Wherefore Art Thou Chocolate? - December 27-28, 2009

What better way to head back home to Jacksonville, Florida, from Columbus, Ohio, than through the beautiful state of Pennsylvania!  Sure it's not the most direct route, but when you're an addicted waymarker (and chocolate eater), does that really matter?  Of course not!  So, we got up bright and early on the morning of December 27, loaded up the waymarking mobile, and hit the road.  Hershey, Pennsylvania, here we come!  Yea, baby!

We pulled into Hershey in the afternoon and lost no time making our way to the Antique Auto Museum of Hershey, a Motor Vehicle Museum!  And you'll never guess what was parked out front under the entrance portico -- it was the Kissmobile!  What a wonderful Sighting!  The Biologist had been keeping her eyes open for one of these luscious vehicles for a couple of years and she finally got to see it.  I'm not sure who was happier, her or the Marine.  Now he doesn't have to hear her say all the time, "I'd better bring along the camera and GPS in case we see the Kissmobile while we're out."

Next we decided to wander around Hershey a bit to get our bearings before heading to the hotel where we had a reservation for the night.  We spotted Hershey's Iconic Factory, a few Pennsylvania Historical Markers, This Old Church that was lovely, the Soda Jerk Diner where we had dinner, and some Unique Chimneys.  That was all we had time for before darkness fell and we dropped off to sleep at the hotel.

The next morning we headed over to the Official Local Tourism Attraction better known as Hershey's Chocolate World where we spotted some 3 Dimensional Art and Giants of Commerce.  We first took the free chocolate tour ride that includes animated singing cows and culminates with the distribution of a free sample of chocolate (yum!).  The ride ends at the entrance to a giant Candy Store where we wandered around salivating and sniffing all the wonderful smelling chocolate.  Of course we couldn't resist picking up a few items..

 After making off with the chocolate, we decided it was time to hit the road and start heading south.  We made yet another detour... a slight one to run by the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, a Research Institute in Laurel, Maryland.  The Biologist started her career here in the endangered species research program back in 1985.  This was the first time she's been back here since 1988.  There have been a lot of changes in the past 20 years!

A Visit to the Historic Green Lawn Cemetery - December 23, 2009

Today the Marine went off with his Dad for a full day of poker with his Dad's buddies.  With some time on my hands, I (the Biologist) decided to head to the nearby historic Green Lawn Cemetery to do a little waymarking.  It was a cold day with some snow on the ground,  The first thing I saw upon entering the cemetery was an Ohio Historical Marker.

The historical marker provides the following information:

SIDE 1: Landscape architect Howard Daniels designed the original portion of Green Lawn Cemetery in 1848. Noted Columbus architect Frank Packard designed Green Lawn's Chapel mausoleum, the Hayden family mausoleum, and the Packard mausoleum. Spanning over 360 acres, the cemetery's wooded setting provides a habitat for a variety of birds and other wildlife. The Chapel contains stunning stained glass windows and mosaic artwork by Tiffany & Company of New York. The monuments, obelisks, and memorials throughout the cemetery represent a wealth of artwork and a history of Columbus. As one of the oldest and largest cemeteries in Ohio, Green Lawn is the resting-place of many noted individuals who have made significant contributions to Columbus, Franklin County and the nation.

SIDE 2: Interments here include: Gordon Battelle - founder of Battelle Memorial Institute, a center for creative research and invention development; Samuel Bush - president of Buckeye Steel Castings and grandfather and great grandfather of United States Presidents George Bush and George W. Bush; Dr. Lincoln Goodale - first physician to practice in Franklinton, now Columbus; P. W. Huntington - founder of Huntington National Bank in Columbus in 1866 and member of Green Lawn's Board of Trustees for over forty years; Simon Lazarus - began Lazarus department stores in 1851; James Poindexter - barber, minister, conductor on the Underground Railroad, and first African American to be elected to Columbus City Council; James Rhodes - the longest serving governor of Ohio; Eddie Rickenbacker - famed racecar driver and World War I flying ace; Lucas Sullivant - surveyor and planner of the city of Franklinton in 1797; James Thurber - twentieth century humorist author and cartoonist; and honored veterans of every war since the Civil War.

Below are a few of the places I visited or waymarked while here:

The Grave of a Famous Person (Eddie Rickenbacker)












Three Zinc Headstones

Two Broken Column Headstones

Four Woodmen of the World Headstones (3 shown below)

Five Mausoleums (3 shown below)

An Odd Fellow Memorial

Bas Relief Art on a Bronze Sarcophagus

An American Civil War Monument

It's Cold in Columbus! - December 21, 2009

Today, we decided to head toward the Ohio State University to find a couple of waymarks for two new categories. Okay, so it was really the Biologist who decided to do this, but the Marine humored her and drove her to them. Our first stop was the Sleep and Breathing Research Institute on Olentangy River Road. Not much to see here, but this Research Institute is internationally recognized for their sleep apnea research. A bit of a snooze as far as waymarks go, but we nabbed it just the same!  UPDATE:  Turns out this Research Institute doesn't do enough research to qualify for approval.  Go figure...

Next, we headed to High Street, where we made a stop at the Improved Order of Red Men Sioux Tribe No. 128 lodge, which appears to still be a very active lodge. We particularly liked the defunct Neon Sign on this lodge. It wasn't much to look at, but we still liked it for its simplicity.

By this time, it was about 1pm, so we decided to
search for a restaurant in the area and spotted a Mexican restaurant called Mad Mex (http://www.madmex.com/regions/columbus/entrance). What an eclectic place! We had the Nachos Grande as an appetizer, then the Marine had the Mad Mex Huevo Burrito and the Biologist had the Black Beanie Quesadeenie. Yummy! It was Mexican food with a twist and absolutely delicious. They also have restaurants in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Happy Valley, Pennsylvania, and hope to expand elsewhere in the future. If you like Mexican food and are a bit adventurous, we highly recommend this place. It was awesome! As we exited the restaurant, we found another fun Neon Sign for the Ugly Tuna restaurant. Took photos and coords, then made our way back to the Marine's parents home.

The Long Way to Ohio - December 16-19, 2009

It's hard to believe, but it's that time of year again. Time to head north for the winter. Wait! There's something's wrong with that! Aren't we supposed to be heading south? Anyway, on Wednesday, we started our annual trek to Columbus, Ohio, to spend the holidays with the Marine's family. The Marine finished his last final exam at 10am and we were on the road by 11am. Before we (read the Biologist) took up waymarking, we used to be able to make it from Jacksonville, Florida, to Columbus in about 12 to 13 hours. Well let me tell you, those days are over much to the Marine's chagrin as it now takes 3 to 4 days!

DAY 1: Because of our late start, we only made it to Calhoun, Georgia, today. We had no waymarking goals on this first day. Our only plan was to put as many miles behind us as possible before nightfall. However, we did manage to snap some photos and coords of the Stowe, Vermont, U-Haul Graphic so we could visit it. Hey! We're not proud. We'll take what we can get!

DAY 2: Brrrr. It sure was cold when we left Calhoun this morning. The thermometer in the car read 30 degrees Fahrenheit. Yikes! We were wearing short sleeves in Jacksonville just yesterday and were comfortable. Thank goodness the car has seat warmers... or as the Biologist likes to refer to them, butt warmers. After passing though Tennessee and Kentucky, we stopped shortly after arriving in Indiana to find our first geocache in this state. It was an easy grab and go. Thank goodness. The temperature had risen about 10 degrees, but it was still REALLY cold! Next we made our way over to Illinois in search of an Illinois Historical Marker at the former village of Wanborough. The only thing that remains of this historic village is a small, well tended Worldwide Cemetery! After a short wander (because it was small, but mostly because it was COLD) through the cemetery, we hopped back in the car and made our way back to Indiana.

Once we crossed back over the state line, we found three Indiana Historical Markers: two about the Wabash and Erie Canal and a third about the Buffalo Trace. By this time, it was getting dark so we made tracks to the nearest city, Vincennes, to find a hotel and a place to get a nice, hot meal.

DAY 3: Today, we headed to Michigan. If you're going to go north for the winter, you might as well do it right! Right?! After arriving in Michigan, we immediately made a pit stop at the Michigan Welcome Center in New Buffalo where we spotted an unclaimed Michigan Historical Marker and found our first geocache in this state. We also found an Accessible-Designed Recreational Location here. It was An "Able to Play" Playground, which was designed to be accessible to children of all abilities. We also visited the Landlocked Lighthouse located here. Then we hopped back in the waymobile (formerly the cachemobile) and made our way to the lovely little town of Three Oaks.

In Three Oaks, we visited the Dewey Cannon, a piece of Static Artillery with a terrific history. The cannon, captured in the Spanish-American War by Admiral Dewey, was presented to Three Oaks when its citizens raised $1,400 for a memorial to the men of the battleship Maine. A Michigan Historical Marker accompanied the cannon and there was a lovely little Gazebo here as well. A few miles away we stopped at a Michigan Centennial Farm, which has been owned by the Payne Family for over 100 years. A few miles further down the highway, we stopped at the Haslett Farm, which has been in that family for over 150 years, making it a Sesquicentennial Farm! We made one last stop for another Michigan Historical Marker at The Presbyterian Church in Edwardsburg. By this time, it was mid-afternoon so we started making our way to Columbus, Ohio. We ran out of steam as we reached Fort Wayne, Indiana, and decided to call it a night and get a hotel room rather than try to push through to Columbus. By the next morning, we had second thoughts about the wisdom of this decision.

DAY 4: This morning we awoke to about 2 inches of snow! Aaack! Maybe we should have kept driving last night and made our way to Columbus. We don't get this treacherous stuff in Florida (thank goodness). We got on the interstate and the road wasn't in the best of shape. After about 10 white-knuckled miles and after spotting several vehicles stuck along the side of the highway, we got off the interstate and got on US 30 (aka the Lincoln Highway). Fortunately this road had already been well tended and we had a fairly nice drive into Columbus. Unfortunately, we weren't able to take the time to enjoy the Lincoln Highway or look for any of its hidden treasures (aka waymarks). We pulled into the Marine's parents drive at about noon and breathed huge sighs of relief. It sure was great to have our northward waymarking adventure behind us and see the Marine's mom and dad!

What's That Up Ahead? - September 5, 2009

While this isn't really a waymarking story, it might have been had the waymarking community not denied it as a category. So I figured it was close enough.

Anyway, I was driving down A1A in Jacksonville, Florida, on my way to a car wash when I spotted something on the road ahead of me that looked quite strange. At first I thought it was an odd-colored horse trailer, but as I got closer, I began to think it might be something else, something that used to be a Locationless Cache, which I never found. The closer I got, the more certain I became. Yep, folks, it was the Weinermobile!!! I tailed the big dog for quite a while. I actually had a hard time keeping up. Let me tell you, that weiner was flying.

Off to the Midwest, You Betcha! - August 28-30, 2009

It had been months since the Biologist had a waymarking adventure and she was jonesing big time. Combine that with a free Delta frequent flyer ticket with points ready to expire and enough No Hassle credit card miles to cover hotel and rental car costs, what was a girl to do? Well, I had to fly to Minneapolis-St. Paul of course. In addition to a rare waymark in Alexandria, Minnesota, there were four other states within a relatively short driving distance calling to me.

DAY 1: Today, the Marine and I set the alarm for 3:30 (a.m., that is) so he could drive me to the Jacksonville airport for a 5:30 a.m. flight. Ugh! It's at times like these that I really question my sanity. I know I'm already on the edge (some would say I've already leaped way over the edge, the Marine included!), but 3:30 a.m.?!!!! Well, at least the Marine could go back to bed, and waymarking adrenaline and caffeine (from my beloved Diet Pepsi) would keep me going.

After a short layover in Atlanta, I arrived in the Twin Cities at 9:30 a.m. and had my bag and rental car by 10 a.m. With the computer hooked up to the GPSr and En Route on the screen, I routed to my first target, a marker delineating a Great Line of the Earth, a 45th Parallel marker on the western edge of Minneapolis. The 45th Parallel is located midway between the Equator and the North Pole. The marker was on a boulder in a small patch of parkland on the Wirth Parkway and probably not even noticed by most people driving by. Photos and coords taken, I was off to my true target for this trip... the Kensington Runestone!

The Runestone Museum, a History Museum, in Alexandria, Minnesota, is co-located with the Alexandria Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce, a Tourist Information Center. The Museum has been home to the Kensington Runestone since 1958. The Runestone was discovered in 1898 on the Olaf Ohman farm near Kensington (15 miles west of Alexandria), and there has been much debate over the years as to how this runic artifact, dated 1362, could show up in North America.

On the grounds of the Runestone Museum is a Replica of Fort Alexandria. Also on the grounds is the former Immanuel Lutheran Church. This Old Church is a Relocated Structure that was originally located in the township of Carlos; it was moved to the grounds of the Runestone Museum in 2007. After wandering around the Museum and the grounds for a bit, it was time to make haste and continue on my journey as I had a LOT of ground to cover this weekend.

But upon leaving the museum, I was quickly distracted as just across the street was a truely Superlative find -- Big Ole, the Largest Viking in the Land. Big Ole is a 25-foot tall statue that was originally built for the 1964 World's Fair in New York City. This big boy is now located in Big Ole Cental Park, a Municipal Park in Alexandria, and he's a point of interest along the Glacial Ridge Trail Scenic Byway. After a few minutes of admiring this proud giant, I bid Big Ole a fond "ha det"and made tracks west toward the Dakotas.

Only 15 miles later, I spotted a sign for the Kensington Runestone Park, the location of the farm where the infamous runestone was found. I really didn't have the time, but I felt compelled to stop and check it out. This Municipal Park is also a point of interest along the Glacial Ridge Trail Scenic Byway and had a Replica of the Kensington Runestone on its grounds as a memorial to the momentous find made here. Also on the grounds of this park was an adorable little Waychapel.

I finally made my way into White Rock, South Dakota, where I immediately spotted an unclaimed South Dakota Historical Marker. Thank goodness as I didn't know where I was going to find one, but had planned to head into Sisseton, the seat of Roberts County, where White Rock is located, hoping to spot one. Finding the White Rock marker cut some time off today's route, thankfully, as I was running a bit behind schedule.

White Rock is the most northeastern community in South Dakota, being along the Minnesota border and one mile south of North Dakota, so it was the perfect place to go in search of a U.S. Tri-State Geodetic Point, a category that was up for approval while I was here, but which was ultimately denied by the waymarking community. I found a stone post marking the Tri-State point and then tracked down the actual location 9 chains east of the post. It was surrounded by fields of corn. A little disappointing, but not really surprising as I was in the Midwest after all! I took some photos and coords for this U.S. Historic Survey Stone and Monument and actually stumbled over a geocache as I was taking the photos!!! I didn't even know it was here, but of course I had to sign the log. Woo hoo!

Fortunately, I had already found a couple of North Dakota Historical Markers on a waymarking journey home from GeoWoodstock VI in northern California to Jacksonville, so I turned the rental car around and made my way back to just north of Minneapolis where I grabbed a bite of dinner, posted a couple of waymarks, and dropped off to sleep.

DAY 2: Bright and early this morning, I made my way to St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin. I passed the Franconia Sculpture Park on the way and stopped to check out some of the abstract sculptures and take some photos and coords, then onto the Badger State.

In St. Croix Falls, I spotted the St. Croix Falls Dam, a Water Dam on the St. Croix River, then made my way to the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway where I spotted a Wisconsin Historical Marker about Gaylord Nelson, the founder of Earth Day. It turns out when plans were announced in 1964 for the St. Croix Falls Dam, Nelson, then a U.S. Senator, believed the riverway deserved federal protection and tried to halt its construction. Although the power plant was constructed, the controversy about it stimulated the passage of the 1968 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.

I next visited the portion of the Interstate State Park on the Wisconsin side of the border and took a walk (or should I say a climb) on the Ladder Tank Trail to find our first geocache in this State. It was a letterbox cache located amidst some old terrace trout pond tanks along an Outdoor Stairway that had 88 steps! What a beautiful area! I next made my way to the official entrance to Interstate State Park where I spotted an Ice Age Trail sign. I knew the Ice Age Trail ran through here -- this park is actually its western terminus -- but had to search a little to find a marker for it. Very, very cool... no pun intended.

By this time, it was about 10 a.m. and it was time to make tracks for Iowa. Yes, I said Iowa. Somehow, I don't think the rental car company had any idea the number of miles I would be putting on the little Kia sedan they gave me for the weekend! After a long drive past one farm field after another, I finally arrived in Iowa where I was kindly Welcomed to this Field of Opportunities. Well, I can't speak for the opportunities, but there sure were LOTS of fields here!

I made my way to the cute little town of Northwood, where I found an Iowa Historical Marker next to the Worth County Courthouse Cannon. After taking photos and coords for the cannon and its historical marker, I walked over to check out the Courthouse and discovered a plaque about its inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places and another plaque commemorating the Works Progress Administration. Wow, lots of history here! And just across the street was the original County Courthouse, which was also a Former Schoolhouse, and now the home of the Worth County History Museum. A plaque near its entrance identified its National Register of Historic Places status as well. A couple of Amish women were selling their wares in front of this historic building, and it gave the entire place such a nice, warm homey feeling. I took a spin around the town and found another Iowa Historical Marker about the first settlers of Worth County, then had to head back to Minneapolis as it was getting late.

On the same route back, I was Welcomed back into Minnesota, a state of 10,000 Lakes. After a short distance, I decided to deviate from the route and take some back roads, where I spotted a Dinosaur Statue at a BP gas station. It was a Sinclair Oil Corporation dinosaur and a Giant of Commerce. Upon arriving back in Minneapolis, I headed to the downtown area and found a couple of historic Arch Bridges, one that was also a Stone Bridge. One was on the National Register of Historic Places and the other was a Contributing Structure in the St. Anthony Falls Historic District. After visiting the Gold Medal Park, a beautiful little Municipal Park, and taking a photo of the Gold Medal Flour sign, a Neon Sign that's an icon of Minneapolis, I made my way to a hotel near the airport. After posting a few waymarks, I crashed for the night as I had an early flight home the next morning.
Day 3: I wish I could have taken a later flight so I could have spent more time waymaking in Minneapolis today, but the frequent flyer ticket only had early morning options. Oh well, it was free after all! Got to the Airport bright and early, turned in my rental car, and headed back home where the Marine was waiting for me. What a guy!

Georgia on My Mind (& West Alabama & NW Florida Too!) - May 15-17, 2009

Over a month had passed since our previous waymarking adventure, so the Biologist was getting pretty antsy. Fortunately, there was a Hot Air Balloon Festival scheduled in Northwest Georgia this weekend with her name written all over it. We'd planned to go to two previous balloon festivals, but our plans went astray both times so the Biologist was hoping the third try would be a charm. After getting off work early on Friday, we started making our way west on I-10 then north on I-75.

It was pretty much a long boring drive, but we did make a detour in Marietta to go to the Marietta Diner, which the Marine had seen featured on the Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins & Dives show. The Marine had Beef Stroganoff as it was one of the meals reviewed by Guy Fieri, and the Biologist (a vegetarian) had a meatless version of the Sloppy John sandwich. Very tasty, but this place was hopping! Apparently, it's quite popular with the locals! After dinner, we headed a bit further north to the hotel where we had reservations. Although the balloon festival started this evening, by the time we got to Marietta, it was dark and too late to head to the event. If only we had known what fate awaited us on Saturday, the Biologist may have tried to get off work a little earlier so we could go to the festival today instead!

So, dark and early on Saturday morning, we checked out of our hotel and headed west to the small (and by small I mean miniscule) town of Menlo where the festival was being held. The balloons were scheduled to take flight at 6am, and we got there at 5am. Needless to say, we were only the 2nd or 3rd car to arrive. Everyone else apparently knew better and slept in a bit later than we did. However, we didn't mind because the predictions for rain this morning had not come true and there was no sign of rain on our drive. At about 6:30am, some trucks and vans with balloon baskets on the back finally started to arrive. Yea! We were finally going to see multiple hot air balloons launching. We were so excited. Well, at least as excited as one can be when they get up at 4:00 in the morning. So we're waiting... and we're waiting... and as daylight breaks we notice that fog is rolling in. We didn't see any fog on the drive to Menlo so we were a little surprised, but didn't think much about it. That is, until we realized that the morning launch was going to be cancelled because of it. Oy vey, will we ever see hot air balloons launching?! Well, not today anyway. We did have a nice chat with some of the balloonists though and they told us how the Energizer Bunny hopped on the launch field before taking flight the previous evening and how two Bumble Bee balloons hugged each other with velcro arms as they took flight. Darn it! Better luck next time. Well, at least we did get a new icon for attending a Hot Air Balloon Festival.

So after being deflated by the balloon launch cancellation, we took a leisurely drive south along the back roads of Georgia and made our way over to Dothan, Alabama. Did you know that according to the Guinness Book of World Records Dothan has the smallest city block? No kidding, they really do. We managed to snap several photos of it just before the hordes arrived for a graduation ceremony at the nearby convention center.
We spotted several Alabama Historical Markers, as well as a Bartram Trail Marker, along the way and stopped to check them out. Just adjacent to the Bartram Trail Marker was the adorable little Oswichee Baptist Church so we had to stop and take photos of it too. There was a nice woman there who invited us to the church potluck on Sunday. What a friendly place!

We passed through Alabama fairly quickly then made our way south to Appalachicola, Florida, and enjoyed checking out the Gulf of Mexico for a little while before making our way to Tallahassee for the night. After a nice dinner at the Macaroni Grill (we don't have one of these in Jacksonville), we made it an early night (remember, we did get up at 4am this morning!). Then we made our way home on Sunday. Rascal and Scamp sure were glad to see us, although Rascal gave us the evil eye when we removed his all-you-can-eat smorgasbord.