By the time we got to Hannibal, Bill and I already had determined that we enjoyed our activities on board the boat more than the shore excursions. Good thing too – our port stops were fairly brief; four hours was typical. We very much enjoyed sitting outside our room on the deck and watching the shore slide by. When the sun or wind got too intense on our side of the boat, we migrated to the Front Porch.
The American Queen traveled upriver at an average speed of 8 miles an hour. This gave us plenty of time to observe the river and its shore. While there are few spectacular geological formations on the upper Mississippi, neither is there much human development. We saw a wide variety of birds, including Great Blue Herons, Common Egrets, Sea Gulls, and Bald Eagles. We were very surprised to find that White Pelicans are common below the dams on the upper Mississippi River. In addition to bird watching, we read, attended lectures, enjoyed the shows in the Grand Saloon, and, of course, ate. For the most part, I did not take pictures of these activities.
We arrived in Hannibal before dawn on Tuesday.
Hannibal was the boyhood home of Samuel Langhorne Clemens - the famous Mark Twain. Mark Twain was an 19th century humorist, satirist, lecturer and author, best known for his novels Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Today, much of Hannibal is devoted to preserving and promoting Mark Twain's legacy.
The paddlewheel was at the stern of the boat.
View of Hannibal through a flood gate
