Hannibal, Shelbina, and Cuf's disease

Last Saturday we took off to the great town of Shelbina, MO, for a Cuf's disease fundraiser. Basically, you go north to Hannibal and take a left. I had not been in this part of Missouri (I haven't been in many parts of Missouri!), so we decided we'd stop in Hannibal for a short visit. Hannibal is the hometown of Mark Twain, of course, who is very popular in these parts. It is a quaint little town with antique shops and lots of Mark Twain '"stuff". We did a quick tour around town and I grabbed some great touristy photos!

Here's Mark Twain the steamboat captain. The name "Mark Twain" comes from the the sounding of 12 feet deep water, which was safe for navigation.

Here's the mighty Mississippi...it is so wide and so slowly flowing that it looks like a lake.
The entrance to the Mark Twain steamboat tour rides.

Lots of beautiful historic buildings in downtown Hannibal.

The Mark Twain Museum.

Supposedly, this is the actual fence that Tom Sawyer convinced his friends to whitewash for him.
And here is the historic building of Shelbina, Missouri, population 2500.

We were invited to the Cuf's disease fundraiser hosted by the Fry family of Shelbina. Cuf's disease is a form of late onset Batten disease, which hits someone in the prime of life and has the typical devastation of all the other lysosomal storage disorders. Tracy Bryant, the organizer, has lost her brother, sister, mother and aunt to this disorder. Tracy has several nieces and nephews who are not yet to the age of onset. This was the third year of the fundraiser, and it involved a "poker run" for Harley riders, a silent auction, a BBQ dinner, and just a lot of fun and friendship. We met most of the family tree of the Fry family, and ended up staying for the evening at the one and only bar in Shelbina, Billadeb's (all tabs must be paid on Friday!). Can't wait till next year!