October started like September ended…wet. I didn’t need to find a cache until Sunday, October 4 but when I rolled out of bed that morning and looked outside and saw a slow, steady rain falling, I knew I was going to have to start the month with a quick and easy cache between the drops instead of a more interesting cache. Taking a look at the cache map for our area on Geocaching.com I noticed Save Your Quarter – Roscoe Crossings (GC5A6QH), a traditional cache, out by itself near the edge of my home area. Based on the description on the cache page, it sounded like it fit the bill. Once the rain slowed Jenna and I made a quick run out to find it and sign the log.
Work took me to the town of Loiusville in east-central Georgia. I noticed on the cache map for the area that there were a few caches around town but one really caught my interest. Just from reading the name I thought that Louisville Revolutionary War Cemetery (GC1KZ7H) would be a ‘must do’ cache. The descriptions in the logs and pictures grabbed my attention even more.
A sign marks the entrance to the dirt drive into the cemetery. As I pulled in the first time I noticed a couple of work trucks at the back of the lot, apparently a few local workers enjoying their lunch in the shade. I decided to leave, grab some lunch myself and wait until later when the workers were gone to take care of business. Once I returned I began reading the headstones and realized that the cemetery was the final resting place for war veterans rather than those killed in battle.
It was a pretty little cemetery, surrounded by oak trees filled with Spanish moss. ..and the resting place for a nice cache…
It was the final resting place for a couple of veterans of the War of 1812, a pair of the Boys in Gray, Confederate veterans from the War Between the States and a couple of local families.
The McDermott family plot contained the graves of Owen and Bella McDermott and 14 of their children. As I looked at the dates inscribed on the markers I realized that none of the children outlived their parents. Some died when they were only a couple of years old, several others were five or less and all but two were under 16. Only one of the 14 lived to see 30. As a father I can’t begin to imagine having to bury 14 of your children.
I finally got back over to the Cheshire Farm Trail to grab the last of the three caches that I started working on last month (Creekside Trail: The Grand Bridge, GC5K9PZ).
I actually found this cache last month while looking for the other two nearby caches but decided to save it for a day when I needed a quick cache during my lunch hour, like I mentioned in my Planning and Strategy post last month.
We made a trip over to McDonough Georgia to see our daughter Jenna’s high school drama club’s performance of Xanadu in the Georgia High School Association’s One Act Play competition. Since that particular day was a cache day I took a look to see if there was a cache nearby and as you’ve probably already guessed, there was. Downtown/Mainstreet USA: McDonough GA (GC1WYBN) was waiting for us on the town square. The square in McDonough is typical of many town squares here in the South, a memorial statue to our Confederate dead in the middle of an oak tree shades square and the county courthouse and government offices across the street.
The cache container had disappeared and was recently replaced and should have been fairly easy to find…but…as we pulled up to the square we saw hordes of people, lots of people, everywhere. Turns out there was a fall festival/pumpkin decorating contest going on…
This wasn’t going to be as easy as I thought. My GPSr was bouncing a bit but I was able to narrow the GZ down to two park benches, gave them a quick search but came up empty. We decided to stop in at the Gritz Family Restaurant across the street for lunch and hopefully to let the crowd clear out a bit. Our strategy almost worked. The crowd had thinned a bit after lunch…with two exceptions…the couple sitting on one of two benches…which was facing the other. We wandered around looking at the pumpkins to kill a little more time but it became apparent that they weren’t leaving any time soon. Unfortunately this cache earned a DNF but we did manage to pick up a cache on the way home to fill in the spot on my grid.
The need for a quick cache on the way home but outside my home area took me to Limos in Limbo (GC5Z1CH). All in all it was a fairly easy cache to find…but I felt like I was constantly being watched…
(Dang power lines!!)
Once again I took advantage of my monthly work trip to Greensboro, Georgia to pick up a cache. This month’s trip took me to The Oldest Bars in Town (GCWNCX), behind the courthouse. When I first saw the cache name on the map I thought “Oh cool, a cache at a pub!” Well, not exactly. Turns out the cache is located on the grounds of the old county jail which, built around 1807, is one of the oldest standing jail structures around.
Based on the information contained on the historical marker in front of the jail, it probably wasn’t the best place to end up, especially for a condemned prisoner, as the gallows was located on the second floor.
Another month bites the dust! On to November…
Get Out! 