Team Whiplash: Gastonia

Team Whiplash

My fellow members of Team Whiplash, Atlasymm and Scouter Mom, and I were meeting for breakfast on New Year's morning and decided to have an impromptu day of Geocaching fun!  After some small debate on whether to go for maintenance or pleasure, we settled on the obvious choice...the pure bliss of finding someone else's caches!

We decided that Gastonia would be a fun pick and so we packed up our gear and headed out to pile into the Mischief-Mobile to explore caches unknown.

We only had a very short 2 hours to fit in as much as we could and so we kept to the caches that had the most favorite points. There were two that specifically stuck out in my mind and those are the ones I am going to focus on sharing today.

The first because I am constantly amazed at the things that actually come out of a Muggle's mouth when they are asking what we are doing, and the second because of the sheer unexpected diversion and artistry that we discovered.

One of the first sites to us to a cache named Old Glory. The cache was named after a very expansive and impressive American flag painted on the side of a building. It was not situated in the most upscale part of the town and, as a Muggle was soon to point out, there were sometimes some less than savory characters that seemed to have claimed this particular corner for themselves. 

 We arrived near GZ and decided to park a little bit down, seeing as the street was somewhat busy that day.  As we are walking up the sidewalk to get to the side of the building where the flag and cache are placed, a man who had been hanging out on the steps behind the gate walks up to us what kind of business we are up to on this corner. It was then that Susan proceeds to inform him that we are that day's "first shift".   I was unsure whether he realized she was joking or not but he did not seem to be the best of characters to be hanging around either, so we got our photos, signed the log, and after some more stimulating interaction with Mr. Crazy, we laughed all the way back to the van!

I must admit, that is one of the more unusual excuses I've heard for trying to explain away geocaching to a Muggle!

Fortunately, the next fun memory of that day was a bit less shocking and rather more elegant in design. 

We began our search for the cache called Snow White and it was one of those moments that remind you of why you started Geocaching in the first place!  All of us, in the past, have spent quite a bit of time traveling to and around the town of Gastonia, but not a single one of us had ever had the privilege of stumbling upon the quaint and touching park that has been hidden in the middle of the downtown area.  To have missed this moment would, in my opinion, have been a crying shame. 

What a charming secret was hidden there!!  The cache itself is not given away in any of these photos, so do not worry about a spoiler.  When we pulled up, we parked right in front of the cutest old-fashioned looking police station that also serves as a museum and I knew right from that moment that this was going to be one of those times when the journey and seeking are more important than the actual find.  I admit that I was more delighted than I can explain or understand by the round street light with word Police written on them, I still don't know why they captured my attention so strongly. But they did and so I took a photo to remember them with.

Though I am still not 100% sure what the proper name of this park was, I do know that a lot of love and planning had gone into make it a peaceful breath of fresh air in the midst of concrete giants. It was a fitting dedication to the natural history and industrial heritage of the area.

There was a fountain, which was not running due to the Winter season, and also a large amphitheater which would make this spot perfect for summer night concerts. There were also many interesting statues and sculptures that appeared at first to be made of brick but upon some research, we found that they were made of plaster and painted in great detail to appear to be bricks.

It is here that I will simply leave you with some random pictures of the park and the statues/fountain inside (note the words written that can be found on family statue and the ground surrounding it). 

If you ever get the chance to visit and cache in the Gaston County area, I would highly recommend that you visit this particular cache and that you plan to take a few extra moments out of your time to simply sit and meditate on the quiet beauty surrounding you.

 A most sincere and heartfelt thank you to Crescent Trekkers for placing both of the caches I have mentioned today!

Look closely and you will see the sign
for the famous Tony's Ice Cream!!