Day 14, October 4, Mark twain Cave Campground, Hannibal, Missouri

It was 15.2C this morning, quite comfortable.
Today was a cave tour of the caves that Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) explored as a child. These are dry caves, there are no stalagmites or stalactites.

Mark Twain Cave and Cameron Cave instead have a multitude of narrow, winding passages.The caves are made mostly of a soft limestone called Louisiana Lithographic Limestone and found only in a 35-mile (56 km) area around Hannibal and Louisiana, Missouri. The limestone has been estimated by geologists as around 350 million years old, while the cave passages were formed some 100 million years ago. Mark Twain Cave covers some 6 ¹⁄₂ miles (10.5 km) consisting of four entrances and 260 passages, maintaining a year around temperature of 52 °F (11 °C).

One of the four entrances

"The Parlour"

The extent of the cave system is amazing!


Once out of the cave, we went to Hannibal, the boyhood hometown of Mark Twain. We visited his boyhood home and museum, Becky Thatcher's house, Huckleberry Finn's house and the J.M. Clemens Justice of the Peace Office. 

After Lunch, we all met at the Planter's Barn Theater for a presentation of "Mark Twain Himself" performed by actor Richard Carey. This acclaimed show has been staged in over 40 states, Canada and Bermuda' It is a show complete with comedy, satire and drama, all in the author's own words.
Personally, we found it to be too political, but perhaps that was how Mark Twain was.........