America’s Hometown – Hannibal, Missouri

I’ve been working on this post since July.  Not last July – July, 2012.  No, I’m not kidding.
Not because it should have taken that long to write, but because I keep going back to “America’s Hometown”, snapping a few more photos, and just keep adding them to this post.

My parents are visiting and it’s been a cold and rainy week, so I haven’t completed any projects to share with you, so I figured I might as well finally share America’s Hometown.

Hannibal, Missouri is dubbed as America’s Hometown.  It’s just a few hours north of St. Louis, in Northeastern Missouri.  It was the boyhood home of Mark Twain, which you can visit, as well as the museum in his honor.  The downtown area has quaint, beautiful old buildings, with a variety of businesses – from antiques and quilt shops, to art galleries and a popcorn shop.

It’s a quaint old town, on the banks of the Mississippi River, where our family loves to hang out.
The downtown area caters to tourists and locals alike, and hosts weekly, “Music Under the Stars” events in the summer. Everyone brings their lawn chairs and lines them up on the brick paved roads to hear folk, blues, country, bluegrass, rock n’ roll, or reggae music.

The evening we went, there was a family group performing folk music and the two youngest kids came forward to show off their clogging skills.

This statue of Mark Twain overlooks the Mighty Mississippi.

Visitors can take sightseeing cruises on the river on the Mark Twain riverboat.

The Mark Twain Memorial Bridge takes traffic over the river between Missouri and Illinois, and is crossed by runners each year during the Mississippi River Run.

It’s a grueling run.

We love to attend the yearly Folk Life Festival.  These photos were taken last year when my parents were visiting as well.

This photo booth was set up by the Molly Brown House, the birth home of “the unsinkable Molly Brown” of Titanic fame.

The festival is a feast for the eyes, ears and nose, as over 100 exhibitors decorate their booths in the colors of Autumn and visitors can enjoy the street musicians throughout the festival.

Many of them are dressed in period clothing.

Any of course, there are plenty of handcrafts to choose from.

There is plenty of entertainment throughout the festival as well.  It’s so enjoyable to be able to walk up and down Hannibal’s downtown.

If you’re ever in St. Louis and want to venture off to a smaller town, Hannibal is worth the drive.
Blessings,

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