Then we visited the house where Samuel Clemens grew up. We all know him as Mark Twain. Interestingly, he took the name Mark Twain later in life based on a term in the riverboat business of Mississippi in which Mark Twain meant 2 Fathoms Deep and all is safe.
As he was growing up, he had friends who later were included in his books.
Laura Hawkins lived across the street and became Becky Thatcher.
Tom Blankenships lived down the street and became the character Huckleberry Finn. His father, John Clemens, had a law office across the street next to Becky's house.
Joan found today very interesting and wants to re-read Tom Sawyer to put all we learned in perspective.
Next we drove to a house we had seen on the trolley ride -- Rockcliffe Mansion -- and took a tour of the 30-room 1898 home built by a lumber tycoon. It was quite elaborate for its time and we thoroughly enjoyed our guide and the other gentleman on our tour.
Then it was off to the Mark Twain Cave, south of town. Our guide was well-prepared and the path was well lit and fairly smooth. One of the things I saw when pointed out to me was a void in the side of the cave where Jesse James had reportedly hid out while avoiding the law. Unfortunately, you will have to take my work for this because my camera was "full" and it was too dark to erase anything to make room.
Allegedly, Tom and Becky were lost in this very cave for two days......Joan will check this out when she re-reads the book. Our guide also considered himself a bit of a comic For instance, we were in a part of the cave where he showed us a rock formation that looked like a piano and he pointed out that the only music that could be played on it was hard rock.
Not satisfied with that, he came to another section of the cave where a wedding had been held and said it was too bad their marriage had gotten off to a rocky start.
On our way back, we visited Lovers Leap where legend has it that a boy and girl from warring tribes were not permitted to marry, so they took the plunge into the mighty Mississippi.
We ate dinner outdoors overlooking the river on the Missouri side. Not the greatest meal, but a lovely setting.
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