the houses that were featured in the books. Mark Twain had quite the life. He was quite the american adventurer.

We paid our fee to go into the museum which is two museums and 5 houses. They offer a military discount that brought our grand total to zero dollars. So we gave them a monetary donations as a thank you. We started in the first museum. There was a lot of reading there. You learn all about Mark Twain and his books. I could hear Lisa's eyes rolling in her head so we moved on. First house you go into is Huckleberry Finns house. A two room shack.

It did not look that nice back in the day. The next house was Tom Sawyers. Actually Mark Twain's. No really it was Samuel Clemons. They all three lived there.

That is the white fence he conned his friends into whitewashing for him. Everything has been restored. The tour takes you through the house.

Complete with the ghost of Mark Twain sitting at the table. However he did not live here as an adult, only a child growing up.

Another room with another ghost. Lisa and I were talking about the Tom Sawyer books and I had to admit that I only remember some of the high points since I only read these as a kid. Lisa hadn't read them at all. Across the street was Becky Thatcher's house. His girlfriend in the books.

The last 2 buildings of the tour are the law office where Mark Twain's father worked and the corner pharmacy where Mark Twain and his family lived for a short time. After that we walked the two blocks to the second museum that is included in your ticket price. There they have more history and the exhibits are more interactive and interesting for kids. Lisa loved it.

Three floors of stuff to look at. There is a replica of a riverboat wheel house. So it was my turn to play captain.

We worked up a mighty hankering for vittles so we began to mosey on down to the Mark Twain Dinette. They have been serving good food since the 50's. With our bellies satisfied and our noggins overflowing with new information, it was time to leave Hannibal. Mainly because we started talking with a southern accent. One more thing to do. We had to walk down to the river. There was a river boat moored up there that gives tours and dinner cruises. Too chilly for us to be out on the water.

On our way back to the campground, Lisa had one more secret up her sleeve. She said there was a covered bridge near the small town of Paris. To Paris then! Sure enough, there it was. 

Completely restored. It was amazing. Idiots have not been out there and vandalized it or anything. Vehicles don't use it any more. They reroute the vehicle traffic through the river. Really? Why was there a need for the bridge at all then?

Not knowing the depth, we stayed on this side.

That is it for this leg of the trip. We have been to Florida, to Paris and everything in between. Time to move on to our next soon to be disclosed undisclosed location.

"Throw the cats in the truck Gladys, lets go!"