Caching on Wednesday Around Mystic 8/5/2009

Wednesday was the first day we had a chance to do any caching seeing as we had had Alexis and Tyler staying with us in the coach for a few days , but that was OK as we enjoyed having them and they were great for us. So Wed. we left to start our caching around Mystic and Old Mystic.
Our first cache was right in Old Mystic and was a multi-cache that had to do with a memorial to war veterans and then figuring out the coords for the final cache which was on a huge rock near the Old Mystic Fire Dept.
Next cache was at the Crary Burying Ground which was established in 1739. We found the cache and then wandered around looking at all the old headstones and the earliest we could read was dated 1781.
Next cache was at St. Patrick's Cemetery which wasn't as old as some of the other cemeteries we have seen but it had some amazing crypts, headstones and monuments.
Next it was another cemetery cache at White Hall Yard #21. We found the cache and then were off looking at all the old headstones as this was quite an old cemetery. We found one headstone that was dated 1686 and several others that dated back to the early 1700's. One of the interesting headstones was that of Sir Robert Parke who was born in Preston England in 1580 and sailed from the Cowes Isle of Wight on the brigadoon Arabella on March 29, 1630 and landed in Boston, MA June 17, 1630. In 1639 he mover to Wetherfield, CT and in 1649 moved to New London, CT. In 1655 he moved to Mystic and died in 1664 and was buried in this cemetery. He was a close friend and secretary of Gov. Winthrop of MA.
Next cache was at the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center or the Peace Sanctuary. There are many many impressive varieties of indigenous rare and semi-rare plants, including nearly 400 Pink Lady Slippers that bloom in May. It was a nice walk up the hill to the cache and it was to bad we didn't see all the lovely flowers.
Next cache was in Elm Grove Cemetery incorporated in 1853. This was a huge cemetery and we didn't really see any really old headstones in the section we were in but we know they were there someplace.
Next 2 caches were the NRV variety down by the harbor and even though they were NRV we enjoyed seeing and walking around the harbor area.
Then it was off to Denison Burying Ground c1698 and a puzzle cache in the cemetery. After figuring out and finding the cache it was kind of a strange thing to see a headstone with the date 1669 on it when the cemetery wasn't opened until 1698.
Then we drove down to New London, CT for a cache at the New London Ledge Light a lighthouse at the entrance to New London harbor. This one-of-a-kind building was one of the last lighthouses built in New England, and it represents a rare case of an early 20th century offshore lighthouse that is not of cast-iron construction. The stately red brick building with its mansard roof and granite detailing makes a striking picture standing off by itself near the entrance to Connecticut's New London Harbor, at the extreme eastern end of Long Island Sound. The lighthouse reportedly owes its distinctive French Second Empire style to the influence of the wealthy home owners on the local coast, who wanted a structure in keeping with the elegance of their own homes. Many of the large homes near the shore in the area were destroyed in the great hurricane of September 21, 1938. By the early 1900s, New London, with its protected harbor at the mouth of the Thames River, had made the transition from whaling center to industrial city. New London Ledge Light was built because New London Harbor Light wasn't sufficient to direct vessels around the dangerous ledges at the entrance to the harbor. The lighthouse was built by the Hamilton R. Douglas Company of New London. This company also built Groton Town Hall. The crib it stands on was constructed by the T.A. Scott Company in Groton and was towed to the site, where it was filled with concrete and riprap and sunk in 28 feet of water. A riprap deposit, 82 feet square and 10 feet deep, surrounds and protects the foundation. A concrete pier, 50 feet square and rising 18 feet above low water, was constructed on top of the foundation. The pier contains cellar space and two water cisterns. The lighthouse was at first called Southwest Ledge Light, but the name was changed to avoid confusion with the lighthouse of the same name in New Haven Harbor. The cast-iron lantern rises from the center of the building's mansard roof. The lantern originally held a fourth-order Fresnel lens (now at the Custom House in New London) from the Henry-Lepaute Company of Paris, with an icandescent oil vapor lamp. A clockwork mechanism had to be wound every four hours to keep the lens revolving. When it was first lighted, the New London Day reported that the light could be seen up to 18 miles away. The characteristic was three white flashes followed by a red flash every 30 seconds. A fog signal was added in 1911, replacing the one at New London Harbor Light. Howard B. Beebe was keeper during the hurricane of September 21,1938. He was in the lighthouse with a second assistant keeper and a tinsmith. Beebe's family was on shore at the time the gale struck. "It washed out everything," Keeper Beebe later told the Providence Journal: "About 3:15, the engines conked out, but the light was going. We moved to the lantern. It was a three-story building. Waves were coming through the second floor. I've seen waves before, in the Bay of Fundy, but I never saw them like that. There was 11 tons of coal in the cellar, and it boiled it all out." Coast Guard crews lived at the lighthouse from 1939 until its automation in 1987. The crew worked in three man shifts, spending up to three weeks at the lighthouse followed by six days on shore. Somebody once explained why there were three men at the lighthouse at one time -- if two men had a fight, there would be a third to break it up. The Coast Guardsmen spent much of their time fishing and working out in the small gym in the lighthouse.
According to Elinor De Wire, author of the book Guardians of the Lights, they were occasionally driven to distraction by the smells wafting from the mainland -- freshly mown lawns and barbecues -- as well as by the sight, viewable by binoculars, of young women on a nearby beach. New London Ledge Light was generally considered undesirable duty, but some enjoyed the solitude and beauty of the place. Petty Officer 1st Class Timothy Grant, a Maine native, told the New York Times in 1984, "After a week ashore, I can't wait to get back here." He knew it wasn't for everybody, adding, "This might be an ideal place for a loner, but it would drive whoever lives with him up a wall." Seaman Don Place put it simply, "You get a lot of time to think." Probably the best-known part of this station's history and lore is the lighthouse's infamous ghost, "Ernie." It's been claimed that in the 1920s or '30s, a keeper learned that his wife had run off with the captain of the Block Island ferry. Distraught, the keeper jumped -- or fell -- from the roof of the lighthouse to his death, the story goes. Some versions of this story say that Ernie's real name may have been John Randolf or Randolph. If there's any truth behind the legend, it's elusive. But there does seem to be unexplainable activity at the lighthouse. Doors have been known to open and close mysteriously, decks have swabbed themselves, televisions have turned themselves off, and the fog horn seems to turn on and off for no reason. Securely tied boats have mysteriously been set adrift. In 1987, New London Ledge Light became the last lighthouse on Long Island Sound to be automated. On the last day before automation, a Coast Guardsman entered in the log: Rock of slow torture. Ernie's domain. Hell on earth -- may New London Ledge's light shine on forever because I'm through. I will watch it from afar while drinking a brew. The fourth order Fresnel lens once in the lighthouse is now at Custom House Museum of Maritime History in New London. There is now a VRB-25 optic in use in the lighthouse. Solar panels were added in 1998, providing power for the light and fog signal. The rest of the electricity is provided by a cable from Avery Point. Today the lighthouse is leased to the New London Ledge Lighthouse Foundation. This group, with the help of grants and private contributions, has done some restoration of the building's interior. The plan is to eventually turn the building into a combination museum and bed and breakfast.
Then it was on back to the coach for the rest of the day and evening. Well time to say until next time we love and miss you all. Mom & Dad