Hannibal, Missouri.

Back in school , when I read "Adventures of Tom Sawyer", "Huckleberry Finn" did I have any idea that one day in a not too distant future I would be able to actually find myself in the town that formed the backdrop of these classics ?
I had heard of this place called Hannibal in Missouri which was the hometown of Samuel Langhorne Clemens aka Mark Twain. So when the university sent out an email about its day trip to Hannibal , we friends decided it would be a good chance to have one of those picnics we had in school ...complete with packed lunches and water bottles :-) . When we reached the place what struck me was how much the sleepy little town of Hannibal had become a slave to commercialism....a Mark Twain hotel on one side, a Tom Sawyer store on the other. But I guess, it is a small price to pay when it comes to preserving places with so much history. The most exciting part of the trip was the quarter mile guided tour of the cave . As we entered the cave, and the last person was instructed to shut the entrance after him, I was hit with a severe attack of claustrophobia...which I tried really hard to push aside and concentrate on what the guide was talking . Suddenly the book seemed to come to life . It was so surreal , imagining Tom and Becky lost inside those dark, bat infested caves with just a candle to guide them in the neverending maze. The tour guide was great as he regaled us animatedly with the stories and legends of those times. The caves are scribbled with about 250,000 names of people from all over the world ...but not allowed to write on them anymore. I found a narrow walkway that was aptly called the "Lemon Squeeze" quite amusing :-) . The walls in places appeared polished thanks to the thousands of people who had run their hands over them. The formations in the cave were so incredible that there was even a "room" in one part of the cave complete with a love seat, bookshelf , and a grand piano (that supposedly only plays 'rock' ;-). The village committees used to hold their town meetings in this room, when the weather became too hot outside during summers. After the amazing tour of the caves, we visited the lighthouse and Mark Twains house, the white picket fence :-) , Becky Thatcher's house which were all so well maintained . We walked on the cobblestoned streets, lazed around on the banks of the Mississippi and headed back home.
Deal of the day ? a $2 unabridged version of "Adventures of Tom Sawyer" !! . I know I am never going to forget this trip ...the book is going to take me back everytime I read it :-)
Some sites for those interested :

http://www.marktwainmuseum.org/

http://www.marktwaincave.com/

http://www.marktwaincave.com/Pictures.html