all right, then, i'm going to hell

hannibal, mo

friday morning mum and i explored the town of hannibal, missouri, which produced sam clemens, aka mark twain. just about everything in the old downtown pays homage to its most famous son. the block on which he lived is almost perfectly maintained, down to the brick street, all of it lovingly restored by a vigorous community of retired folk. it was neat to see all of these sites because there is a direct correlation between his life in hannibal and his works--for example, next to his childhood home (at left) is the fence which inspired the story of tom sawyer convincing other boys in town to pay him to paint his own fence. today you can write your name on the fence for $10 to help pay for preservation. across the street is the home of the girl who was the model for becky thatcher, the girl on whom tom sawyer had a crush.

in addition, there are two museums, bookstores, antique shops, and restaurants all named after twain (the title of this post is a quote of his). even this coke machine had his face on it, though the glare makes it a little hard to see. while twain is most well-known for the characters of tom sawyer and huck finn, he wrote many many other books besides. i bought a copy of 'roughing it' at one of the museum shops--it is his memoirs of his travels in the west, including his time spent in various occupations out there, filled with just as many tall tales as actual facts. i hope that i get to it by the time i make it that far west.

perhaps what twain loved most was the mississippi river. not only do several of his novels involve the great american river, but he wrote a travelogue about his time on the river called 'life on the mississippi.' of the river at hannibal he said 'the extensive view up and down the river is ... one of the most beautiful on the mississippi,' and it is easy to see why. twain, perhaps correctly, bemoaned all the attention paid to the lower part of the river--the lower mississippi, while giant, sprawls, and does not even normally have real banks. the upper river, while not as wide, is equally impressive. the picture below was taken by the bank at hannibal, facing south.my personal favorite of all of twain's quotes about the mississippi is as follows, from a letter he wrote to will bowen in 1866: 'the only real, independent & genuine gentlemen in the world go quietly up and down the mississippi river, asking no homage of any one, seeking no popularity, no notoriety, & not caring a damn whether school keeps or not.' maybe this is true--there are few things as american as the mississippi. it has a gigantic effect on the entire country and its imagination. as twain also noted, the lower mississippi alone shortens itself each year--on average, over a mile per year. this is something which we cannot control, no matter how hard we try--something like how so many view americans, stubborn and determined to get their way (are they wrong?).

after wandering around the town a little more, we left hannibal, and shortly thereafter, missouri. it was a nice state: wilder than illinois to the east or iowa to the north, as you can kind of see below.

four states. one day.

indiana

bright and early this morning my mum and i left the home of our wonderful cousins. heading out of lexington we stopped at keeneland, the horse racetrack for the city, located just a little west of town. while it was empty, seeing as how the races only run there in april and october, they still train horses on the track in the early morning. we hung around long enough to see a few horses go around the track, the jockeys wearing jeans--and although the horses were certainly not going fast enough to set any new records, it was still pretty neat to see.

from lexington we headed northwest to indianapolis for a (very) brief side-trip. after driving for a few hours in countryside which looked like the picture up top, we finally arrived. it was a bigger city than either of us thought! we drove around for a few minutes trying to find the elusive war monument downtown, which is supposedly a big obelisk in the middle of town, but our search proved futile. not to be discouraged, we headed out to the racetrack, for cars this time, to see it and go to the indianapolis hall of fame. for a small museum, and for the five dollars we paid between us (with a triple a discount), it was definitely worth it. we got to see all sorts of old-fashioned cars, including the one pictured, which is a really, really old car that dates back to 1886. i'm not even sure it counts as a car--imagine driving in that. we saw everything from that to the car that danica patrick drove in her first race up here at indy, in which she placed fourth. i also got to sit in a model car, which was cool. they're really small, and hard to get in and out of: i felt like i barely fit. they also had the trophy that they give out to indy 500 winners, along with a whole bunch of other trophys, medals, and everthing else you can win in racing.
when we were done with the racetrack we headed west towards springfield, illinois. it took a few hours of driving, and it rained on us pretty hard, but we got there eventually. on our way, we stopped in montezuma, indiana at davey's restaurant for a bite to eat at one of those places where there is one waitress and one cook (it was his birthday, too). really good onion rings--we both had enough friend foods for a while. we got to springfield, the capital of illinois just barely before 5, so we had enough time to dash in the visitor's center and grab a map. we walked around town, angling toward the house that lincoln lived in before he headed to the white house. they have done a great job preserving the block he lived on, so you can really get a feel for what it was like in 1860. lincoln's house is pictued to the right, from the angle it is most frequently photographed. and the rest of springfield has been lovingly restored in this recent era of appreciating the past. even the old train depot he gave his farewell address from and the old capital building are almost prestine. i really enjoyed it--we grabbed lemonade (for me) and double chocolate mint gelato (for mum), and then hit the road again.

we rolled out of springfield about 6.30, heading for hannibal, missouri--we did gain an hour crossing into illinois, so don't be too shocked by the time we made. but first we had a couple of hours driving through the 'prairie state,' pictured below. i came to the conclusion that rural/small town indiana was nicer than its illinois counterpart, but that illinois does cities better.
by the time we crossed the mississippi into missouri, the sun was setting, creating the beautiful scene below. hannibal is north of st. louis, nestled on the hills bordering the great american river, and was called home by that of american authors, mark twain. we only decided to come to hannibal--or stop in springfield or indianapolis, for that matter--today while we were driving, and i really couldn't be happier that we did. we rolled into hannibal to the sounds of a local band playing oldies as well as new music on a street in the middle of town. since there was still enough daylight, i walked around town a little, enjoying the music and the old town. they sure are proud of their most famous son here. half the town revolves around twain--restaurants, stores, tour boats, hotels. it really is great small town, nice and quaint without being kitschy. now we are checked into our hotel, and have wandered back into town to a local wine bar with wifi. the concert just finished, so the bar is flooded with patrons over the age of 50, all of them enjoying the company of friends and family before they call it a night. what a way for my mum and i to finish our first day on the road together. tomorrow: missouri, iowa and wisconsin, and of course more driving.