(Not Really) Roughing it on the Mark Twain Trail
From Hannibal, Missouri, to San Francisco, California
Categories: Renegade Roads
By: Johnny D. Boggs 11/01/2007
Another hardworking ambassador is Richard Garey. The Virginia-born actor performs his one-man show, Mark Twain Himself, at the historic Planters Barn Theater just down the street from the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum. It’s certainly a one-man show when I enter the theater; there’s Mr. Clemens himself—I mean, Mr. Garey—taking tickets. “My help called in sick tonight,” he says.
If you haven’t already guessed, Hannibal remains devoted to Mark Twain. Visitors see more than an excellent stage performance and a couple of charming middle-schoolers absorbed in their roles (Tom even carries the spectacles he swiped from Aunt Polly). History lovers shouldn’t miss the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum complex. The Mark Twain Cave Complex is also worth exploring (with a guide, who, of course, spouts Twain witticisms and tells stories about Tom, Becky and Injun Joe). Then take a load off your feet and ride the Mark Twain Mississippi Riverboat, which offers one-hour sightseeing cruises and a two-hour evening dinner cruise.
It’s tough to leave Hannibal and all those Twain wannabes, but the Mississippi River is calling, so I’ll wander along state Highway 79, remembering Life on the Mississippi, as I meander toward St. Louis, where Twain worked as a newspaper printer.
DIGG | del.icio.us | REDDIT