A Day with Mark Twain

For many years, the big brown sign on I-84 has been calling me to stop in Hartford, Connecticut, to see the home of "Mark Twain" the author of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, and many other books and short stories.  It finally happened! 

His house and the museum nearby were impressive! 

 Visitors are not allowed to go through unattended, you have to pay big bucks for the tour.  It took about an hour and was very educational, though left we with lots more questions.  We learned Samuel Clemens was married, and had four children.  He lost all but one of his children before he died.  I listened intently and read his quotes looking for hope that he was a believer in Jesus.  I felt for him in his losses and love his humor and want to meet him in Heaven.  I found no evidence for his salvation, but I hope his misery was helpful in drawing him to the Creator.  

No pictures were allowed inside, but I still got a picture of my favorite room from the outside.  The house tended to be dark inside, and I wondered if that was the museum people's idea or if the Clemens family actually lived with every shade halfway down all the time.  I think it's the museum people.  Samuel Clemens was a thinker, and would have put the shades wherever he wanted.  I liked that he slept "backward" in bed, feet toward the headboard of bed, head toward the foot of the bed.  The top was beautifully carved and he said if he had paid so much for a beautiful headboard, he was going to lie where he could see it.  He could think outside the box for sure!

Harriet Beecher Stowe and her family had a house right next door.  I wonder if they were friends.  We could have toured her house too, but we didn't have enough time.

We didn't get to see the whole museum either, but we saw enough, and got photos of some of Mark Twain's sayings.  We got enough of a taste of his book Innocents Abroad that both Timothy and I want to read it.

The chosen quotes were a  little too "PC" for me, but I like positive thoughts on travel so have included them for that reason.
 
Timothy was reading studying about Mark Twain while we were in Indiana, and I remembered we were passing his house, and we had rare spare time when I could bring the kids without interrupting Paul's schedule.  Tim distinguished himself while there too.  A lady fell down on the steps and hurt her ankle.  Tim helped her get down the rest of the LONG flight of stairs and get to the first aid people at the front desk.  The lady was so impressed with how helpful he was "and such a gentleman! He even called me ma'am."   :-)  It does a mother's heart good to have people recognize good things in our children.

"Be not wise in your own conceits, fear the Lord and depart from evil."  Proverbs 3:7