Last summer I journeyed to Hannibal and once again discovered it to be a trip worth taking.  I visited all the museums, the Boyhood Home, Cardiff Hill, the river front, even went on a dinner boat cruise with Henry Sweets and his wife, Nancy.  I found Hannibal to be full of nostalgia, information, and the towns people held a love for Twain.  Visiting Hannibal should be a must on every Twain scholar's list.  I think every American should visit Hannibal, spend a couple days, visit the Cave, and ride the riverboats, spend some time down town, stay in the hotels or B&B's.  It is so "home town USA".  I even rode the horse drawn trolley tour.  Another good discovery was that the people in Hannibal care very much about the scholarly side of Mark Twain and endeavor to promote and enhance that as well as the free willed spirit of ragamuffin boys on the dusty streets of yester-year. And there is more to Hannibal than Twain and they promote and share that too.  Did you know the cement used to build the Panama Canal came from Hannibal, Missouri?  Fluffy, no, Hannibal, Missouri is not fluffy.  They have a good, very good, item to promote and are working hard to do that.  I wish them the very best, and look forward to my next trip back.  

And if you make it to Hannibal, be sure to go over to Florida, Missouri, you will be pleased and surprised.

Jane McCone
Center for Mark Twain Studies
Elmira College
Elmira, New York