Day 54 Mississippi River
After sleeping in, I walked downstairs to be greeted by Jane and a waiting cup of coffee. Scrambled eggs, fried breakfast sausage and buttered toast soon followed.
Garry had headed back to the lake earlier in the morning to attend to a few tasks before heading out to Milwaukee for work in the afternoon.
Following breakfast and small talk I came to the conclusion that it made sense to stay the night with Jane and Garry again this evening. Game 2 of the NLCS, plus the opportunity to go to the grocery store and make the short trip to check out Hannibal, MO was all too good to pass up. After making the decision I retreated to my room to knock out some writing while Jane worked on finding recipes and ingredients for a family get together at the lake this coming weekend.
Sometime in the late morning Gary returned from the lake. Around 1 o'clock we said our goodbyes, with me offering a sincere thank you, as Gary headed out for a drive to Milwaukee. That left Jane and I for the afternoon, and we had big plans.
First on the list was a stop at the local apple orchard, where I was treated to a delicious apple cider slushy (according to Jane, one of Gary's favorite treats) and fresh apples.
Next, a short drive to Hannibal, Missouri; boyhood home of famous American author Mark Twain. I had heard from several people along the way that Hannibal was a stop I had to make, so I was glad to be accompanied by a relative local (Quincy, Janes home, was a short 20 minute drive from Hannibal). We walked back and forth through the quaint downtown area, which was filled with Mark Twain everything. Mark Twain Brewery, Mark Twain Hotel. We stopped at the home Twain grew up in, a modest two story house with painted white walls not far from the river front. We then checked out the Mark Twain museum/gift shop, where I picked up a few postcards to send off to the classrooms I am working with. Jane graciously gifted a new copy of one of Twains famous works "Life On the Mississippi" to me. I'm looking forward to reading it.
After our stop in Hannibal we worked our way back toward Quincy, making a stop at Aldi grocery store to refill my food supply, followed by dinner at a family favorite, a Mexican joint called El Rancherito.
The evening was spent watching game 2 of the NLCS. It was great watching the game with Jane, as she was no slouch of a Cubs fan, knowing all the players and fretting for when the bullpen was called on. Once again, our hearts were broken, this time in walk off fashion, but either way it was a great day spent with good folks in a unique part of the country.
Tomorrow I'll set off South, with St. Louis in my crosshairs. Life on the Miss rolls on.
