On May 1st, my niece and I went to Hannibal, MO and visited several of the Mark Twain museums. While there, we also took a tour through the Mark Twain Cave. I've been a couple of times in the past but it'd been several years. The times I went before, people were only allowed to take pictures in one specific spot. This time, people were able to take as many pictures as they wanted. So, you bet I did!
The Mark Twain Cave tour is based upon both factual history and fiction inspired Mark Twain’s famous work, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. A tour guide takes you through the hour-long walk and weaves both the fiction and non-fiction together. There are also several interesting stops along the route.
Here's some fun facts regarding the cave:
1. Bats used to be quite plentiful and visitors will notice blackened spots on the cave ceiling where bats used to hang out. There are still a few here and there but you'll rarely see a bat now due to all the people that travel through.
2. The cave is 52 degrees year-round and some of the passageways are electrically lit so visitors can see. There is one spot during the tour where the guide turns out all the lights so you can get an idea of how dark it really is.
3. Norman Rockwell rendered a Tom and Becky painting while actually painting in the cave.
5. Jessie James signed his name in the Mark Twain Cave which is dated September 22, 1879, sixteen days before he robbed a train in Independence. Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain) also signed his name in the cave many years ago but it was only recently discovered in 2019. Both names have been authenticated.
The Mark Twain Cave is a stop I highly recommend. It's visually astonishing and quite the learning experience about the cave itself and about Becky Thatcher/Tom Sawyer.
5 comments:
What a neat place to visit!! That nice cooler temperature would be nice to go in, it's 92 where I live at!
How cool. Seems like it was a fun visit.
WOW in my younger days I loved to go through tour caves. Sounds like there was a lot of interesting stuff to see. This is the first I heard about a Mark Twain tour cave
This sounds like an awesome tour! I've never toured a cave, but I love learning about history.
It's fun exploring caves. We first did cave tours in Tennessee, but I'd like to visit this Mark Twain cave tour as well. Glad you were able to take as many pics as you wanted!
Post a Comment