Day 25 - May 6 - Hannibal, MO rest day - Crossing the T.....Part One

Day 25 - May 6 - Hannibal, MO rest day

Wetter Than We Want It To Be

Ed’s Story

I was all ready for oatmeal at breakfast like they advertised on their sign, but alas they didn’t have any. Need to say something to the front desk. The potatoes were good as was the coffee. (Front desk said they had packets - instant - yuck).

The cloud level is at ground level. It is damp and cool today. At times there is enough mist in the air that cars are using wipers. The weather is reminiscent of our rest day in Cairo, but at least there are places we can visit, and eat/drink at.

This hotel has an indoor pool with a 4-foot wall just outside our room. I asked the desk clerk if we could hang our tent gear on the wall. I told her we were traveling by bike and our gear was wet from our last camping experience. She said Yes and now my tent parts are dry.

The next most exciting thing I did was tighten my bike bolts and clean/lube the chain. Like I said exciting.

We are waiting a while (only 1030 AM now) before we head out. Maybe it will warm up/dry up some.

The weather finally let up and we headed to lunch, where else but the Mark Twain Dinette across from the hotel. Double salad and double baked beans was the fare today.

From there it was off the the Mark Twain Home and Museum. Since they offered retired military free entry, we decided to visit the whole site; various homes and museums. We spent over 2 hours walking around.

I wonder what it would be like to tour on this.

As we were walking through the museum I saw a familiar hat. I ran into Greg Serwich, another submariner. He served on 4 submarines.

After the tour we headed to Finn’s Food and Spirits for the spirits.

Eventually headed to dinner and a beer.

Such a beautiful house….it would be a pain to paint, though.

Tomorrow’s tide is 70 miles to Nauvoo State Park in Nauvoo, IL. Nauvoo has a Mormon past, but more on that tomorrow.

So until tomorrow, happy biking!

John’s Story

Had a good night’s sleep. Decent breakfast. Lubed and torqued the bike. Did the laundry. The motel’s laundry is in a different building and up a small hill. I got to walk there and back four times in the rain (take laundry, come back with change for the machines, move laundry to dryer, remove laundry from dryer. By the time I was done I needed to dry the clothes I was wearing.

Called Nauvoo State Park in Illinois where we will camp tomorrow for info. It will be our last night camping on this trip. We received a positive response from a WarmShowers host in Galesburg, IL for Wednesday night, our last night before the end of this tour.

For lunch we crossed the street to the Mark Twain Dinette. I expanded my repertoire of regional sandwiches by having a Maid-Rite sandwich, sort of like a Sloppy Joe but without sauce, just onions, pickles and mustard. I never heard of Maid-Rite before. It’s a franchise found mostly in Iowa whose signature dish is a “loose meat sandwich”. Pretty good. The taste reminded me of what 15-cent burgers used to taste like when I was a kid.

I need to start a collection of regional foods that strike my fancy. Runzas in Nebraska. Pasties in Michigan. Scrapple in Pennsylvania. Goetta in Cincinnati. Livermush in North Carolina. Dry blood sausage in Texas. Now, Maid-Rite sandwiches in Missouri.

Another speciality at the Mark Twain Dinette in Hannibal is their house-made root beer, memorialized in their sign.

Another thing I’ve never seen in a store. I make it at home.

The Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum was worth the price of admission. Maybe not if you count the $86 I just spent on Amazon to buy hard copy editions of the three volumes of Mark Twain’s autobiography. I’ve always loved Mark Twain and have a number of his books at home. Make room on the shelves!

The buildings on both sides of the brick street, plus more, are part of the Mark Twain Museum.

Now that’s one-holer. Just don’t forget to take the lid off the chamber pot before you use it!

If I had more hair in the right places, we’d be twins.

Jumpin’ Jiminy Cricket! All sorts of famous people are from Hannibal.

I was tempted to buy this accessory for my bike, but I’m afraid what would happen if I became airborne.

Mark Twain had advice on many, many topics. We promise never again to wear these shirts at the same time and same place.

On the way out to dinner we noted that more bikers (of a sort) have shown up.

We walked to a pizza place a half mile from the motel and ordered to go. We ate at a small park on the way back to the motel. The trash cans at the park are near boxes. We didn’t realized that Hannibal was infested with mammals of the ursine persuasion. We may have to do a bear hang tomorrow at Nauvoo state Park.

So, back to the motel. Virtually a 100% chance of rain in the wee hours tonight, the same system that will be moving g by the house in Oklahoma City tonight. It should calm down by the time we leave tomorrow, but the rain gear will be at the top of the pile when we go to bed.

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	6
Comment on this entry	Comment	0