TOOTH HOOKS AND KEY

The above "instruments" hooks and key was used in the early 1800's for removing teeth. I took the photo last month during a tour of Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum in Hannibal, Missouri. The items were on display at Grant's Drug Store/Pilaster House. I thought it is appropriate to post this photo today, April 15th as I am sure many Americans feel the pains of our tax dollars being spent foolishly by the ever expanding hand-outs and re-distribution programs!

SPRING TIME IN HANNIBAL, MISSOURI - NOT !!!

The first time I visited Hannibal was when my sister CH came to St. Louis in the summer of 1996. We started our trip pretty late (around noon) since CH did not like to get up early and it took her a long time to get ready. After lunch at Mark Twain Dinette (I remembered the place was packed with tourists), we decided to tour Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum. We were told that we had 30 minutes before closing time but we could come back tomorrow with the same admission tickets. We decided not to tour the home and the museum and just walked along the landing.

This year, my husband and I agreed that our first get-away weekend would be Hannibal and we picked the third weekend in March. We thought the weather would be nice and the town would not yet be crowded with seasonal tourists. As luck would have it, the rain started late Friday evening. All day Saturday was a miserable day of light rain mixed in with snow flurries. We paid a few extra dollars to get a room with "beautiful panoramic views of the Mississippi River and walking distance to historic downtown and major attractions". These were all true, except when it was raining, snowing and freezing weather. The view from the hotel window included the dinette across the street with its spinning coffee mug, not much of the river and a lot of noise when the trains blowing loudly while carrying at least 50 railcars coming thru every other hour!

There was no schedule listed for cruising on the Mark Twain Mississippi Riverboat. The rising water covered most of the parking area and flooded the boarding ramp. There would be no sightseeing while dining on the triple deck or dancing in the rain/snow! You could tell it was pouring from the photo below of Mark Twain statue by the Riverview Park and from the windshield as we drove toward Hotel Mark Twain. I started to wonder if there is anything in Hannibal not named Mark Twain or associated with the town most famous citizen!

PREMIUM PARKING SPACE IN HANNIBAL, MISSOURI

We went to Hannibal, Missouri last weekend. It is only about 1 hour and 45 minutes from our home in St. Louis. We left on Friday evening, stayed for two nights and drove home on Sunday morning. We got back home just in time to attend 12:00 p.m. Mass at our home parish. You could see from these photos that the Mississippi River was swollen with rising water. The above sign reads, "Parking for Parks Marina Staff Only". I am sure the Staff would not have to worry about someone taking these parking spots for awhile! How about the sign below, "No Parking Any Time. Illegal Parking Vehicles will be towed at Owner's Expense"? Should it be "Vehicles will be floated down the River at Owner's Expense"?

Here you could see that the water covered most of the road leading to the boarding area for the Mark Twain Mississippi Riverboat. We were able to walk to the Nipper Park (photo below) and I saw a big log washed up the landing. I guess there is a lot of debris in the water and the current is so swift that we don't normally see these large objects floating in the water. The town of Hannibal practiced "Better safe than sorry" by putting in place its levee door (bottom photo), just in case the water quickly got higher than expected. Back in 1993, the river crested near the 31.8-foot high-water mark — the second so-called 500-year flood in 15 years. Parts of the town were under several feet of water, but the historic downtown was protected by a levee built to withstand a crest of 34 feet. It is nice to live near the water but I am not sure about the constant threat of flooding.

BENJAMIN AND SAM (SAMUEL LANGHORNE CLEMENS THAT IS)

I took these photos last year during my treasure hunt of public sculptures on display around St. Louis area. I found the statue of Mark Twain (aka Samuel Langhorne Clemens) at its permanent location on the campus of Logan College. Benjamin enjoyed reading Mr. Twain's noted novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) and tried to show off his knowledge in American literature!

Supposedly there is a 100th anniversary of Mr. Clemens' death (April 10, 1910 - April 10, 2010) in Redding, Connectinut. There will be a celebration of the 175th anniversary of his birth in November (1835-2010). I am not sure if Mr. Clemens would find such marketing ploys offensive when towns trying to get tourists who never read any books written by Mark Twain, yet would travel to places such as Hannibal, Missouri and would be so eager to pay for anything with his image on products that are mass-produced by China or Mexico!