Boyhood home of Mark Twain!

We left Springfield in pouring rain. By 11:00 A.M. we were in Hannibal, Missouri and went straight to the Mark Twain Cave. Upon arriving, we witnessed a lot of damage from the recent (overnight) storm. The three guys read in the van while Katherine and I did the one hour tour of the cave. Towards the end, the guide gave Katherine the flashlight and let her lead the other kids to a part of the cave, all by themselves. She was so excited! It was definately worth the price of the tickets to see her so happy about being there.
From there we drove to the riverfront, parked the van, and watched the Mark Twain Riverboat go down the Mississippi River. We left our van there and walked to all the other sites....Mark Twain's boyhood home and museum, the Becky Thatcher house, Huckleberry Finn's house, and J. M. Clemen's Justice of the Peace Office. We got to see and hear 'Mark Twain' for a half hour.
In between all the fun we stopped by Becky's Old Fashioned Ice Cream Parlor & Emporium.
We learned that the levies broke this morning right before we arrived. That was why we so much damage. When we walked back to the riverfront, we saw huge cement walls. The flood gates were closed! So to the top of a grassy hill we walked to see. Our van was the only vehicle in the parking lot. We weren't sure how we were going to get out. Thankfully, there were workers who waited for us before closing the other three flood gates. What an experience! The nightly news is on right now, and we are seeing just how bad Hannibal got hit.
With all our sites checked off my list, we drove to Quincy, Illinois to stay for the night. Chinese for supper and swimming before relaxing in our room.