Best Friends and Life on the Mississippi

There are a couple of people who are a very important part of the Chat family life. We have shared some great times over the past 11 years. We've seen each other through the good, the bad, the loss, and the heartaches. But no matter what, we are there for one another. We share our strengths, weaknesses, flaws and above all else, our love for God & Christ. We are not "conventional" Christians. If you met us, you would know what I'm talking about. But you would instantly know that we love to laugh. We like to find humor in all things. And when we're together, humor we DO find. Chatty says that she can't take us ANYWHERE!!!!! If the truth be told, she gets a real kick out of us. Although, I have seen her walk away when we start having "too" much fun. *heeheehee.* Ain't life grand?

This holiday found us , along with our friends, making our way to a very popular town along the mighty Mississippi river. Yes, that's right! Hannibal, Mo. The boyhood home town of Samuel Clemens (a.k.a Mark Twain). The town and the characters in the Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn books were based upon the town and the people of Hannibal.

I still haven't gotten the knack of taking good pictures for my blog corner. I always forget to take a camera along on my adventures. Chatty gets so engrossed in sight-seeing and shopping that she misses a lot of great photo opportunities. I guess I'll have to quit laughing so much and start taking my blogging responsibilities more seriously.

Hannibal, MO

These are some buildings along the main drag of the old part of Hannibal. In fact, all of the buildings in this part of town have been maintained to keep it's original look of the 1800's. On this Memorial Day weekend, the town was having a festival. This street was closed down so that Merchants and Vendors could set up booths to hock their wares.

Display in Mark Twain Museum

Direct your attention to the buildings to the right. The brown building is the Clemens Drug Store. Mark Twain's dad purchased the whole front row of buildings around the corner from the Drug Store (The view that you can't see from this angle. I will get better at taking pictures, I promise). If I remember correctly, Mark Twain's dad died at the age of 49 when Mark Twain was 11 years old. The family fell on hard times and had to sell everything they owned to pay bills. The white building directly behind the Drug Store was Mark Twain's dad's law office. After a man was shot in the street, this is said to be the building they dragged him into. They put a Bible on his chest so they could see when he stopped breathing. We failed to get a picture of the outside of Mark Twain's boyhood home. Becky Thatcher's home was under renovation so we didn't get to take a tour of it. This picture was taken standing in front of Mark Twain's boyhood home. WRONG..WRONG..WRONG.. Correction....The buildings to your right are not the drug store and the law office....the white one is Mark Twain's boyhood home. The brown one is the gift shop. The picture was taken when we were standing between the Drug Store and the Law Office.

Chatty in front of the infamous whitewashed fence.

We're not Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn. But we ARE best friends who get ourselves into some pretty amusing situations sometimes. THINK: Lucy & Ethel!

Whose idea was this anyway??? At the foot of the steps there was a sign posted that stated whoever made it back down would get a survivor's award. And us being the crew that we are, we accepted the challenge. The sign, however, failed to inform us that there were 244 steps up (which means, 244 steps back down...a total of 488 steps).

This was at the top of the hill. Which (yippee!) meant the end of our uphill climb. This Memorial Lighthouse was built in 1935 for the commemoration of Mark Twain's 100th Birthday. In 1960, a wind of 70 m.p.h. blew the Lighthouse down. It was restored and dedicated in 1963. On March 24, 1963, President Kennedy pressed a button in Washington D.C. to turn the light back on. In 1994 President Clinton pressed the button to relight the beacon.

This was our view from the Lighthouse. The Mighty Mississippi.

And now

In honor of the men and women who fight to give us our chance to experience "peace & freedom" and to share good times & holidays with family & friends. A salute to the people who fight to keep our country "One nation under God":

To all, past and present, who have served and are serving....THANK YOU so much! Words can never and will never express how much gratitude and respect the U.S. citizens and the country owe to you and to your families!!!! May God bless you all!!!!