Saturday, April 4, 2015

AtoZ Challenge: D-FOR A DANGEROUS DESTINATION...



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If you do get a chance to stop by this quaint town, you must visit the famous Mark Twain Cave. In Tom Sawyer, the characters, Tom and Becky, end up in the cave, lost, scared out of their minds and running from Injun Joe who was bent on silencing them--for good. If you haven't read this classic, stop, buy it now, read. It's available here in Hannibal at most EVERY location. Twain sure knew how to spin a story. Not only did he master humorous writing, he perfected suspense. He is my inspiration.




The cave is a balmy 52 degrees all year round. Some spots are as slim as a couple of feet, others are pretty wide. After the snaking twists and turns of the cave, you can see how easy it would be to get lost inside. It has been confirmed that after the infamous outlaw Jesse James robbed a train in St. Louis, he hung out in the cave for several weeks. His handwritten signature in one of the veins of the cave has been authenticated.



The entire hilly town of Hannibal rests on an intricate cave system. In 1967 three boys entered "Murphy's Cave" near Bear Creek about a mile from the Mark Twain Cave. When they never came home, the police were notified and it led to the largest underground search party in history. They were never found.

I loved to go exploring as a kid. I still do, but I take a phone, another person and supplies with me like diet coke. We hiked the train tracks, back roads, creeks. What was your favorite place to explore as a kid? One time we discovered a dead cat on the tracks and a hobo near our favorite creek.

20 comments:

  1. Minion Carrie dropping by to cheer you on! Keep up the excellent work! :D Enjoy your day off tomorrow and have a blessed Easter!

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  2. BTW, While we aren't neighbors, you are the first person I've found that I live near! I'm 100 miles south of St. Louis. :)

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    1. Awesome! I am featuring two posts on St. Louis later in the challenge:)

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  3. Tom Sawyer and Hucklebeurry Finn's adventures were my favourite childhood stories :-)

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  4. Very interesting! Fabulous pictures.

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  5. I'd love to visit this place and explore that cave. I'll bring my copy of one of Twain's books along. :-)
    New folllower!

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  6. I've never actually read Tom Sawyer. :O I know, I know. Shame on me! But your description of it makes me want to pick it up and read it. :)

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    1. I think it was mandatory for me as a kid. And since this is his hometown, it's required reading here at the middle school:)

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  7. It would be cool to explore that cave! I never read Tom Sawyer, but I did read Huckleberry Finn.

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  8. It would be cool to explore, but I wouldn't want to get lost like those boys. Think I'd take a really long rope to mark my way back. Well, probably several ropes.

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  9. I'd like to visit the cave! In answer to your question, we played on railway lines too. Unthinkable now!
    Anabel's Travel Blog

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  10. I am a big fan of Mark Twain. My book club read a book about Mark Twain's time in Buffalo, when he was the editor of The Buffalo Express.
    The cave adventure sounds like a lot of fun to me, and I'd love to visit it. I also would very much like to visit Missouri, as well. I attended the University of Missouri (Columbia) School of Journalism half a million years ago!

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  11. My wife's grandparents lived in Hannibal and it is one of my deepest regrets that we only went there one very brief visits that didn't allow time to go visit the caves. Her grandparents have since past but I do hope to make the trip again soon.

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  12. I was not an explorer as a kid. I prefered going to Disneyland, which I knew pretty well and would never get lost.

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  13. I read Tom Sawyer when I was a kid, I remember it took a very long time. I do remember the cave scene. Yep, I love caves and have been spelunking as an adult! Eerie about those kids, though.

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  14. Those kids were never found? That sounds like an interesting start to a new story. Maybe they went some place magical?

    Heather

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  15. My kids would love to check out this cave! We read both Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn as read alouds a few years ago. Great reads. We live in Massachusetts and have visited the Mark Twain house in Hartford, CT.

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