Midwest Wanderer Podcast Episode 1 – July 3, 2024

Welcome to the Midwest Wanderer Podcast Episode 1. In the inaugural episode of our weekly podcast, we start with a talk about weather preparedness. Then, we chat about our recent visits to Chicago Southland’s Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park and Hannibal, Missouri.

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Welcome to Episode 1 of the all-new Midwest Wanderer Podcast, where we give you an idea of what’s going on in the Midwest, tell you about places we’ve been and think you might enjoy, and what’s coming up in the next week or so in the Midwest. So, the first thing I want to talk about today is weather. That’s been big in the news in the Midwest. I know a lot of our friends in Iowa, South Dakota, Kansas areas have had a tremendous amount of rain and floods and heat, all together.

Weather Safety

We have, on the ride sidebar of the Midwest Wanderer website, information on weather safety, provided by the National Weather Service. We participate in a program called Weather Ready Nation. If you click on that link, it’ll take you to the National Weather Service website. They give a lot of information regarding weather safety.

We also include, on our website, Summer Weather Safety. It’s a multi-page brochure that changes seasonally. This summer one talks about tornadoes, lightning, wind, and especially the flooding that has been going on. So, it’ll tell you good points to take into consideration when you’re traveling. We greatly encourage you to take a look at that and read some of that information. It could be very beneficial to you.

Last, but not least, check the forecast for your location. That link is on our website. It takes you to the National Weather Service site. Plug in the ZIP code where you are, or where you’re going to be, and you’ll get the weather forecast for that area.

Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park

We’ve been actually fortunate in our area. We’ve had hot weather, but we haven’t had the torrential rains. We did get a reprieve last week from the hot weather. We had one beautiful day. It was way too nice to stay inside. So, we went up to the Chicago Southland area, only about a half hour from where we live, to the Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park in University Park. It’s on the campus of Governors State University.

We had been there years ago. In fact, we used to live in University Park. We owned our first home there. Back then it was called Park Forest South.

But, we went up there to check it out again. When we visited years ago, there were a handful of sculptures on an open field. Wow, has that ever changed! The number of sculptures is quite impressive—30 sculptures! It’s spread out over 100 acres of prairieland, which means there’s a lot of walking. But, it’s really neat.

Mowed trails lead from one sculpture to the next. It’s very nicely maintained around each of the sculptures, as well as the wide, grass footpath.

We would consider most of the sculptures contemporary. There is one exception. It’s called “Paul,” and is obviously Paul Bunyan, with his plaid, flannel shirt and his cap and his axe. Only, he’s kind of hunched over, kind of like a very tired Paul Bunyan.

We spent at least two hours in the sculpture park, and we didn’t see all the sculptures. Here are a couple of our favorites:

Since we visited, we’ve discovered that the Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park was voted in the top ten sculpture parks in the United States by readers of USA Today.

Getting to the Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park

If you’re in downtown Chicago, you can take the Metra Electric commuter train south from Millennium Station (located at Michigan Avenue and Randolph Street) to the end at University Park. From there, take the Pace Bus to Governors State University.

You can get more information on the Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park on the Visit Chicago Southland website.

Exploring Hannibal, Missouri

This past weekend, we took a little road trip out to Hannibal, Missouri, home of Mark Twain, of course. We did all kinds of Mark Twain-related things.

We had our granddaughter with us, and she loves road trips, so we tried to base what we did on what she would enjoy, and the weather. Once again, we anticipated hot, humid weather and storms. Storms were in the forecast, so we thought we’d do whatever indoor stuff we can find if it’s raining. Well, we had a little bit of rain one day. It was humid on Saturday, and warm. But other than that, it was gorgeous.

Friday, the weather was in the mid- to upper-70s and again on Sunday. And, low humidity, along the Mississippi, very unusual in the summertime.

Mark Twain Cave Complex

The biggest thing we did there was the Mark Twain Cave Complex, where there are several activities, including two caves.

Mark Twain Cave

On this trip we toured the Mark Twain Cave. We had done that one before, with Carmela, but she didn’t seem to remember it.

That is the cave that Mark Twain played in as a kid. It’s the one that he refers to in Tom Sawyer, the cave where he and Becky get lost.

So, they have a lot of references to Tom Sawyer and Tom Sawyer characters along the tour. In one case, the guide shows you where Tom and Huck saw the cross on the cave ceiling and found the treasure in a pit down below it.

Besides the Mark Twain references, the cave was also a hideout for Jesse James.

An interesting side note about that cave is that it was discovered in 1819 and opened for cave tours not too many years after that.

Cameron Cave

Another cave on that same property is Cameron Cave. We didn’t tour that one this time, but Skip and I were there last year. It was a week day towards the end of August, and we were the only ones on that tour. So, we had what essentially was a personal tour for that.

In Cameron Cave there is no electrical. You’re given a small flashlight, and you make your way through the cave with the flashlight. The tour guides are awesome. The one we had on that Cameron Cave tour gave us a lot of insight into the cave.

Cave Hollow Winery

Also on the property is the Cave Hollow Winery. We didn’t go in this time, but we did last summer. They had some delicious wine slushes/coolers, so we had enjoyed one of those.

Historic Hannibal City Tour

You can also catch the trolley for the Historic Hannibal City Tour at the Mark Twain Cave complex. We like to do that type of tour, if possible, when we first arrive in a town. It helps us to get the lay of the land, find out where things are. We may not know about an attraction or historical significance of a place, and the guide will point that out.

Mark Twain Live

Also in the Mark Twain Cave Complex is the Mark Twain Live performance. It’s a one-man presentation put on by a Mark Twain impersonator. He relates, in first person, some of Mark Twain’s experiences. Skip and I enjoyed the performance but don’t recommend it for kids. Most kids wouldn’t understand some of the historical references and innuendos.

Mark Twain’s Boyhood Home

We didn’t go through the museum on this trip, but we did get some snapshots of Mark Twain’s boyhood home. Right across the street is where Laura Hawkins lived. Laura Hawkins was who Becky Thatcher was modeled after in the Tom Sawyer story. Mark Twain’s boyhood friend Tom Blankenship became Huck Finn. He lived in the house behind the Twain family.

We’re anxious to go back and see that museum. We just didn’t have time to do that on this trip.

Lovers Leap

On Lovers Leap, we enjoyed the beautiful views of the city and the Mississippi River.

Why is it called Lovers Leap? It seemed on every tour we went on during our stay, we heard a different version of the legend. What it amounts to is, there was an Indian maiden from the Fox tribe on the Missouri side of the Mississippi River. A young Illini brave lived on the Illinois side of the river. The two tribes were enemies. The Indian maiden and brave somehow found each other and became lovers. They would often sneak out and meet in secret. Eventually, when their relationship was found out by others, they realized they couldn’t be together in life but they could in death. So, they embraced and jumped from a rocky overhang, now known as Lovers Leap.

Sodalis Nature Preserve

As we were driving around, with a little extra time before a scheduled event, we discovered Sodalis Nature Preserve. So, we stopped and walked the trail for a little while. The trail is a wide, asphalt path.

I have the free Merlin app on my phone, which records bird sounds and identifies them. In ten minutes of recording, the app identified seven different bird species that we heard as we were walking the trail.

Lighthouse Memorial to Mark Twain

The lighthouse, perched atop Cardiff Hill, was built as a memorial to Mark Twain. It is only a memorial, not a working lighthouse used as a navigation aid.

The story behind it is the property at one time was the home of a steamboat captain and his wife. While the captain was out on the river, his wife would watch for him when he was due back. Eventually, after one trip, he didn’t return. He had been killed in an accident.

The widow of the captain became the Widow Douglas in Tom Sawyer.

There are a few ways to reach the lighthouse. We took the long way, climbing up 244 steps. There is a road where you can drive part way up and park, so you don’t have to walk up so many steps. For the disabled, another road goes all the way up to the lighthouse level, with two handicap parking stops near the lighthouse.

The steps to the lighthouse are at the end of Main Street, near a sculpture of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer.

Main Street

Main Street is the main downtown street in Hannibal. It’s filled with shops and restaurants and is near the Mark Twain home. You’ll enjoy the murals on the sides of many of the buildings.

Mark Twain Riverboat

On the narrated riverboat tour, we learned more information about Hannibal and the river, information we didn’t get on our other tours.

Of all the rain predicted while we were there, it only drizzled a little toward the end of the riverboat ride. As we got off, the skies opened up. The rain stopped by the time we got back to our hotel.

With two half days and one full day in Hannibal, we were busy the entire time. There is still plenty of attractions we didn’t get a chance to see. Which means we need to go back.

To learn more about the area, go to VisitHannibal.com.