After leaving Nauvoo, Rick and I drove South for an hour and ended in Hannibal, MO. It is a quaint little town where Mark Twain and The Unsinkable Molly Brown were from. In times past, while in Hannibal, Rick and I have toured through Rockcliffe, a beautiful old mansion built in the late 1800's. I love this home! It draws me back whenever I visit Hannibal. It was one of the first homes in the area to have indoor plumbing and electricity. The owner, John J Cruikshank, thought that electricity was a passing fancy but had his home plumbed for it anyway. The old chandeliers are made to use either gas or electricity. After Mr. Cruikshank passed away his wife left the home and went to live next door with her daughter. After she passed away the home was left vacant with all of the furnishings inside for FORTY YEARS! Kids in the area used to break in and dare each other to climb to the top floor. It was 13,000 square feet of "haunted, scary" house at that time. To prove that they made it to the top the kids had to tear off a piece of map that was in the children's schoolroom on the third floor. After being vacant for forty years and within days of demolition a historical society came in and purchased it. This home has amazing character!
We found out that it is now a B&B and we decided to stay there our night in Hannibal.
Can I just say that I really love this home! (oh, did I say that already?) I can't explain why....I just do! It has a mystical ambiance about it. Plus, the grand foyer is so cool! Touring old homes is a favorite past time for Rick and I and this is one of my favorites!
The front facade
Paint is peeling off and it is not in perfect order......such character!!
Our room that we stayed in.
The old tub......
The pull chain toilet.....
The amazing foyer......
The landing on the second floor
The music room.....
...and the dining room. We were served a wonderful breakfast here:)
Rick fooling around on the old trees on the grounds.
When we were in Hannibal that night having dinner, Rick received word that his visits for Wednesday night were canceled so we made an executive decision and decided to stay in MO for another night. After seeing the sights in Hannibal the next day we drove to St. Louis (two hours drive) and enjoyed staying in the downtown Marriott Renaissance. It was such a fun night! We walked around the downtown area and ended up at the Arch.
Before we could go inside the arch we took a riverboat trip on the
Mississippi River along the St. Louis harbor.
The little window inside the arch.
The view
The next morning we toured another old home in the area and then went to the zoo.
It was a great trip and we really enjoyed that extra night. They upgraded us to a Suite on the 17th floor and it was very nice! We arrived home Wednesday night at Midnight.
The End.
I love that your share your vacations....I love the old house to. I love that they have kept the furnishings in tacked. The stairs remind me of, "Gone with the Wind."
ReplyDeleteAnd I love that you and Rick love each other so much, which shows in your pictures.
Oh my goodness--What a FUN TIME!! And it was basically unplanned and quite IMPROMPTU!! I'm delighted that you got to do all that wonderful stuff!! Dennis wouldn't take me up in the Arch this time--said he was too nervous to do it another time. :( I'm sure glad YOU GUYS got to go, though ! I've been about four times, I think, and I love it!
ReplyDeleteThat house in Hannibal looks very familiar to me, but I've never been in it--I didn't even know about it! We stayed in Hannibal some time back and went on a River Boat cruise while there--down the Mississippi, and it was SO FUN! I'm glad you two got to do that in St. Louis! How fun! What a wonderful time you had!