North America Travel

Winnipeg’s Historic French Quarter

Manitoba, Canada

by Donna Janke

St. Boniface, Winnipeg’s French Quarter, sits on the east side of the Red River, across the Provencher Bridge and the neighbouring, impressive pedestrian bridge, Esplanade Riel. St. Boniface was founded in 1818 with the establishment of a Catholic mission. It became part of Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1972 when Winnipeg and its surrounding suburbs merged into one city. Home to one of the largest French-Canadian communities outside the province of Québec, its rich history includes voyageurs, fur traders, European settlers, Catholic missionaries, rebellion, and the birth of the province of Manitoba.

The best place to start exploring St. Boniface’s heritage is at the former St. Boniface City Hall, which now houses a tourism office. It is also the starting point of a guided walking tour of old St. Boniface. The red brick building dating back to 1906 is the first item on the tour. Other points of interest include an outdoor sculpture garden beside the tourism office, a Romanesque-revival style brick firehouse built in the early 1900s, a cultural center, a train station built in 1913 that now houses a restaurant, a French-speaking university, and St. Boniface Cathedral. The tour ends on the grounds of Saint-Boniface Museum.

Université de Saint-Boniface provides French-speaking college education to francophone students from around the world. Its long history began in 1818 when Father Provencher established a school to teach Latin to French-speaking boys. The school grew, moved into larger buildings, and expanded its curriculum. In 1922 the institution was destroyed by fire. Arthur Béliveau, Archbishop of St. Boniface, donated a new seminary at what is the current location of the university. Today the institution offers a variety of undergraduate and graduate university degree programs and continuing education classes.

Louis Riel, a controversial figure in Canadian history, was one of Université de Saint-Boniface’s most famed alumni. He is considered a hero by some and a traitor by others. Born in 1844 in St. Boniface, he became a leader of the Métis people, a recognized Canadian aboriginal people of mixed European and First Nations heritage. In the late 1860s unrest grew among the Métis in the Red River area, fearing their livelihood and way of life was threatened by the planned transfer of land from the Hudson’s Bay Company to Canada. In 1869, Riel’s forces took control of Fort Garry, the headquarters of the Hudson’s Bay Company. From 1869 to 1870, he led a provisional government, a government which would eventually negotiate terms leading to Manitoba becoming a Canadian province and ensuring some protection of French language rights. He is frequently called the “Father of Manitoba”.

During Riel’s provisional government, his forces arrested men who had plotted to recapture the fort. Thomas Scott, one of the men arrested, was court-martialed and executed by firing squad. The outrage over this incident led the Canadian government to send in forces and regain control of the region. With a bounty on his head, Riel fled to the United States. He returned to Canada, to what is now the province of Saskatchewan, in 1885 to help Métis obtain legal rights. His peaceful petitions produced little result and the Métis rebellion turned violent. Canadian government troops squashed the rebellion. Riel was put on trial for treason. A jury found him guilty but recommended his life be spared. The judge ignored the jury’s recommendation and sentenced Riel to death. He was executed and buried in the cemetery at St. Boniface cathedral. A granite tombstone now identifies his grave, initially marked by a wooden cross.

St. Boniface Cathedral is a major Winnipeg architectural landmark. A fire in 1968 destroyed the 1894 church, leaving its historic stone walls. Behind the facade of the ruined church sits a newer, modern church, a cathedral within a cathedral. Stained glass windows designed by architect Etienne J. Gaboury decorate the new church. Old and new coexist in a quiet and peaceful setting.

Saint-Boniface Museum, Winnipeg’s oldest building, was originally a Grey Nuns Convent. Built in 1846, it is a good example of Red River frame construction. The grooved post construction technique was common in the area in the 19th century. Squared oak logs were laid on a foundation of fieldstone. Upright timbers with grooves cut into their sides were added. More squared logs with tenons at each end to fit into the grooves were stacked horizontally to form the walls.

Inside the museum, exhibits reveal the lives and culture of Manitoba’s Francophone and Métis communities. The large collection of artifacts in the Louis Riel exhibit include his trunk, a lock of his hair, his shaving kit, his cribbage board, his moccasins, and the coffin he was originally laid in. Louis Riel’s sash, or ceinture fléchée, is also on display. The ceinture fléchée is a traditional piece of French-Canadian clothing, widely worn in the 18th and 19th centuries, wrapped twice and tied around the waist. Other exhibits include depictions of fur trading life, clothing from the 1800s, artwork, and a chapel. My favourite part was the rooms depicting life in days past, complete with weathered wood beams, hooked rugs on wood plank floors, white metal-framed bed, and cast iron stove.

La Maison Gabrielle-Roy, to the east of old St. Boniface, provides glimpses into the life of a middle class Francophone family in the early 1900s and insight into renowned author Gabrielle Roy. Gabrielle Roy was the recipient of many prestigious literary awards and her books, written in French, were translated into many languages. Roy’s father, a colonization officer, had the house built in 1905. Gabrielle Roy was born in 1909, the youngest of 11 children. The house now functions as a museum and rooms have been restored to look as they would have during Gabrielle’s childhood. The floors are original and the wall colours authentic to what would have adorned the Roy household. The furnishings are not the original Roy family furnishings, but are true to the period. The piano in the parlor is a Bell piano, the same kind that had a prominent place in the Roy family’s life.

To the north of the old City Hall, Fort Gibraltar provides a look back in time to the period of the voyageurs and the fur trade. Voyageur is a French word translated literally as “traveler”. Voyageurs transported furs by canoe.

Fort Gibraltar is a replica of the original fur trading post built in 1809. The fort was abandoned in 1835 and destroyed by flood in 1852. The replica was built in 1978 to reflect key elements of life in the Red River valley from 1815 – 1821. Inside its wooden walls, costumed interpreters relive daily life of the original inhabitants. They are behind the counter in the general store, forging metal at the blacksmith’s shop, sewing, tending to an outdoor fire, and working in the workshop. Fur pelts hang in the warehouse. A fur press sits along one wall. It was used to press the fur into 90 pound bales for transport in canoe. A voyageur would typically transport two bales at a time.

While any of these historic sites is worth a visit on its own, the experience of visiting all of them provides a richer picture of the area’s heritage and brings the history of Winnipeg’s French Quarter to life.

The artworks in the museum are equally fascinating, showing the artistic style and creativity of Canada in the 19th century. The unique handicrafts and exquisite paintings reflect Canada’s profound cultural heritage.

Custom Luggage Tags Canada can extract the essence of these artworks and present them on luggage tags in a novel way. Perhaps it is a close-up of a painting or a simple outline of a handicraft, which can make the luggage tag a unique souvenir.

Every time you travel with your luggage, seeing this luggage tag is like being in a museum again, feeling the influence of art, which also makes your travel memory more profound.

If You Go:

♦ The guided walking tours run daily through summer months at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., take 75 to 90 minutes and cost $8.
♦ Adult admission to Saint-Boniface Museum is $6.
♦ Adult admission to La Maison Gabrielle-Roy is $5. Hours vary by season. Check their website: www.maisongabrielleroy.mb.ca.
♦ Fort Gibraltar is open to the public during summer months. Adult admission is $8.
♦ Visit the St. Boniface tourism site: www.tourismeriel.com

About the author:
Donna Janke writes both fiction and travel pieces. Born and bred on the Canadian prairies, she loves to explore her home province of Manitoba as much as she loves discovering other parts of the globe. She has a travel and writing blog at www.destinationsdetoursdreams.blogspot.ca

All photos are by Donna Janke:
Riel Esplanade pedestrian bridge
Université de Saint-Boniface
Louis Riel tombstone
St. Boniface Cathedral
Saint-Boniface Museum
Display of Louis Riel’s sash and cribbage board at Saint-Boniface Museum
La Maison Gabrielle-Roy
Fort Gibraltar

Exploring the Florida Keys by Kayak

by Roy A. Barnes

The Florida Keys are made up of some 1,700 islands. From Miami to Key West, this archipelago stretches over 150 miles alone. It’s here where I found some unique saltwater kayaking opportunities stretching from Cow Key to Key Largo.

Kayaking through the Cow Key Channel

The two hour, 1.5 mile roundtrip through the Cow Key Channel beginning at US Highway MM (mile marker) 4.1 (just outside of Key West) with Lazy Dog Kayak Guides involved a steady current that’s heavily influenced by the two high and low tides coming from both the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean each day. The firm breeze helped to counter the muggy conditions. Bethany and her four-legged companion Tucker (a.k.a. “Mr. T”) served as our guides.

Through her guidance as we kayaked through open waters 2-10 foot deep, a natural mangrove creek and one “hurricane hole” (a pond surrounded by mangroves that offer more protection from hurricanes), I got an up close and personal view of primary Red Mangrove trees, whose prop roots filter out about 95 per cent of the saltwater while the trees’ leaves sacrifice themselves to filter out the rest of the salt so the trees can have “potable” water. Their death means decomposition in the channel, which creates the soil ingredients to build up the small islands.

In my 12 foot Perception model, I heard the soundtrack of Osprey, Great Blue and White Heron as I paddled through the waters, ranging in depth of two to ten feet. Bethany often stopped alongside the mangrove growth to educate our group about the plant and animal life thriving here, letting us hold them, like the prickly-feeling Florida Spiny Sea Star, and the Sea Cucumber, which has the feel of its vegetable counterpart. She was excited when she came across a government-protected Queen Conch, a large creepy-looking snail that would make the subject of a good horror film.

Venturing to the Key with “No Name”

Just four miles off of US 1 at MM 30, I found a more isolated, off the beaten path world, where I kayaked roundtrip over a couple of hours in waters 1-18 feet in depth from Big Pine Key to the No Name Key (where the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion was staged). The winds whistled through the palms on a mostly cloudy morning and afternoon, helping to keep the heat and mugginess in check. Our guide from Big Pine Kayak Adventures was Bill Keogh. He’s kayaked 800-plus of the Florida Keys.

Like Bethany at Cow Key, Keogh’s four-footed friend joined, a friendly mixed breed named Scupper, who quickly won my fondness. As we set off from Big Pine Key, the scent of sulfur permeated my nostrils because of the decomposing seagrass which this key catches from Florida Bay. Getting to No Name Key meant crossing the Bogie Channel’s choppy waters (about a 1/3 mile long) in a 12 foot Vapor that weighed 50 pounds.

When I looked down into the more shallow waters, I caught the sight of flat Turtle Grass, round Manatee Grass, and soft-looking Shoal Grass waving back and forth. Being out in this wide channel heightened my sense of isolation from the hustle and bustle only a few miles away. My eyes took in the sight of a kettle of turkey vultures heading south for winter. Arriving at the No Name Key, we paddled into a deep mangrove forest via a very narrow creek, so narrow that I dismantled my paddle into halves, using one along with low-hanging branches to navigate hundreds of feet. But awaiting my camera was a camouflaged Yellow-Crowned Night Heron bouncing around from tree to tree as well as a variety of crabs climbing the densely-packed branches.

Breakfast and pelting rain in Boot Key Harbor

“Kayak Dave” said this about how one paddles a kayak, “It’s like sex, so long as you’re having fun, it doesn’t matter how you do it!” He admonished me to turn my body more instead of my elbow during my three mile roundtrip to and from Boot Key (where Radio Marti broadcasts to Cuba take place) as light to moderate rain pelted me from above the first half of my journey. Thunder and lightning thankfully weren’t part of the storm. We started out at Sombrero Beach on Marathon’s Vaca Key, facing the Atlantic. This Key is named for “the cow of the sea,” the manatee. Vaca is Spanish for cow.

En route to Boot Key via Boot Key Harbor my eyes caught sight of million dollar homes sharing the shorelines with red mangrove forests. The snowy egrets were plentiful, but very camera shy when approaching them for a close up shot. My 12.5 foot, 44 pound Cobra Navigator was much more prone to capsize as I navigated through this Key’s creek. The tree branches created such an obstacle that leaning into them wrongly could result in capsizing. “No-see-ums” (biting midges) terrorized my eyes inside the still waters, but I was covered up otherwise, avoiding further torture. I at least caught my first glimpse of a yellowish nurse shark as it swam at the bottom of the creek.

The longest 1.5 miles in the Key Largo area

I’d never forget the challenges I faced over 1.5 miles using a sea kayak the first time. One of the realities of this sport is that weather plays a pivotal role on one’s experience. I set off from Key Largo into Garden Cove in a Current Designs 17 foot, 52 pound sit-in model. The 25 knot winds immediately caused me to drift about in the rough waters either because my foot pedal adjustments (foot pedals move the rudder) made on shore didn’t lock in and/or I didn’t keep my feet fully on them.

It came at a time when I needed to cross an area shared by motorboats; and thus, fear almost got the better of me. But thankfully, my guide Todd of Florida Bay Outfitters and another really skilled kayaker came back to “rescue” me, getting on both sides of my vessel to readjust the foot pedals. I made my way southward down North Sound Creek, which separates Key Largo from Rattlesnake Key. It was here where I’d see the beginnings of another red mangrove island, as numerous red mangrove trees were scattered about like an archipelago obstacle course.

For as the gusts of winds blew this way and that in the creek (which were less strong), I found myself getting stuck against the trees, which meant that Todd had to fall back from the rest of the group to bail me out. I’ll admit that the wind is something that I found hard to deal with even as sunny skies above at least kept me dry. Nonetheless, as we ventured back to Key Largo across the cove, the guide had to tow me in the headwinds part of the way. Still, I had to still paddle my kayak, trying to emulate the strong motions he did in leading me safely, even as the swells hit my boat, splashing salt water on my jacket, face, and mouth. I found shelter against some mangroves while waiting for him to come back with others.

Florida Keys Private Snorkel n’ Sandbar Party for Small Group

If You Go:

♦ Lazy Dog Kayak Guides: www.lazydog.com
♦ Big Pine Kayak Adventures: www.keyskayaktours.com
♦Kayak Dave’s Adventures South Florida Kayak Tours: www.kayaktoursflorida.com
♦Florida Bay Outfitters: www.kayakfloridakeys.com
♦Florida Keys Tourism Council: www.fla-keys.com
(Tours and equipment used are subject to change.)

Key West Full-Day Power Adventure: Sailing and Water Sports

About the author:
Roy writes from southeastern Wyoming, and is a frequent contributor to Travel thru History.
Disclosure: The writer attended a press trip sponsored by Florida Keys Tourism Council but what he wrote were his impressions that were not vetted by the sponsor.

All photos by Roy A. Barnes and may not be used without permission.

Pauline Johnson, Vancouver’s Mohawk Princess Poet

by W. Ruth Kozak

If you visit my city, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, you are sure to spend some time in one of Vancouver’s unique tourist attractions, Stanley Park. The park covers 404.9 hectares (1,000 acres) of rainforest and is the largest city park in North America. It was named for Lord Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby who became Governor General of Canada. Stanley Park was first opened as a public recreation area in 1887. The park, which is located at the western entrance to Vancouver’s harbour, was originally settled by the Coast Salish people. It was their hunting and gathering ground and became the favorite haunt of an Indian princess/poet, Pauline Johnson, the first Native Indian to be published in Canada. Her book “The White Wampum” gained her high literary standing.

Born March 10, 1861 on her father’s estate “Chiefswood” on the Six Nations Indian Reserve near Brantford, Ontario, Pauline was the youngest child of G.H.M. Johnson, head Chief of the Six Nations and his English wife Emily S. Howells. Her Indian name was Tekahionwake. She was considered a “princess” because her father was the scion of 50 noble families which composed the historical confederation founded by Hiawatha, a noble chief made famous in a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. It was known as the Brotherhood of the Five Nations.

Pauline’s education was meagre — a nursery governess for two years, attendance at a Native Canadian day school, and two finishing years at the Brantford Central School — but she was well educated in the School of Nature. With her voracious reading, retentive memory, and keen mind, Pauline acquired a wide knowledge of literature, especially poetry. Before she was twelve, she had read all the classics. Her fiest poems were published in New York and Toronto. By the time she was in her 20’s she became known for her public appearances and poetry readings, traveling from the Atlantic to the Pacific coasts of Canada. She also made several trips to England to perform and was presented to the Queen. She performed in dance halls across the country often clad in a buckskin outfit and a bear claw necklace to represent her Mohawk heritage and then later in the performance she’d change into a silk evening gown honoring her British ancestry.

Much of Johnson’s poetry focused on her cultural back-ground. In A Cry From an Indian Wife she wrote:

Go forth, nor bend to greed of white man’s hands.
By right, by birth, we Indians own these lands,
Though starved, crushed, plundered,
Lies our nation low;
Perhaps the white man’s God has willed it so.

Pauline Johnson made many trips to the west coast, eventually settling in Vancouver. She spent much of her time in Stanley Park. She was an ardent canoeist and a great lover of nature and wrote many poems about the park.

As I enter the Park, I cross under the causeway and take the path to Lost Lagoon. Originally part of Coal Harbour, it was a tidal basin where Indians dug clams. In the early days, visitors to the park had to pick their way over a large log anchored in the mud flats until eventually wooden bridge was built. The causeway, constructed of earth, ashes and street-sweepings, was built in 1888. Pauline Johnson loved to paddle her canoe here. She named this tidal pool “Lost Lagoon” because of the way it emptied when the tide ebbed, and she wrote:

O! lure of the lost Lagoon/ I dream tonight my paddle blurs/ The purple shade when the seaweed stirs/ I hear the call of the singing firs/ In the hush of the golden moon.

The native name for Lost Lagoon is “Chul-Wah-Ulch” which means “a bog which is dry when the tide is out” Once there were Indian dwellings on the north side of the lagoon. Now, trumpeter swans, mute swans, duck families and grey herons make their home on the lagoon.

As I walk along the lagoon, I can feel Pauline’s presence and recall her poem about the Lagoon:

It is dusk on the Lost Lagoon,
And we two dreaming the dusk away,
Beneath the drift of a twilight grey-
Beneath the drowse of an ending day
And the curve of a golden moon.

I follow the path to the end of the Lagoon to the seawall at Second Beach. As I walk along the seawall I come to another place that Pauline Johnson liked to visit in the park —Siwash Rock “where the twining roadway branches in two.” This monument of nature stands as a reminder to the Squamish people of one man who lived a good life. The tall pinnacle of rock that rises just off the shore represents Skalsh, a warrior who was turned into stone by Q’Uas the Transformer as a reward for his unselfishness. It is one of the best known legends about a young Indian who was about to become a father and decided to swim in the waters of English Bay to purify himself so his new-born son could start life free of his father’s sins. The gods made Sklash immortal by turning him into a pinnacle of rock. Two smaller rocks representing his wife and son stand in the woods overlooking Siwash Rock.

Pauline Johnson died in Vancouver at the age of 53, on March 7, 1913. The hardships of travel in those days had taken a toll on her health and in the latter years of her life this remarkable woman, known to her friends as ‘a beloved vagabond’ became an invalid. The last thing she wrote was her will, nine days before her death at 53, in which she requested no public mourning, no tombstone or monument. But a huge funeral was held with hundreds of people in the streets to honor her. Her will and ashes were lost for 43 years before they were found in the vault of a Vancouver law firm. Her ashes and two of her books Legends of Vancouver and Flint and Feather were eventually buried near Siwash Rock. In 1922 the Women’s Canadian Club of Vancouver erected a monument in her honour.

I visit the cairn in a cedar grove at Prospect Point near the Stanley Park Tearoom. It’s a simple relief carved out of a large piece of natural rock, where water flows from the rocks into a small hollow pool at its base. This day, someone has left a bouquet of flowers in her memory. I pause, engulfed in the silence of the tall cedars that surround the shrine, and pay homage to this remarkable woman whose beautiful poetry has given such a special meaning to Stanley Park.

If You Go:

Explore Chiefswood

Vancouver Archives

If you visit Vancouver BC be sure to go to Stanley Park and you’ll see Lost Lagoon. Or take the road around the Park to 3rd Beach and up the steps by the roadside you’ll find the memorial stone to Pauline.

More Information:

PAULINE JOHNSON’S BIO
E. Pauline Johnson at Digital Library

BOOKS

Paddling Her Own Canoe: The Times and Texts of E. Pauline Johnson (Tekahionwake) (Studies in Gender and History)

Buckskin and Broadcloth: A Celebration of E. Pauline Johnson — Tekahionwake, 1861-1913

Flint & Feather: The Life and Times of E. Pauline Johnson, Tekahionwake

POETRY COLLECTIONS

About the author:
W. Ruth Kozak is a historical fiction writer, travel journalist, poet and playwright who lives in Vancouver B.C. Canada. She is the former editor and publisher of TRAVEL THRU HISTORY. When she was young, Ruth lived in Brantford, Ontario and became interested in First Nations history and the story of Pauline Johnson. One of her favorite places in Vancouver is Stanley Park. www.ruthkozak.com and www.inalexandersfootsteps.com

Photo credits:
Ceremony at Pauline Johnson’s grave by Thomson, Stuart / Public domain
Tekahionwake ca 1895 by Cochran / Public domain
Cover of 1895 edition of White Wampum by Pauline Johnson – Public domain
Siwash Rock, Vancouver by Andrew Raun under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

Mark Twain’s Hannibal, Missouri

Road Trippin’ With Tom and Huck

by Mike Marino

“Hannibal has had a hard time of it ever since I can recollect, and I was “raised” there. First, it had me for a citizen, but I was too young then to really hurt the place.” (Mark Twain comment in a letter to the Alta California newspaper, dated April 16, 1867)

Think Twain, think Hannibal, Missouri. Think Twain, think Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, literature’s version of the Lost Boys. All of the various places that have been ingrained in literature and carved into the fertile imagination of young boys and girls since the publication of these two books, are based on real life characters and perhaps some exaggerated childhood exploits of Tom, Huck, Becky Thatcher and mostly of their creator, Mark Twain, or Sam Clemens.

Clemens was born in 1835 in Florida, Missouri but, his family soon moved to Hannibal where adventurous young boys could get into any amount of trouble they cared to. It was a time of superstition that involved graveyard remedies, ghosts, river pirates, escaped slaves and riverboats. Although young Clemens changed his name to Mark Twain and moved west to establish himself as a journalist and writer, his early writings were drawn from experience and the people he came into daily contact with in Hannibal, which would always have a gravitational influence on him, his writings. The stories were infectious, and in Hannibal today you can walk in the footsteps of Mark Twain’s own boyhood. Better yet, you can walk in the footsteps of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, and sail on a raft of literary history throughout the town including the annual National Tom Sawyer Days Celebration.

Hannibal history has a distinct “Twain Factor” and you can get a full dose of it on your visit to the Mark Twain Boyhood Home, Museum and Garden. The Interpretive Center has interactive displays, and from there you can tour the house where young Sam Clemens was raised. It is also the literary location of Tom Sawyer’s home. There is a magnificent garden in the yard enclosed by a stone wall that was built in the 1930’s as part of a WPA works project. The gift shop is a tribute to all things Twain including souvenirs and of course, Mark Twain books!

The complex includes the boyhood home of Tom Blankenship, the prototype for Twain’s endearing character of that river rascal, Huck Finn. The Becky Thatcher home includes a well stocked gift shop with toys, souvenirs, books, and collectibles. This is the home of Laura Hawkins, the inspiration for Becky Thatcher who Tom Sawyer had a crush on. As you enter the Becky Thatcher home and gift shop, walk up the flight of stairs and turn right at the top. There you will find “Becky’s” bedroom set up in alit’s early 19th Century furnishings and a recorded history of the home and it’s place in Southern literature.

One final stop on the Boyhood Home Complex is the bronze Tom and Huck Statue at the foot of Cardiff Hill. You can pose for a photo and be one of Tom and Huck’s “robber gang.” Look beyond the statue, and you’ll see 244 uphill steps that lead to the historic wooden Mark Twain Memorial Lighthouse, and be rewarded with a Birdseye view and sweeping panorama of the river and the town of Hannibal.

Get your spelunking shoes on and tour the Mark Twain Cave Complex. Tom and gang were lost in the cave and this is the cave where a young Sam Clemens and his friends used to fight imaginary pirates and other acts of childish daring do. The cave has guided tours, a visitor center, the obligatory gift shop (they are everywhere!) and two of the caves.

Want to camp it up at a cave? Pull your RV rig or pitch a tent at the Cave Complex Campground. They have 99 sites available with access to rest rooms, laundry, showers and a store for camping supplies and fire wood. Hikers will enjoy a trek to view wildlife that is abundant in the area, and unwind later in the day with a game of volleyball, basketball or horseshoes. If you bring the kids along, they can burn off energy at the campground playground. Now the real fun begins!

Across from the Cave Complex is the Sawyers Creek Fun Park with bumper boats, waterworks, miniature golf for all you mini-golf duffers, a cafe and the towns only all year round Christmas store with an abundant selection of Christmas ornaments, trees, and holiday decorations to give your Christmas a Mississippi River flair. The Mark Twain Riverboat has daily excursions including a one hour sightseeing cruise or a two-hour romantic sunset dinner cruise where you can wine and dine with all the nostalgic ambiance of an earlier slower paced era of style and class.

For over 50 years! Hannibal has been host to the annual National Tom Sawyer Days. Part of the festivities are the Tom and Becky Pageant where they choose that years “Tom and Becky” to represent the town. The young entrants walk around town in costume and in character to greet tourists and locals alike.

The celebration includes a fence painting contest, a frog jumping contest, mud volleyball, and a carnival. the Downtown is the center of activity with vendors, arts and crafts booths. music and other entertainment along with the Mighty Miss Raft Race! The festival is timed to coincide with the Fourth of July every year, so there is a parade and at night you can join thousands down on the banks of the river for the annual fireworks display that is quite spectacular.

If the fireworks are spectacular try the Ghost Tour on for size and visit all the sites of Haunted Hannibal aboard a shuttle bus with tales of murder and mayhem and paranormal apparitions. You’ll visit the Baptist Cemetery for a ghostly tour of the grave sites of slaves, Confederate soldiers, murderers and their victims. There is also a haunted dinner and ghost walk available and to top it all off, you can stay at one of the haunted bed and breakfasts where ghostly apparitions may appear to share the room with you in a scene right out of House on Haunted Hill.

Tom and Huck are waiting for you down by the river in Hannibal and remember, in the south there is a twang factor, but in Hannibal, it’s the Twain Factor!

If You Go:

♦ Shopping options include everything from souvenir shops to toy stores to bookstores. For the sweet tooth there is a popcorn and candy store and ice cream parlors to cool you down on a hot Hannibal day midsummer. Art is as abundant in Hannibal as levee’s on the river. The town has become an artists haven and colony with numerous galleries and studios to tour and visit.
♦ You can mom and pop it for lodging, or stay at one of the chain motels, bed and breakfasts or rough it river style at campgrounds to accommodate the RV pioneer or the tent camper who prefers a more rustic approach to enjoying the great outdoors.
♦ For more information on Hannibal, Missouri, visit the website at www.visithannibal.com

Photo credits:
Mark Twain’s boyhood home by Andrew Balet / CC BY-SA
Mark Twain portrait by A.F. Bradley, New York / Public domain
Huckleberry Finn book cover by E. W. Kemble (1861–1933) – illustrator / Public domain
The Twain House first floor library by Jack E. Boucher, Photographer / Public domain

About the author:
Mike Marino is a freelance writer and columnist for numerous publications in North America and Europe. He also worked as journalist and managing editor of two newspapers in the Pacific Northwest, and the eight specialty publications produced each year. He writes as a columnist and/or contributor to numerous magazines in the US, Canada and Europe. www.angelfire.com/mi2/sfroad/page1022.html

Shades of the Barbary Coast

San Francisco, California

by Troy Herrick

San Francisco never ceases to entertain. The city is diverse, exciting and cosmopolitan. No matter how many times you visit, there is always something new to see. But the city hasn’t always been this refined. Between 1849 and 1917, the city enjoyed a raucous reputation known as “the Barbary Coast” period. The Barbary Coast, the original red light district, acquired its name around 1860 from the coast of North Africa where Arab pirates attacked Mediterranean ships.

The Barbary Coast arose with the infusion of prospectors seeking their fortune in the California gold fields and the Comstock silver lode in Nevada. This boom-town was well-stocked with saloons, gambling halls, brothels and opium dens. Just about every vice known to man was made available to these “49ers” as a means of separating the men from their gold and silver. While these dens of iniquity are long-gone, you can still visit many of these former sites.

Labor was scarce as passengers and crew jumped ship to seek their fortune. This problem was alleviated with the practice of shanghaiing – signing up sailors by coercion. Prospective sailors, no experience required, were slipped a “Mickey Finn” (opium) in their drink then dropped down a trap door in the saloon floor. This may be where the expression “down the hatch” originated. Upon awakening, they would find themselves unwilling crew members on an outbound ship destined for a two year tour.

The Old Ship Saloon is the only remaining “shanghaiing” bar from the Barbary Coast era. At the front door, you find a decorative model ship hanging overhead. Inside you find a brown wooden ceiling and scenes of early “Frisco”, as the sailors called it, hanging on the wall. Seating myself in the corner, I ordered a pint of steam beer, a San Francisco tradition, and asked the waitress where the trap door was. She was reluctant to tell me. For the next 30 minutes, I gingerly sipped my beer and kept a watchful eye on the patrons who were seated around the bar. After finishing my beer without incident, I was informed that the trap door is only used when people don’t pay the bill.

Those who were not shanghaied often frequented the local dance halls. Exit the Old Ship Saloon and walk approximately three blocks to the Hippodrome. Now an art supply store, the sidewalls of the entrance are still graced with the original white bas-reliefs of dancing nude nymphs. Superficially this establishment catered to lonely men but it also housed a secret tunnel used for smuggling goods and people. Descend the stairs into the basement and face the wall at the front of building. In the far right corner you find the entrance to a now walled-off tunnel approximately 15 feet long with 10 foot high arched ceiling.

Lonely men seeking more intimate contact with the opposite sex could visit the brothels lining what are now known as Maiden Lane and Commercial Street. Maiden Lane brothels catered to Johns at the lower end of the socio-economic scale while the Commercial Street bordellos, staffed by French madams, served a more genteel clientele. Today visitors to Maiden Lane find that stores like Prada and Hermes have replaced the bawdy houses where women literally hung out of windows to beckon the Johns inside. Commercial Street (between Kearny and Grant Avenues) on the other hand is now a rather drab looking block at the edge of Chinatown.

A history of more vice follows in Chinatown’s Ross Alley (“the Street of the Gamblers”). Walking along, you find many of the doors in the alleyway covered by metal gates. Any one of these doorways potentially leads to a former gambling or opium den. While nothing from this time is clearly visible, it is not difficult to imagine men and women sprawled out in a drowsy or completely overcome condition. While you proceed through the alley, stop by the Golden Gate Fortune Cookies factory for a free sample and see how that product is made.

The raucous Barbary Coast was not to last. By 1900, the original harbor-front was enclosed behind a seawall thereby changing the landscape along the waterfront. Visitors should note that the Transamerica Pyramid now sits on the former shoreline. The 1906 earthquake and subsequent fire leveled many of the drinking and dancing establishments; and a number of laws were passed which forced many of the vices underground.

Those wishing to view some of the vessels that plied the waters around San Francisco during the Barbary Coast period should visit the San Francisco Maritime Museum and the Hyde Street Pier. The main attraction is the sailing ship Balclutha with its square rigged masts. While this is not one of the schooners that employed shanghaied sailors, it evokes an earlier time when unfurled sails and a gust of wind signified the start of a long sea voyage.

When you complete your visit to the maritime museum, take the short walk up the street to the Buena Vista Café for an Irish Coffee. Sip your drink slowly and savor every taste as this is not something that should go “down the hatch”.

The Real San Francisco Chinatown Food Tour

If You Go:

♦ The Old Ship Saloon is located at 298 Pacific Avenue.
♦ The Hippodrome is located at 555 Pacific Avenue.
♦Maiden Lane (known as Morton Street during the Barbary Coast era) is a small street just off the east side of Union Square.
♦The Golden Gate Fortune Cookies factory is at 56 Ross Alley in Chinatown.
♦The SF Maritime Museum is at 499 Jefferson Street near Fisherman’s Wharf. The Hyde Street Pier is across the street from the Maritime Museum. Admission to the boats is $5.
♦The Buena Vista Café is at 2765 Hyde Street at Beach Street.
♦For more information about San Francisco, visit www.plan-a-dream-trip.com/san-francisco.htm
♦Plan your vacation at: www.plan-a-dream-trip.com www.plan-a-dream-trip.com

San Francisco Chinatown Ghost Walking Tour

About the author:
Troy Herrick, a freelance travel writer, has traveled extensively in North America, the Caribbean, Europe and parts of South America. His articles have appeared in Live Life Travel, International Living, Offbeat Travel and Travels Thru History Magazines. He also penned the travel planning e-book entitled ”Turn Your Dream Vacation into Reality: A Game Plan for Seeing the World the Way You Want to See It” based on his own travel experiences over the years.

Photo credits:
All photos are by Diane Gagnon, a freelance photographer who has traveled extensively in North America, the Caribbean, Europe and parts of South America. Her photographs have accompanied Troy Herrick’s articles in Live Life Travel, Offbeat Travel and Travel Thru History magazines:
Entrance to The Hippodrome
Maiden Lane
The Old Ship Saloon
Ross Alley
Sailing Ship Balclutha