Pit Stop in Hannibal

We made a brief stop in Hannibal on our way to Kansas City after parting ways with Chicago. Immediately upon crossing the Mississippi River and entering Missouri, we hit the small town of Hannibal. The town's claim to fame is that Mark Twain's childhood home is located there and it seems the that locals have astutely attempted to milk this distinction for every penny they can --the author's name was plastered over nearly every corner of the town's main strip.

Because I'm a cheapskate, we chose not to pay the $9 to enter the museum, but instead wandered around town and found some other oddities of note. First, we trooped up a steep incline to find the Mark Twain Lighthouse, which due to the lack of information caused by my penny-penching, we could only assume guided boats down the mighty Mississippi.

As we returned to the main strip, we found a small crowd gathered to watch a bizarre competition that is apparently an annual tradition. A kind lady also shared that the town conducts a "Backstreet Driver" competition in which a person sits in a wheelbarrow giving directions while their blindfolded companion pushes them through an obstacle course. Her son had finished second and she was beaming with pride at this accomplishment. I was kind enough to film the spectacle that we did witness, as well as snap some other shots around the town.

A disclaimer on the video: it is anti-climactic, but we're sharing it for the sheer curiosity of it all.

Hannibal Video

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