From Mormons to Cardinals

We made it out of Mormonland alive, and ventured onward down the Great River Road to Hannibal, MO - site of Mark Twain's boyhood home and...nothing else. Hannibal is a one-trick pony. They have jumped onto the Mark Twain Train, embraced it, loved it, milked it, and then milked it some more. The historic district of Hannibal is small, and an $8 ticket gets you into a few buildings, all of which have some connection with Mark Twain.

While I realize that the spirit of a Mississippi River adventure evokes images of Tom and Huck on a raft, I must admit that I have read nothing by Mark Twain. I believe I was supposed to read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer at one point - probably 11th grade English - but I skipped it. Literature and me don't get along well. I enjoy magazines. And non-fiction.

When we made it to St. Louis, we checked in to the Hilton at the Ballpark, and the view from our window was pretty spectacular if you love looking at baseball stadiums. We're planning to go to the game tomorrow, but don't have tickets. Even though the Cardinals are the reigning World Champs, I think we'll find a way. I checked online, and tickets are still available.






We ventured toward the river for dinner, and found the area called Laclede's Landing. It's a bit of an entertainment area by the river - a few streets of bars, a casino (this one was across the river in Illinois), and a walking area. It was pretty dead. In fact the whole city was. I think we're in a good part of town for Cardinals stuff, but not for where locals adventure. Tomorrow is pretty packed with touristy things, so I do not believe we'll have time to venture into the "local" areas of downtown St. Louis. I sure hope they do exist though, because I look around where we are, and see a ghost town - empty parking garages, nobody walking on the streets, few cars driving, just plain odd. It's like Government Center in Boston around 7pm, but 5 times worse. Before passing judgment on St. Louis as being a big commuter city that people just don't live in or stay in after 5pm, I'm going to give it the benefit of the doubt.