Serenaded at Lover’s Leap
Posted on October 24, 2012 by prairiemoonquilts in TravelsThis past weekend, My Cowboy and I met up with his parents, The Outlaws, for a visit.
It’s quite a jaunt all the way to their house, so occasionally we pick a midway point to meet, so it’s not quite so much driving for any of us.
This time we chose Hannibal, MO.
This time I remembered to take my camera.
This time we visited Lover’s Leap.
It was an absolutely gorgeous day. Here’s a shot from the top of Lover’s Leap back into Hannibal. Pretty, huh?
I remember my father bringing me and my siblings here when we were little. He brought us over in his 1960-something VW Beetle. There was no fence at that time. And my little brother is still with us today — amazing!
If you’re not familiar with the Legend of Lover’s Leap, here’s the story:
“While the story varies according to the teller of the story, the main elements are that an Indian brave and an Indian princess from warring tribes were prevented from marrying by their parents and tribes. One evening when the Indian brave landed his canoe in Bear Creek, he was observed meeting and walking with the Indian princess. A treacherous observer revealed this to the father of the Indian princess who was the Chief of the tribe. The angered father offered an otter skin to anyone who would kill the brave. A number of the younger warriors started after the brave. When the couple realized they were being chased, they climbed Lovers Leap hoping to elude their pursuers. Cornered on the rock prominence, the brave knew he was about to be killed. The princess also realized this, and decided that life would not be worth living if he were killed. The two embraced and threw themselves off of the top of Lovers Leap to their deaths. Lovers Leap is thus a memorial to these two young Indians who sacrificed their lives rather than be apart, according to legend.”
A dang tattle-tale always ruins everything!
Nowadays there is a fence surrounding the area, and it’s sort of a little park with benches. It was a really nice day, so we were all sitting on the bench looking out over the river, when this group of guys with musical instruments came over, climbed the fence, and proceeded to put on a little concert right there on the rock prominence.
They call themselves “Acoustics Anonymous”, and they’re a new group out of St. Louis. They wanted to shoot a video of themselves there, but their camera ran out of juice about halfway through their first number, so they just went with it, and did a couple more songs for the crowd that had gathered. Then they climbed back over the fence and went on their merry way. Bonus for us!
What I didn’t realize before we left home that morning was that Hannibal was also having their waterfront street bazaar this past weekend, so I got to make a quick spin through that before we left town.
And it was good to visit with The Outlaws and get away for the day.
I’ll leave you with this lovely shot overlooking the Mississippi River, complete with riverboat.
Shelly, I enjoyed your pics and all the info on Hannibal, MO. Thank you, will have to look up just how far it is from us here in Arkansas, might be worth a day trip some day.
I enjoyed the photos and the story as well. What a great day out. Sounds like just what you needed!
I don’t think I have ever been there. If so, it was when I was a kid. Did you go to Hickory Stick while you were in Hannibal?