The Story of Blaura LbNA #74769
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Add Location| Owner: | 3 Ducky Gs
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|---|---|
| Plant date: | Jul 15, 2020 |
| Location: | Gay City State Park |
| City: | Hebron |
| County: | Tolland |
| State: | Connecticut |
| Boxes: | 5 |
| Found by: | cooledcoyote (3) |
|---|---|
| Last found: | Aug 22, 2022 |
| Status: | FFFFF |
| Last edited: | Jul 15, 2020 |
One of my biggest annoyances are recipes that require you to read the author’s life story on their love affair with the avocado before giving you the recipe for the meal that may or may not actually include the aforementioned romantic vegetable. To that same point, I’ve discovered that reading Letterbox clues are comparable. Especially if you end up looking for a series of them. Usually there is a fond memory or story about the locale or hiking trail. Perhaps a first kiss under the tree where one is found. Sometimes it’s a history lesson as you retrace the steps of George Washington. Other times it’s pointing out scenery to you. The way this differs from recipe romance novels is that Letterboxes make you a part of the story, or at least make you feel like your part of a scene in a story. What does all of that have to do with this Letterbox that you are right now trying to decide whether you will invest a portion of your day to find? This series of stamps, hidden throughout this park, will share with you the story of Blaura. Blaura is the offspring that is created when you combine my wife’s and my first names. It is also the name of our bar, that is really nothing more than some patio furniture on our deck that we sip the occasional cocktail at after our little one has gone to sleep. “Meet me at Blaura’s” has a much classier ring to it than “let’s drink on the deck.” On the occasion of our five year wedding anniversary (spoiler alert) my wife presented to me the materials needed to create a five part Letterbox series with stamps that revolve around significant happenings in our relationship. If you’re still reading, we’re getting to the good stuff.
Otherwise, I’ll give you the history and significance behind each clue and stamp.
#1 This series is set entirely on the yellow and red trail at Gay City State Park in Hebron CT. To begin, locate the yellow trail where it intersects the blue trail. Head south on the yellow trail. Not too far in from where you start, you will notice a cellar hole on your right where a house once stood. Walk 16 paces from the hole and the path begins to curve to the right. Stop here and on your right are two large oak trees, with one of them forking out into 2 about 8-10 feet off the ground. Behind you, on the left side of the trail opposite these 2 trees, is a large fallen tree. Walk off the trail towards the felled tree, aiming for what would have been the top of the tree when it was standing. Nestled in the leaves and the once uppermost branches is the first letterbox. Upon locating this stamp, you’ll see that it has an ambulance on it. No, I did not suffer a head injury that resulted in a case of amnesia and my wife was the EMT that brought me to the hospital and then helped me regain my memory. If this story does sound familiar to you though, you probably spend all of your free time between Thanksgiving and Christmas watching Hallmark Christmas movies and pretending to crab about them but actually thinking they’re not half bad, just like we do. The remote’s right in between us, yet neither one of us touches it and just like that in 4 separate movies we see what the entire cast of Full House has done with their careers. The significance of the ambulance is that is where we did meet. We both had an interest at a young age in medicine and helping people and met through a youth group that lets students work on an ambulance. We ended up on our own paths in life and then reconnected right back at the same youth group several years later, both as advisors for the students. Our relationship began as friendship and I’m fortunate now to be able to spend every day with my best friend.
#2 Continue south on the trail. About a fifth of a mile later, a body of water will be visible on your right. There will be a small footpath leading towards the water. Take this path. In the water ahead of you, there will be a beaver dam. You will see several trees that have been toppled over by hungry beavers. One of the trees is resting across the top of a large rock. Move around to the right side of the rock, and underneath of one of those toppled trees is the second letterbox. Any good cartologist will recognize this stamp as the state of Massachusetts. If you look to what would be the south-east corner of the stamp, you’ll see what looks like an arm doing a curl. This is called Cape Cod. Cape Cod is where we rented a house on the beach for one week for the sole purpose of a 20 minute wedding ceremony that included our parents and siblings. We then left the house a day early so we could come back to our home and set up for a reception and party with all of our friends in our backyard (did you know Blaura’s has a ball room? Neither did we). Cape Cod will always hold a special place in our hearts and we make a point to return to the Cape on and around our wedding anniversary. If you ever find yourself in the Cape and looking for a place to go and have a delicious meal, go to the Ebb Tide in Dennisport. They accommodated our small group on our wedding night (with some advanced notice) and surprised us with a small wedding cake and champagne for a toast at no extra cost. That’s how you get repeat customers and a blurb in a Letterbox.
#3 Get back up to the yellow trail and continue south on it. You'll go over a long wooden bridge in a marshy area. When you come to a fork in the trail, this is the red trail. Take the left fork to move Eastward. There will be another small bridge to cross. Eventually, you will come to a much larger wooden bridge with railings that crosses the Blackledge River. As you approach the bridge, check underneath of it on the left side by the rocks. Tucked in next to the wooden cross beam is the third letterbox. When you locate this stamp, you’ll discover that this has two feet on it. Upon closer inspection I saw that these were actually baby feet. My beautiful wife and I could not have been happier to welcome our little girl into the world in 2017. Since then, she has taught us as much as we have taught her. We’ve learned that it’s ok if the house stays dirty if it means you’re having a dance party. “Mommy I have a tummy ache” is actually little kid code for “you have 2 minutes to prepare for unstoppable vomiting.” When you are convinced that your child has too many toys, grandparents will always find more. And then my favorite lesson was learning that hearing your child say “I love you so much” is the best sound in the world and it’s ok for a grown man to get misty eyed every time he hears it. This stamp is dedicated to her which is appropriate since she leads the way on our Letterbox adventures.
#4 Cross the bridge and head up the rocky hill. Shortly after you'll come to a T intersection. On your right is a trail that is unmarked on most maps but you'll see orange markings on it. Take the left at this intersection to stay on the red trail. You'll come to a rocky cluster on your right as well as a bunch of flat ones in the path. Ahead of you is another small foot bridge. If you're doing this in the spring it will be extremely muddy here. Fortunately, behind the cluster of rocks on your right is a narrow trail that runs parallel to the red and allows you to bypass the mud. Take this detour path and the rocks are now on your left. Tucked inside one of the crevices is the fourth letterbox. This stamp you’ll see has a bicycle on it, which is dedicated to our families favorite pastime. Our little girl used to ride in a trailer behind the bike and recently upgraded to a bucket seat behind my wife. One of our favorite bike trails was in upstate NY that had a sign advertising an Arby’s at the end of it. Seriously though, what was their target audience with that? Admittedly, we can’t go on a bike ride now without one of us asking the other if there’s an Arby’s at the end of it.
#5 Get back on the red trail and cross the small bridge. Continue on the trail about ⅘ of a mile and the trail will do a little zig zag. Looking around you'll see a heavier population of pine trees than you've seen to this point. You will come to a stone wall with an opening to allow the trail to continue through it. Pass through the wall and stop. Follow the wall to the left. The letterbox is hidden in the wall just before you come to the maple tree growing right beside it. You can follow the trail back to the blue trail, take a right, and then the roadway through the park is in front of you. This last stamp is the universal symbol of camper camping, which we have started dabbling with over the summer of 2020. For those of you reading and following these clues in the future, this was the year of Covid-19 pandemic. Given the line of work we’re in, the camper was initially going to be a quarantine hut if we had to use it. As of this writing neither of us has had to use it for that purpose. However, it has turned into a great way for our family to travel and vacation. When your child is as opposed to hotel rooms as ours is, you compromise with a camper where she can move her stuffed animals in and have her own little bed.
That hits some of the high points of our relationship. You'd be lost out in these woods for days if I were to list all of them. If you’ve actually read this the whole way through, I hope you enjoyed this little rom com that I get to live every day. Maybe in another five years we’ll have a sequel for you. If you find yourself at Blaura’s, ask for us and the first round is on the house. Happy boxing and thanks for the read.
Hike length: 2-3 miles
Otherwise, I’ll give you the history and significance behind each clue and stamp.
#1 This series is set entirely on the yellow and red trail at Gay City State Park in Hebron CT. To begin, locate the yellow trail where it intersects the blue trail. Head south on the yellow trail. Not too far in from where you start, you will notice a cellar hole on your right where a house once stood. Walk 16 paces from the hole and the path begins to curve to the right. Stop here and on your right are two large oak trees, with one of them forking out into 2 about 8-10 feet off the ground. Behind you, on the left side of the trail opposite these 2 trees, is a large fallen tree. Walk off the trail towards the felled tree, aiming for what would have been the top of the tree when it was standing. Nestled in the leaves and the once uppermost branches is the first letterbox. Upon locating this stamp, you’ll see that it has an ambulance on it. No, I did not suffer a head injury that resulted in a case of amnesia and my wife was the EMT that brought me to the hospital and then helped me regain my memory. If this story does sound familiar to you though, you probably spend all of your free time between Thanksgiving and Christmas watching Hallmark Christmas movies and pretending to crab about them but actually thinking they’re not half bad, just like we do. The remote’s right in between us, yet neither one of us touches it and just like that in 4 separate movies we see what the entire cast of Full House has done with their careers. The significance of the ambulance is that is where we did meet. We both had an interest at a young age in medicine and helping people and met through a youth group that lets students work on an ambulance. We ended up on our own paths in life and then reconnected right back at the same youth group several years later, both as advisors for the students. Our relationship began as friendship and I’m fortunate now to be able to spend every day with my best friend.
#2 Continue south on the trail. About a fifth of a mile later, a body of water will be visible on your right. There will be a small footpath leading towards the water. Take this path. In the water ahead of you, there will be a beaver dam. You will see several trees that have been toppled over by hungry beavers. One of the trees is resting across the top of a large rock. Move around to the right side of the rock, and underneath of one of those toppled trees is the second letterbox. Any good cartologist will recognize this stamp as the state of Massachusetts. If you look to what would be the south-east corner of the stamp, you’ll see what looks like an arm doing a curl. This is called Cape Cod. Cape Cod is where we rented a house on the beach for one week for the sole purpose of a 20 minute wedding ceremony that included our parents and siblings. We then left the house a day early so we could come back to our home and set up for a reception and party with all of our friends in our backyard (did you know Blaura’s has a ball room? Neither did we). Cape Cod will always hold a special place in our hearts and we make a point to return to the Cape on and around our wedding anniversary. If you ever find yourself in the Cape and looking for a place to go and have a delicious meal, go to the Ebb Tide in Dennisport. They accommodated our small group on our wedding night (with some advanced notice) and surprised us with a small wedding cake and champagne for a toast at no extra cost. That’s how you get repeat customers and a blurb in a Letterbox.
#3 Get back up to the yellow trail and continue south on it. You'll go over a long wooden bridge in a marshy area. When you come to a fork in the trail, this is the red trail. Take the left fork to move Eastward. There will be another small bridge to cross. Eventually, you will come to a much larger wooden bridge with railings that crosses the Blackledge River. As you approach the bridge, check underneath of it on the left side by the rocks. Tucked in next to the wooden cross beam is the third letterbox. When you locate this stamp, you’ll discover that this has two feet on it. Upon closer inspection I saw that these were actually baby feet. My beautiful wife and I could not have been happier to welcome our little girl into the world in 2017. Since then, she has taught us as much as we have taught her. We’ve learned that it’s ok if the house stays dirty if it means you’re having a dance party. “Mommy I have a tummy ache” is actually little kid code for “you have 2 minutes to prepare for unstoppable vomiting.” When you are convinced that your child has too many toys, grandparents will always find more. And then my favorite lesson was learning that hearing your child say “I love you so much” is the best sound in the world and it’s ok for a grown man to get misty eyed every time he hears it. This stamp is dedicated to her which is appropriate since she leads the way on our Letterbox adventures.
#4 Cross the bridge and head up the rocky hill. Shortly after you'll come to a T intersection. On your right is a trail that is unmarked on most maps but you'll see orange markings on it. Take the left at this intersection to stay on the red trail. You'll come to a rocky cluster on your right as well as a bunch of flat ones in the path. Ahead of you is another small foot bridge. If you're doing this in the spring it will be extremely muddy here. Fortunately, behind the cluster of rocks on your right is a narrow trail that runs parallel to the red and allows you to bypass the mud. Take this detour path and the rocks are now on your left. Tucked inside one of the crevices is the fourth letterbox. This stamp you’ll see has a bicycle on it, which is dedicated to our families favorite pastime. Our little girl used to ride in a trailer behind the bike and recently upgraded to a bucket seat behind my wife. One of our favorite bike trails was in upstate NY that had a sign advertising an Arby’s at the end of it. Seriously though, what was their target audience with that? Admittedly, we can’t go on a bike ride now without one of us asking the other if there’s an Arby’s at the end of it.
#5 Get back on the red trail and cross the small bridge. Continue on the trail about ⅘ of a mile and the trail will do a little zig zag. Looking around you'll see a heavier population of pine trees than you've seen to this point. You will come to a stone wall with an opening to allow the trail to continue through it. Pass through the wall and stop. Follow the wall to the left. The letterbox is hidden in the wall just before you come to the maple tree growing right beside it. You can follow the trail back to the blue trail, take a right, and then the roadway through the park is in front of you. This last stamp is the universal symbol of camper camping, which we have started dabbling with over the summer of 2020. For those of you reading and following these clues in the future, this was the year of Covid-19 pandemic. Given the line of work we’re in, the camper was initially going to be a quarantine hut if we had to use it. As of this writing neither of us has had to use it for that purpose. However, it has turned into a great way for our family to travel and vacation. When your child is as opposed to hotel rooms as ours is, you compromise with a camper where she can move her stuffed animals in and have her own little bed.
That hits some of the high points of our relationship. You'd be lost out in these woods for days if I were to list all of them. If you’ve actually read this the whole way through, I hope you enjoyed this little rom com that I get to live every day. Maybe in another five years we’ll have a sequel for you. If you find yourself at Blaura’s, ask for us and the first round is on the house. Happy boxing and thanks for the read.
Hike length: 2-3 miles