Is Hannibal Missouri worth visiting?
 

We're visiting relatives near St. Louis this summer and are thinking about visiting Hannibal Missouri. Do you think it is worthwhile, or are other nearby river towns more interesting? Where is a nice place to stay? (We have 3 kids, so B&Bs are probably out.)

Hannibal is cute, but it's easy to have Mark Twain overload.

If it's river towns you want, I would suggest St. Charles (which is actually a suburb of St. Louis and the place where the Mississippi and Missouri rivers converge) or Ste. Genevieve.

IMO Hannibal is worth visiting for a few hours but not worth a stay. The drive up along the river is also interesting.

Keith

How about the Chahokia (sp?) mounds in IL close to St. Louis if your kids are interested in history. Pretty neat Indian site that has been preserved.

I've driven through Cahokia many many times but have never been to the mounds. Are they really worth a visit?

"Author: missypie
Date: 05/05/2004, 03:34 pm
Message: I've driven through Cahokia many many times but have never been to the mounds. Are they really worth a visit?"



Well now...there's a slipery slope!

I liked it better than Hannibal and my kids enjoyed it as well. At the time they were about 9-11 years old. It depends on what you and your family enjoy when it comes to a day trip. I would assume that you have done the arch, zoo, Cards game, etc. since you have relatives here.

I agree hannibal is worth a stop but i wouldn't spend the night. Mark Twain's home is well preserved, as is the "Becky Thatcher" home. The town is really quaint, right on the river. St. Charles is also very cute, but predominantly shoppes.

I'd also stop at the Cahokia Mounds, our son loved them! Its my understanding they're one of very few preserved in america.

I'm trying to make this trip to Belleville for my parents' 50th wedding anniversary a bit of fun, since we won't have a "real" vacation this year. The problem is that we will be there in early August. I haven't lived in S. IL for 23 years, and I know that where we'll be coming from will be hotter, but for August I predict 92 degrees and 98 percent humidity. The idea of wandering around outside at Cahokia Mounds makes me kind of miserable.

We've done the arch. Maybe we'll just try the zoo (it opens at 8 am, so maybe we could be in and out before it's miserable outside.)

I'd also like to stop in Mansfield, MO to see the Laura Ingals Wilder home, but there doesn't seem to be anywhere to stay there.

You might also be interested in the St. Louis Science Center. It is indoors and air-conditioned. There will be some cool new exhibits coming this summer including a new traveling space exhibit and the omnimax theatre. You can check their web site at www.slsc.org. (It is across the street from the zoo, near Forest Park.
Have not been to Hanibal. St. Charles is really fun, for shopping and lunch.
Cahokia Mounds is great. Has a great indoor exhibit and you don't have to walk up the mounds if you don't want to.

We enjoyed Hannibal very much. In addition to the other things mentioned, we took a riverboat cruise, toured the Tom Sawyer caves and went to an outdoor theatrical production. Spent about two days there, and had a great time.

The Cahokia Mounds are well worth an 1 - 1.5 hour visit, and a good chance to let the kids blow off some excess energy.

Keith

Thanks everyone. I don't know if anyone else has this experience, but when we go visit the folks, it generally is a "sit in the house and talk" kind of experience, which drives me nuts, because I have a low tolerance for sitting and talking.

The in-laws live about a hour out of Chicago and we never ever ever ever go into the city. We had to take a spring break trip to Chicago - w/o including the inlaws - to finally get to see the sights. Last time we visited the in-laws, I insisted that we go into Chicago for pizza and to visit American Girl Place and it was as if the world was coming to an end.

While you are in STL, you might also consider the City Museum downtown. While it isn't free, the price of admission is worth it - and much of it is an indoor magical playground. If you want your kids to run off some enegy and not get heat stroke, this is a good place.

I second Cahokia mounds also - the indoor exhibit is interesting and most people don't realize that this was one of the most important sites in the north america at one time.

St. Charles (and all of St. Louis) will probably still be doing lots of lewis and clark stuff all over.

Hannibal didn't do much for me, its a charming river town, but I think I prefer Herman on the Missouri River better, or the Illinois side of the great river road (grafton, elgin, etc)

Have a great trip!

I've been to Hannibal and would highly recommend the Mark Twain Cave. My fiancee as well as my parents and I all enjoyed the tour.

As for the rest of Hannibal you could do it all in about 1 day. It is ~2.5 hr drive from St. Louis.

I would recommend the St. Louis Zoo or Grants Farm. Grants Farm is fun with kids.

Downtown St. Louis is dead except the arch but be sure to visit "The Loop". This is the area near Washington University on Delmar St.

Also worth seeing is Forest park and the remaining buildings from the 1904 Worlds Fair.

heres a cool idea for something to do-
have you ever been to Bonne Terre Mine-
it has been turned into the worlds largest freshwater scuba dive center- and you dont have to do a dive- you can do a tour- its pretty interesting- you'll be underground so nice and cool-
all the mine shafts have filled with water and divers go from shaft to shaft-I thought it was pretty interesting.

Its in the town of Fredricktown - a little south of St Louis-
Also the kids would love Elephant Rocks-close to Ironton
or Johnston Shut Ins- a swimming hole on the river ( dont go there on the weekend) and not for little kids - lots of rocks to dive off , swimming holes etc- very fun place but crowded on the weekend.

I don't know how old your kids are, but as the earlier post said, I would also go to the City Museum. They have a website--just google it.

You will never find such a place anywhere else in your life. The admission is rather high ($12 adults I think) but that's only because the owner, who is the ultra-creative type, didn't want to be affiliated with the non-profits, as they were more about paperwork, rather than the art. You could spend all day there. There is an outside MonstroCIty, that he created with "junk". Yes, everything is made with recycled materials. It's a walking structure, two stories high, that is built and painted to look old and rusty. There is an underground cave that is realatively new and all the stone is hand carved with unique creatures in it. There's even a reasonably priced cafe that you can get a nice sandwich at. In the evenings there is a small outdoor restaurant/bar, called Cabin in the City that he created as a neighborhood bar for the loft residents.

It is housed in the old Brown shoe warehouse on Washington Ave, in the former garment district. You can't miss it, it's the one with the school bus perched off the side of it, looking like it's going to crash to the ground from 15 stories up high!!

Let me just list a couple other exhibits: A "circus" for kids on the top floor with dog acts, etc every couple hours, a small-scale train that kids can ride for free. Then there's the art floor, where you can witness blowing glass demonstrations, clay pottery demos, and kids can make their own art.

The employees are all artsy with many tatoos and multi-colored hair with many piercings, but they are friendly and very helpful and loads of fun. Just artsy looking.

The other place, depending on the kids ages is the Magic House in Kirkwood. It is second in national attractions this year only to Disney. Up to about age 13 will enjoy it. Kirkwood is a great spot where you could walk to Johnny Rockets for lunch. There are cute shops, a farmers market and the Amtrak stops right there also.

Have fun.

Missypie, I loved your description of family gatherings! That's exactly been my family experience, too, and I grew up in Missouri. In fact, believe it or not, BOTH my parents were my Hannibal, MO, and my childhood summers were spent two-weeks at a time in Hannibal.

Hannibal is definitely worth a one-day trip, IMHO, but I don't know a place to stay there, though. Read up on Mark Twain and get your kids ready for Huck Finn-ish stuff to see and do there.

Otherwise, I also hear you re: the heat in St. Louis. Although we were there last summer in Kirkwood and it was so cool we needed sweaters and couldn't swim. Go figure.

The Loop near Wash U. is fun for funky boutiques and restaurants. In fact, Chuck Berry plays frequently at the Blueberry there, so check it out if you like him. And Wash U. is a beautiful campus if you like seeing schools.

Kirkwood is a great little place, with a fantastic public swimming pool complete with a 'lazy river' and water slides.

We enjoyed Hannibal for about 2hrs and then were ready to leave. Hermann is a German town with lots of winery's and while we rally liked it, your kids probablly would not. We loved, loved, loved Grants Farm which is close to St Louis and it is free. The tram ride thru the park to see the animals is shaded and your riding, not walking which is cooler. The free beer for the adults is also cooling. :-) I think it is a great family outing.

I'm pretty sure Grant's Farm is NOT free, nor is the beer. Maybe you're thinking of the zoo being free?

from Grant's Farm website:
http://www.grantsfarm.com/

"Admission to Grant's Farm, tram rides and all shows is complimentary."

But, there are parking fees.

Also " Anheuser-Busch Hospitality is also offered in the Bauernhof area."
Which really means they will give you up to two free small cups of AB product of your choice.

Grant's farm can be a fun day trip. Of course, the OP asked this question over a year ago......just thought I would clear up misinformation about Grant's Farm.

Thanks for the clarification, Liz. Could have sworn we paid last time, but it was several years ago and I must be wrong.

Grant's Farm is a great place to visit. Even in the heat, it's shady enough to not be too hot and exhausting.

Didn't notice this original post was so old!!

Maureen,I think Grant's Farm has always been free, but you used to have to make reservations in advance, and then they would give you the "secret password" for the day. And, then you had to try to remember it, and then, nobody ever asked for it anyway.... So maybe you are rembering that there was a hassle factor involved in going to Grant's Farm. Glad that the entrance policy is more user friendly now.

I should always look at the OP date, but admit, I do not. What's up with people topping such an old post. I don't get it.

To me, it doesn't matter if the posts are old. I often do a search on places I'm planning a trip for - so the "old" information works well for me, too.
Regarding Grants Farm - we went a couple of years ago. It was free and no reservations necessary. Those Clydesdale horses are really amazing. Not only are the beautiful animals, but the male anatomy had my little ones confounded!

I visited Mark Twain Cave this past weekend and can't recommend it. Particularly if you have visited some of Missouri's beautiful caves.

This one is more of a big crack through the earth and you are mostly looking at plain sandstone or limestone. The very few places where there were more interesting things like flowstone, stalagmites, stalactites, soda straws, etc., earlier visitors to the cave removed nearly all of them.

Definitely not worth $15 a person.

Keith

I don't know what I would think if I went to Hannibal today, but I did go with my family on a weekend trip when I was a kid probably 25 years ago. It is one of the most memorable trips I went on - and that's in comparison with vacations all over the US. Not sure what my parents thought, but I loved it. (I had also just ready Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn so it probably resonated with me)

The drive between St Louis and Hannibal is a series of local speed traps. Be careful!

Wonder why we are talking about Hannibal when the original poster was going (or went) in May? Also comments about St. Louis etc? Having said that I don't think Hannibal is that great but it is good for a brief encounter with Huck and Tom and the gang.

A "yes" to St. Louis where we've lived and visited often including Grant's Farm.

ozarksbill

Make that May 2004 for the original post.

Right - it was 2004! We skipped Hannibal on that trip. We did, however, make a stop in Mansfield, MO on the way home for a Laura Ingals Wilder pilgramage. If you're a "Little House" fan and are ever in the neighborhood, it's worth the trip! (They actually have Pa's fiddle there!)

"Wonder why we are talking about Hannibal when the original poster was going (or went) in May?"

Because people continue to read these and make decisions based on the advice. This thread had encouraged me to visit the cave in November.

julesjayhawk, my friend who visited the cave with me had also been there as a child. Her opinion then echoed yours. Her opinion as an adult echoed mine.

Keith

Thank you all, who contributed! As I'll be going in October 2007, I think I can use all the info... especially when the search is not working!

I had a good giggle reading this because I was flooded with memories of all of those horrible camping trips (I'm not a fan of camping) we made to Hannibal when I was younger!

DH and I went back last spring and were less than impressed, with the exception of the ice cream/fudge shop on main street of course! I know this post is really old, and I don't think Hannibal is that bad but there are certainly better and/or far more appealing places to visit in Missouri imo.

Tracy

We did stop in Hannibal on one of many of our family road trips. On the way, we listened to the Tom Sawyer book-on-tape to get us in the mood. It made the visit really fun for all of us. We even did the cave tour and a little musical. Good cheesy fun.

Mark Twain is actually quite the philospher, so there's a deeper side there if you look for it.

Tracy: which places?

(2 ladies of a "certain age" interested in history and appreciate the views if they are easily accessible ;) )

Faina, if it were me I would head to Hermann or Augusta or some of the other towns along the wine region, as the area is just really pretty. http://www.hermannmissouri.com/

Another good place to visit that has a great deal of history is Ste. Genevieve, in southern Missouri about an hour from St. Louis. It was settled in 1735, making it one of the oldest towns in the region. http://www.saintegenevievetourism.org/
From Ste. Genevieve you can easily take the bridge over to Chester, IL, home of the Popeye creater, and get your picture next to the Popeye statue! ;)

Where all will you be going?

Tracy

I did find two restraurants in Hannibal worth visiting last fall:

Accidently hit the "post" button.

To finish:

LulaBelle's Restaurant & Bed & Breakfast. The 90 year old former bordello had an interesting menu and very good food. I had a fried catfish club sandwich (something I had never heard of before) that I would have again.

The 60 year old Mark Twain Restaurant isn't as nice as LulaBelle's, but still interesting with their own root beer, good onion rings and another interesting selection of entrees.

Keith

Keith, if I run out of money, is it still possible to make some in that bordello :))

Tracy, it will be October 14-23, with the first week in St Louis Elderhostel program, after that I'm free.

That Genevieve sounds tempting, but Hannibal is the other way, we'll have to backtrack to go to both :( On the other hand, Genevieve can be combined with Cahokia... oh, choices, choices :)

Now, where is that little house on the former prairie, this may be the tie breaker :))

Sorry, it won't be the bordello for us.

2 posters on TripAdvisor complain on the noice from trains all night, and the room was old and dirty, etc...

Positive reviews on the restaurant, though.