Chucky Cheese, Caching, & Rainy 7/29-31/2009

Wednesday we took Tyler and Alexis and headed for Manchester as Mom was taking them to Chucky Cheese's for lunch and I was going to do some caches. We stopped at a 99 Restaurant first so Mom and I could do a cache we couldn't find the day before as we had a hint from the cache owner as to where it was and we did find it. After that we finally located Chucky's as it was stuck way back in a small shopping center and I dropped them all off about 11:15 and off I went. Well I found 7 NRV caches in the hour and a half I had before I had to pick them up. There was one cache that was rated a 4 as far as difficulty was concerned which was a hollowed out bolt attached to a stop sign and I did get it quickly and didn't really think it was a 4. I picked them up about 1:00 and off we went back to the coach to pick a few things up and head for Chris's where we had dinner and spent the evening.
Thursday Mom and I headed to Wethersfield and Old Wethersfield for a day of caching although it was very hot and extremely muggy. We did a cache along a nature trail, one at a Rite Aid drug store and a multi cache at a Big Lots store in Wethersfield before we drove in Old Wethersfield. Our first cache was on the Town Green which was very hard hit by a tornado that came through the town about 2 months ago. We found the cache and we off to our next cache located in the Ancient Burying Ground in Old Wethersfield. The Ancient Burying Ground is located behind the First Church of Christ Congregational in Old Wethersfield and is filled with a cornucopia of historical names that would fill a textbook. While searching for the cache, be sure to walk around and admire the various gravestones and monuments, many of them chiseled by hand in the mid 17th century. The cache is a micro located amidst the many gravestones, but please note that you do not need to touch any of the gravestones or move anything to get to the cache. If you bring children along, please watch them closely. Some of the gravestones are over 350 years old, are very brittle and can break easily if touched. Many of the gravesites have flags representing those who served in different wars, some as early as the Revolutionary War. The oldest gravesite is Leonard Chester's, who passed on in 1648. In February 1640, Mr. Chester took inventory of Joyce Ward's estate as she prepared her will. A quick read of her will shows how different lifestyles were in the 1600s than they are now.
Joyce Ward Location: Wethersfield, CT
Invt. 52-15-06. Taken 24th February, 1640-1, by George Hubbard & Leonard Chester.
Will dated 15th November, 1640:

I, Joyce Ward, of Wethersfield, being sicke in body but whole in mynd, doe make my last will & Testament this 15th day of November, in this prsent yeare of the Lord Christ 1640, in manner and forme as followeth:

Imprs. I give to foure of my sonnes. that is to say, ANTHONY WARD to WILLIE WARD, ROBERT WARD, & JOHN WARD, cch of the a pare of sheets, and to my eldest sonne EDWARD, I give unto him twelve pence of mony; furthermore, I make my sonne in law JOHN FLETCHER my whole and sole Executor, to pay and discharge all those debts, legaces wch I am bownd to prforme, and for to see my body brought to the ground in a decent manner.

Memorand: that I, JOYCE WARD, have left my sonne ROBERTS portion wch his father gave him, wch is (œ20) twenty pound, in England, in the hands of my sonne EDWARD WARD; I have made Mr. Wollersloue, of Clipsum, in England, in the County of Rutland, my Atturny, for to receave yt for my vse; if he have gott yt there, my son ROBERT shall have the whole twenty pound; but if yt be not gotten, then the six pound wch I paid for the putting out of the said ROBERT WARD to Apprentice, shall be prte of that twenty pound.
JOYCE WARD ( her mark)
Witness: Nathaniel Dickinson Roger Prichat

An Inventory of all and singular the goods, Chattells, cattle, belonging to JOYCE WARD, wydow, late of Wethersfield, made, taken and found the 24th of February, by GEORGE HUBBARD and LEONARD CHESTER:

Imprs 7 yards of Hemppen cloath at 2s pr yard, 0-14-00
It. four prrs of Hemppen Sheets, 2-00-00
It. one prre of flaxen sheets, 1-00-00
It. her apparell, vist, 2 gowns, one hatt, one pre of bodyes, wth other, 5-00-00
It. one bedd, two boulsters, two pillows, two Coverings, two Curtains, 10-00-00
It. one boxe, wth a little hand Trunke. 0-03-06
one brasse pott, 16s; one brasse panne, œ1, 1-16-00
one iron potte, one chamber pott, 2s, 0-04-00
one brasse coal dish, 0-02-00
one sowe wth three piggs, 1-00-00
two table cloathes, wth 4 napkins, 0-16-00
one Bond or Specialty 30-00-00
Pr Leonard Chester, George Hubbard.
It was very interesting walking around the cemetery looking at all the old graves, although most of the older graves were not able to be read and a lot of the older ones had been eroded by the weather, and as you can see by the pictures they were buried very very close together.
We were off to the next cache located on the steps of an old boathouse in Old Wethersfield Cove which we found quickly. Our last cache was a 10 site historic walking tour of Old Wethersfield. First stop was at the Chester Bulkley House which is a B&B Circa 1830. It is a Greek Revival structure which has been completely renovated to provide five luxurious guest rooms. Wide pine floors, hand carved woodwork, working fireplaces and period pieces enhance the ambiance of this warm and gracious bed and breakfast. Next stop was at the Old Academy which was built as a school in 1804 and now home to the Wethersfield Historical Society. The famous educator, Joseph Emerson operated a female seminary there. It also served as Wethersfield's Town Hall and Library. Next was a stop at the Wethersfield firehouse Circa 1803 which is the oldest volunteer firehouse in New England and one of the oldest in the U.S.A. Next was the 1752 Joseph Webb House which served as George Washington’s headquarters in May 1781, and was later owned by Wallace Nutting and was where George Washington and Rochambeau planned there Campaign which ended in Yorktown in 1781. Next stop was the Simeon Belden's House which was built in 1767. It has a gambrel roof and its original broken scroll, or swan's neck, doorway pediment. Next was a stop at American Legion Post 23 and following that it was over to the Rev. James Lockwood House. Then it was a stop at the First Church of Christ. A historic landmark in the heart of Old Wethersfield, the First Church of Christ was erected in 1761 as the third meetinghouse of the congregation, which was "gathered" or formed in 1635, and also as the assembly hall for town meetings. As late as 1838, it served this double purpose. Today it is the home and central building of the largest Congregational church in New England. George Washington worshiped in the Meetinghouse on May 20, 1781, while in town to confer with Rochambeau to plan what proved to be the final phase of the American Revolution--the Battle of Yorktown. John Adams visited the Meetinghouse and climbed the ladder in the bell tower to peer through the lantern windows where he beheld, in his words, "the most grand and beautiful Prospect in the World." The Meetinghouse is a model of Congregational or Puritan architecture, with its high, central pulpit, its clear glass windows and its simple, chaste lines. Its simplicity went undisturbed until the 1800s, when a series of alterations gave it a more Gothic appearance. The changes included the removal of the pulpit and the box pews. In 1973, through the generous bequest of Jane Robbins Dunham, the Meetinghouse was magnificently restored to its original character and beauty. The original pulpit was returned. Clear glass was reinstalled. Box and slip pews were put in place. The advantages of modern recessed lighting and air conditioning were also introduced. The bell tower is a showpiece, similar in design to that of Old North Church in Boston. While largely unchanged through the years, it required restoration in 1979-1980, at which time the authentic fan-design windows were installed. In the evening, the lighted spire shines as a beacon of hope and faith, viewable for miles around. Next was a stop at the sign that explains the Washington - Rochambeau Revolutionary Route which was in front of the J Michaels Tavern aka Standish House which was built in 1787 and was first opened for restaurant business in 1986. Our final stop was at the CT Constitutional Oak which was presented to Stephen Willard delegate from the town of Wethersfield at the Constitutional Convention held in Hartford in 1902. After that stop we figured out the final cache location coords and off we went to a trail behind the Buttolph-Williams Museum but we couldn't find the cache. Well upon returning home and logging a DNF we got an email from the cache owner telling us to log it as a find as he checked on it and it was indeed gone. After we were done our last cache we found a place to eat and then looked around Old Wethersfield some more. There was plenty to see in the old town including older house circa 1700 and older, old churches and many cute shops and restaurants such as the Main Street Creamery and Cafe, J Michaels Tavern and the Comstock-Ferre Seed and Grain Co. Then it was on back to the coach and then to Chris's for the rest of the day.
Friday we were going to go caching but it started pouring rain about 9:30 and didn't quit till late in the evening so that was on hold. Instead we went to Wally World and picked up some groceries we needed and then went back to the coach and over to Chris's for dinner and the evening.
Well that's about all the news that's fit to print so we will say until next time we lve and miss you all. Mom & Dad