Hannibal, Missouri- The Mark Twain Museum Gallery

Stacey and I started our Mark Twain Tour at the Mark Twain Museum Gallery and we were instantly transformed into children again. The bottom floor of this museum is very interactive. There are giant book statues turned to pages of some of Twain’s greatest works with fun illustrations, a stagecoach to sit in playing portions of a Mark Twain movie, and so much more.

Twain’s writing desk

Stacey and me playing in the stagecoach

Tell me another story, Twain!

Of course, there’s a whole Tom Sawyer/Huckleberry Finn section since this is the town that inspired those beloved characters. This section was especially fun! There was the cave from the story where we were like little kids playing. We walked through the cave where I jumped when the robber lit up or the bat screeched. It was so much fun! Around the back side of the cave was a fence where you could “have a go” at whitewashing! Our favorite part of the downstairs, though, was the raft that they had built! It was built so it looked (and felt) like it’s sitting on the Mississippi, and there are seats on it so you can watch scenes from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn movie while they’re on the raft. So fun!

I’m totally into this place!

As you go up to the second level, there’s a big open window, where it looks like you’re steering a riverboat onto the Mississippi! You can turn the helm and pull the whistle! (We made a little Instagram video of it- you can watch that here!)

The top floor is an homage to artwork associated with Mark Twain and his books. The coolest artwork, though, was a series of eight Normal Rockwell paintings that he did for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. They’re so much fun! There are also a ton of representations of Mark Twain!

This museum is well worth a visit. There are so many different aspects (even more than I mentioned), interactive things, and so much to see! This is included (along with all the homes) with the ticket. This is such a cool museum and definitely worth the 4-hour drive!

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