Historic Hannibal - vacation day 4

Monday could have been a total loss, but as the saying goes, when life hands you lemons, go shopping. Or maybe that’s not quite the saying. Anyway, we putzed around and didn’t get out to the car until around 8:30. Have I told you yet that the right front tire has had a slow leak? Well, not so slow anymore as I could tell immediately by the way the car was listing.

While Hubby changed the tire, I called the front desk to see if they knew of a place close by which could fix a flat. As luck would have it, right there in tiny Clarksville was a Jubilee Auto. (The hubby was totally shocked that I didn’t digitally record any of the events of the morning, but sometimes even I need a break.)

We were finally on our way out of town around ten. Our first stop was the ghost town of Ilasco. Founded in 1903 it was basically a company town of the Atlas Cement Plant. Though the cement plant is still running, all that is left of Ilasco is a church, one empty store and the jail.

Mark Twain Cave was our next stop. I am only claustrophobic in tight spaces, caves don’t really bother me. As long as I am not alone and there is no chance of getting lost.

Oh, goodness, can you believe I found another cemetery? I know, you are shocked.

This is Riverside Cemetery outside of Hannibal. I don’t know who famous is buried here. All I found was a lot of worn and broken headstones. So sad.

The hubby’s only request for the day was to buy stamps, so I found the post office for him. We parked the car on a side street and walked there. My mistake.

 OK, so that was only my second injury. We walked back up the hill where I had fallen and up to Rockcliffe Mansion. So huge! Hard to imagine living here.

We walked back to the car and drove to historic downtown Hannibal. The hubby parked on a street bench while I hiked to the top of Cardiff Hill and the base of the Mark Twain Lighthouse.

 “Hey, Huck, what do you suppose is in that ugly building?” So much for the picturesque statue of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. 

Woes Along the River - vacation day 2

Saturday was our first real day of vacation, first day to relax and unwind, to sleep in and not have anywhere to go. If you know me at all, you know it didn’t really work out that way. I had a full schedule planned for every day.

The first day, however, I actually thought we could take it easy, check out our surroundings and the little town closest to our resort.

The Mississippi River town of Clarksville boasts a population of 547. Lock and Dam number 24 is right on the doorstep of town, so we spent much of the first morning watching a barge go through. Why is that so fascinating? Probably because to my simple mind it is a major feat of engineering.

When we finally tore ourselves away from the Lock, we walked along the river front and the hubby started up a conversation with a woman who was checking to see how far the River had risen since the day before. Turns out she was the mayor, JoAnne Smiley. Leave it to my husband to meet the mayor.  

We had a long conversation with her regarding flooding in her little town. Clarksville is the last town in Missouri whose downtown district faces the Mississippi River. Other towns either are set far enough back from the River or they built permanent levies so that they don’t have to worry about flooding. Cute little Clarksville doesn’t have the money (half a million dollars) to build a levy, plus the little shops along the River are so quaint it would be a shame to shield them with a wall of dirt. When it looks like flood waters are moving in, the town rallies with their sandbags and defends their little downtown.  According to the mayor, because of this they have never had losses from flooding, and because of that the federal government won’t give them any money to prevent disaster.  

 A few days later I was sharing the woes of Clarksville with a local from a town up River, and she didn’t have any sympathy for her neighbors to the south. She just thought they should build a levy, and didn’t believe me when I said it sounded like it was cost-prohibitive.

On our way home the end of the week, I told my brother-in-law all of this. He works for the Army Corps of Engineers which deals yearly with flooding of the Mississippi. He had yet another view of this problem.

Because my little pea-brain doesn’t want to hear the facts and figures, only wants to take in what is beautiful, I have no solutions for anyone. All I have is more pictures from our first day. 

Didn't eat here. Sorry, Tubby. 

The old episcopal church which is now the beautiful art studio of Mary O. We spent probably an hour talking with her and touring her home.  

Water fowl at the Clarence Cannon Wildlife Refuge.  I thought the sign said "canyon" so I was hoping for some great scenery. Water fowl is ok though too.  

At Cuivre River State Park near Troy. We didn't stay long. We were getting tired by then and headed into Troy for Dairy Queen and to get the car washed.