The Adventure Continues

 

I’m finally getting around to completing my blog entries from our trip to North and South Carolina during Halloween Weekend.

This post is a continuation of The Adventure Begins.

And it is very very very very very very long.

Grab refreshments first. You’ll need them.

You’ve been warned………..

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We left off with my twinlings and I spending a very fun evening with our friends in Rock Hill, SC. And then spending the night in Margie’s Cabin.

(This is her mailbox. Photo enhanced in PhotoScape)

The next morning I had hoped to get an early start so we could drive up to Salisbury, North Carolina, Letterboxing the entire way.

 

Unfortunately, between the previous day starting at 4am, a long day waiting in airports, and an exciting evening with dear friends and a whole lot of wine, that didn’t quite work out. My thoughtful friend, Margie had to get up early to prepare for a wedding she was catering over the weekend, but when she woke up she could tell how tired I was, so she pulled the curtains shut so the room would stay dark…and I continued to sleep, as did my sons downstairs in the other bedroom. Instead of waking up around 8am, we slept until 10am!

Margie had left the house already, but had made me some coffee and set out some breakfast foods for all of us.

Still in my jammies, I sat outside on her front porch beside her pond to enjoy the relaxing sounds of her bubbling, gurgling waterfall, as I sipped my coffee and rubbed the ears of her sweet Chocolate Lab, Reeces.

I wandered around taking photos of many of the unique and rustic items Margie and her family have collected.

And this beautiful table, handmade by Margie’s hubby.

It was a wonderfully relaxed way to spend the morning.

After a while I woke up the boys and they enjoyed some breakfast, and hanging out with one of Margie’s sons, who was one of their best friends when we lived in South Carolina. And by the time we were all packed up to leave, Margie returned from her errands, with a surprise for me:

A true Southern Treat! Boiled Peanuts!! Nom! Nom!

And then we had a proper goodbye…pictures and all.

I sure do miss her.

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But it was time to get rollin’

 

 

We drove north from her cabin and found a Letterbox in downtown Rock Hill. As we were stamping in, a train rolled right by the park and we waved at the driver and he answered with a hearty “TOOOT!….TOOOT! of his horn. That made our day!

Afterwards, we placed a Letterbox just a few miles away, with a stamp of an image of a chile pepper, that I had carved just before we left New Mexico. The location I chose has fond memories for my family because it is where we took the twinlings to practice riding their bikes on the flat, winding paths and bridges that encircle the lake and flow through the forest, and where we would go every Thanksgiving to feed bread to the ducks and geese. (Sadly they now have signs up warning not to feed them anymore)

(The Twinlings practicing their Zombie moves)

After leaving Rock Hill, we drove through the city of Charlotte, where I had hoped to find a whole slew of wonderful Leterboxes, but we just didn’t have time after we had slept in. It was only 1pm and I was shocked at how much traffic was on I-85, between Charlotte and Kannapolis. Sometimes it would come to an almost complete stop and when we finally got up to the area we figured must have an accident or construction…..there was nothing!

(Our Alamo Rental Car….with the tiny windows, tiny inside, and generous airbags)

We did make an exit off I-85 briefly to find two letterboxes in Richfield, NC, but they were easy drive-bys and we were soon on our way to Salisbury, NC, where we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening Letterboxing all around the quaint historic town.

 

 

 

 

Many of the boxes we chose to hunt for were Zombie or Spooky related, because Salisbury is well known for it’s haunted old houses and Ghost Tours and Zombie Affiliation.

(Photo enhanced with PhotoScape)

Most of them were placed in old cemeteries, near crypts, and close to historic haunted houses and old haunted train stations.

There was even one Letterbox located beside the crypt of the Chambers Family below the Session House in downtown Salisbury. On weekends, there are Ghost Tours here and in other areas around town.

The clues used the famous Edgar Allen Poe story: The Cask of Amontillado.

As soon as we arrived at the location, we heard police sirens (thought we were already caught, even before we did anything. hehe), soon followed by a long white hearse and a funeral procession that drove right in front of us. That sure added to the creepy ambience!

(Yes, that’s Jax beneath the stairs…..searching for the letterbox……with the crypt on the other side of a wall, only a few feet away, but within sight through a hole in that wall!)

And these are the caskets and burial ground of the 10 family members of Maxwell Chambers, as seen through the iron gate.

(photo enhanced for creepiness using Photoscape)

It was probably our most favorite Letterbox to find during the entire trip, with the exception of the other Edgar Allen Poe Letterbox: The Tell Tale Heart.

In fact one of the letterboxes was even placed in a clothing store called Dead Ed's, where we only had to ask the manager for the Letterbox to receive it….but had to get past several creepy Zombie dudes first.

They were preparing for the Halloween Zombie Walk down Main Street in Salisbury, which we had hoped to participate in, too, but that night was calling for rain, and we wanted to get checked into our cabin at Dan Nicholas Park and meet up with some fellow Letterboxers for the Night of the Letterboxing Dead Event. (Click that link to see a video taken the next day. You can see both of my twinlings dressed as a Goth Zombie and an Creepy Amish Farmer Zombie).

But first we had one final Letterbox to find, in a cemetery, at night, near the infamous Gravity Hill in Rowan County. This was not actually a Night Box, where you wear a headlamp and go traipsing through the forest looking for reflective tape or Fire Tacks, to locate the Letterbox, but this Letterbox was supposed to be a more fun and creepy experience attempted at night. So, we visited Gravity Hill and felt our car seemingly roll backwards up the hill, and then we backtracked a 1/4 mile to the cemetery and started searching.

I’d just like to say, that wandering around in the woods beside an old cemetery on a pitch black night, while trying to stay invisible as cars randomly drive past….is a hilarious hoot! Jem was the watchman, while Jax was the clue cipher, and I was the compass reader. Every time our watchman called out “Lights Out”, we ducked down and switched off our headlamps. The thing is, Jem actually couldn’t see the cars coming because we were surrounded by thick trees, with the cemetery right in the middle, bordering the road. Instead, he had to listen intently for the cars, which wasn’t always easy for some of the quieter ones.

Sometimes an evenly spaced grouping of cars drove by and if someone had been watching us they were surely cracking up, because it seemed like we were ducking and blinking on and off like a string of broken crazy Christmas lights. It sure was a lot of fun, though!

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Afterwards we made our way to Dan Nicholas Park, and let ourselves in using the lock code, which had been given to us by one of the event coordinators, since it was 9:30pm, and the gates closed at 5pm. We found our way to the cabins and checked into the one we had been offered to use for the night: The House of Horrors.

(Photo taken the next day)

 

The House of Horrors Cabin was rented by Mama Wolf (her Letterboxing Trail Name) to contain a fun indoor Letterboxing series with some clever clues, as well to be used as a cozy indoor heated meeting space. Good thing, too, since the rain had begun and it had gotten quite cold outside.

 

There were 2 other cabins being used by fellow Letterboxers and they gave it their all in decorating their temporary humble abodes.

And there were Letterboxes hidden and tucked everywhere, all over and around these cabins!

We were very ready to get ourselves unpacked and ready for a good night’s rest, after we met a few of the Letterboxers still awake, so we could do exchanges with them. (ie, swapping personal stamp images)

But we were soon to realize that our long day was not over. We were very happy with the amount of Letterboxing and exploring we got done that day, and we knew the next day would be even busier with the Night of the Letterboxing Dead Event we would be attending.

But it wasn’t over yet. 

In fact we were in for a long night of adventure and Letterboxing before we could finally go to sleep.

To be Continued…….