The Other Famous "Mark" From Missouri

Well hey y'all! We was justa sittin around the ol' homestead tryina stew up some ideas for fun times when the thought just came crashin into our noggins like a lightning bolt to a walnut. CRACK! There's another world-re-nowned writer from these here parts apart from our very own Mark: ol Sam Clemens, later to publish under the pen name Mark Twain, was from just up the Mississip in sleepy Hannibal, Missouri! So we packed up some of Grandma's finest spiced cupcakes, and a few cold Diet Cokes and we hit the road for Hannibal!

This is the boyhood home of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, or at least the preserved Americanized version of the historical site. Much of the events and settings of Mark Twain's (Samuel Clemens) most memorable books, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, were drawn from the memories of growing up in this small Missouri town.

Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Christine and Uncle Joe toured Mark Twain's boyhood home and the surrounding buildings used for inspiration for Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn's adventures. These books were some of the earliest children's literature written in a way that illustrated that adults aren't always the smartest and that mischievous kids aren't always such a terrible thing. You can probably recognize that theme in the Harry Potter books as well. Mark Twain was also a sarcastic, humorous old satirist known for his wit in his prose. He'd fit right in with this family.

We thought if Sam Clemens were here today, he would hate selfies, so took some ironically.

We had a good time strolling through the old buildings and laughing at the many humorous quotes. Aunt Christine was certainly a fan of the one above. Every time we turn around she's made another friend with a dog.
It was a fine day for strolling as well. The temperature was in the high 70s (that's Fahrenheit for you UK weirdos) and with the cool breeze blowing in from the river, it felt pretty nice.

Uncle Joe's favorite story, of Tom Sawyer cleverly persuading all the neighborhood kids to pay him to do his chores for him. Aunt Christine obliged for the photo, but that was it. Back to reality.

All that strolling really worked up a proper thirst, so we shuffled down to the Mark Twain Brewery to have a drink and fill up on some grub.

Not too shabby. We'll see what Grandpa has to say on his worldly Trip Adviser rundown.
After some lunch, Uncle Joe wanted to take a look at the Mark Twain Lighthouse, conveniently located up about 600 stairs. Aunt Christine, Grandma and Grandpa declined, and instead checked out a closer view of the Mighty Mississippi River.

I, on the other hand, realized halfway up the stairs that I was too foolish for starting and now too stubborn to stop. The view from the top was pretty nice, though.

This is less of a selfie and more just me hunched over trying to catch my breath from all those damn stairs.

After that, I was ready to just sit in a cool, dark place and relax. Grandma knew just the spot.

              We headed a few miles south of town to explore another source of inspiration for Mr. Clemens in a large cave now known as Mark Twain Cave.
The story goes that when I was a young boy, Grandma and I had stopped in Hannibal on our way back from dropping off Mark at school at Truman State University in Kirksville. I had wanted to go and explore the caves in Hannibal, but I guess we didn't have enough time (or Grandma's patience) back then, so Grandma promised she'd take me back some day. Well, fast forward about 20 years, and here we are! Grandma is true to her word!

Exploring the caves was worth the wait. Plus, it just felt good to get out of the heat as the temperature, much like my stubborn ass on those stairs, just kept climbing.

Apparently, another of Missouri's most famous had been in the cave before as the tour guide talked up a little pencil scribble on the wall as Jesse James' signature.
We learned a lot, but I imagine we would have learned much more had Professor Maddie walked us through the caves.
After we survived our adventure in the cave, it was time to head home. We all made an unofficial pact to go back and read the original Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn books to refresh our memory. What do you know? Maybe there is a bit more history in this old state of ours'. I reckon we just may have to keep diggin...
Hope everyone enjoyed Scott's visit, and hope everyone are doing well. We miss you guys!


                                                                                                                                                  

The GO! St. Louis Great Halloween Race

This weekend, Grandpa, Aunt Christine, and Uncle Joe all ran in the GO! St. Louis Great Halloween Race. Aunt Christine and Uncle Joe have participated in that race in someway in all seven years of its existence.

The weather was perfect and there were lots of great costumes. It was an early morning for us; so early our boys barely twitched an ear on our way out, so they just slept in.

Not us though! Aunt Christine started early to run the 5K, and Grandpa and Uncle Joe ran the Half Marathon.

Grandpa was actually just wearing the trash bag to stay warm, it wasn't part of his costume.

This girl ran a 10K as a T-Rex. Not sure if that's impressive or just stupid.

The race ran past a lot of the iconic sites of St. Louis. Since Uncle Joe is still a bit out of shape, he took every opportunity for a photo op along the course (Totally not cause I was tired).
Uncle Joe is a fan of street art, and took advantage of being around some of the neat art on the St. Louis riverfront. No Banksy pieces that I saw though.

We all had a good time, got some medals, and Grandpa even won a pumpkin pie for placing in his age group! Way to go, Grandpa!

Hope everyone is doing well in London! We miss you guys.

Just Passing Time

Just a hodge podge of recent goings-on around ol' St. Lou, so we've got a bit of a miscellaneous post. A few weekends ago, Aunt Christine and Uncle Joe went to the St. Louis Renaissance Festival. Renaissance Festivals are gatherings here in the USA for drama school nerds in which we Americans just fabricate what we think history was like. In Europe, where history comes from, you don't have to act it out.

A bee flew into my beer. He had a buzz,
but afterwords he was hammered.

 

It was a long day, and Aunt Christine was thrilled by the end of it.

The day before that, Aunt Christine and Uncle Joe went to the St. Louis Cathedral, or at least the unofficial cathedral.

The rally cap worked, and the Cards won!

Unfortunately, even though the Cardinals won while we were at the game, they came up just short of making the playoffs this year. Now we're left to root for my new favorite team, the Anybody-playing-against-the-Cubs. Let's go Anybody-playing-against-the-Cubs!
We're also getting excited for the new Star Wars movie, Rogue One. Have you guys been watching the new season of Star Wars Rebels? Good stuff so far; Uncle Joe was excited to see Wedge Antilles.

Uncle Joe and Aunt Christine have started our own little backyard farm. We repurposed some of the railroad ties from our backyard to build a nice above ground garden. Bantry and Gulliver love it, but not for the potential veggies...

Aunt Christine, Uncle Joe, and Grandpa will be participating in the GO! St. Louis Halloween run this coming weekend. Uncle Joe has been running much more and has really been enjoying the weather out on the Katy Trail.

Not too much else going on around our parts. We love hearing about what the UK Millers are up to. Uncle Joe and Aunt Christine are going to learn more about where you guys live tonight by watching a highly recommended Netflix documentary starring Gerard Butler and Morgan Freeman called London Has Fallen. Looks intense. Miss you guys!

Update on this side of Pond

 Well, after a couple of false starts, I'm going to try to update everyone, again.  We've been busy over here on this side of the pond, and fall has given us very good weather so far.  Below you see me running the Trails for Tails.  Joe was running too, but he is way far ahead.  Christine was there with her work, and Grandma even helped her a bit.

Boo at the Zoo is going strong now.  They really have outdone themselves with the decorations.  This is as you walk toward the Stingrays' inlet.

Every time I go to the Zoo, I stop to see my buddies the vultures, Boris and Natasha.  They are almost always busy fixing their nest.  Apparently, I'm told, that Boris will put a stick in the nest, then Natasha will come along and move it somewhere else. 

 Next door to the buzzards is the American Eagle.  He/she is more sedate and just watches people.  Since he/she is kind of out of the way, many people don't see this guy.  I don't know, but I assume he was injured and rehabbed so he can be exhibited.

 And, when I work in the birdhouse, here is what I do:  those are peanuts which I shuck.

These are waxworms, which I separate from the small flecks of wood that they are shipped in.  Apparently, some of the picky birds need me to provide this service.

 And, I wash the feed dishes, and set them there to dry.  I also make mix up kale and romaine for greens.  I spared you that.

 A couple weeks ago, the Santa swap occurred for the year.  This is Aunt Carolyn's year to have it, so Grandma and I took him over and we went to Moonlight Restaurant for lunch.  Aunt Carolyn had found this pirate Santa, and bought it for me.

In case you hadn't heard, John McCarthy is the new Captain of the Barracuda.  They played the first game last night, but lost, I think it was 3-2.

 I'm not sure if you heard about the senseless murder of a St. Louis County police officer.  He was shot point blank from a guy in a car who had been disturbing the neighborhood.  Turns out the officer, Blake Snyder, was the son of my former dean at Lewis and Clark, and his brother is a pediatric dentist in Godfrey.  The funeral was Thursday, and every overpass had large flags flying over them.  The procession literally went on for miles.  His funeral was in a church in the Valley, and he was buried in Godfrey, where Earle, and our Grandmas, and Grandpas are buried.

This week at the butterfly house I saw something I had not seen there before.  This butterfly laid a large number of eggs on the underside of that leaf.  They are little yellow dots lined up in rows.  She eventually laid about twice that number.

Below is a picture of Grandma preparing for the stein-holding contest.  It's a Masskrug (large stein in German) and it has to be held straight out.  She and Wendy, our friend, competed.  Neither won the whole thing, but Grandma did very well.  I don't know if the video will play, but it downloaded, so we'll see. 

 The last even to document is the Fest-of-Ales, at the Missouri Botanical Garden.  They had abut 30 different craft beers for tasting, and live music.  The weather was absolutely wonderful, and so was the company. 

 That's about it from here.  Hopefully, I'll get this down a bit more timely next time.