Well Almost Time to Shove Off EH!!!!!!!1/29-2/26/2009

Well it's almost that time of year again to get on the road for places far and away. We have been getting packed up the last few days and plan to stay at Apache CG's for a couple of days to see that everything is ok. I haven't had a chance to test the water yet to see if anything froze or not as it's been so damn cold here that I don't dare put water in the lines as I'm sure it will freeze. This winter here has been worse than last winter as far as cold and rain. We even had 4.5" of snow on the day they were supposed to run the MB Marathon and they canceled it with no refunds. 6,000 runners and their families were here and got raked over the coals by these dummies down here.

Judy came down for almost 2 weeks and had a great visit although we felt bad because there was not any real warm weather like you might expect here this time of year. She was here for the snow though.....bet she loved that. Dori and her had a great time gallivanting and going to lunch and all. She went to our Feb. geocaching meeting with us and enjoyed it. We had everybody over for dinner once and we went to Ed's house and Liz and Bob's once for dinner while she was here. Her and Dori went, I think, to every store in MB shopping and looking and Mom really enjoyed having her here. They went to the Calabash Garden Tea Room for lunch one day and make sure you see the pictures in there "tea room" outfits. We took her caching a couple of times and she still seemed to enjoy it and had fun in the woods....I think. We really enjoyed having here here for the 2 weeks and hope she had a good time in spite of the weather.

We have been doing some caching with Liz and Bob around the Pawley's Island, Wilmington and Boiling Spring Lakes area and like I said we did go out with Judy and found about 10 caches, none of which had any NRV. We made a couple of trips to Pawley's Island and did do 2 nice Earthcaches on the island itself at the Southernmost end of the island which is one of the prettiest on the East coast and oh so peaceful and quiet. Another of the caches we did had to do with the witch of Pawley's Island.
On the southern most finger of land on the island, where the Atlantic Ocean and Pawleys Creek meet, there once lived a friendly, happy widow. Her home was one of the largest dwellings on the island.
She had lived on the island all her life and, as a young girl, spent many hours roaming the island with her family's cook looking for herbs and spices that were found in the wild. The cook taught her how to use the herbs and spices for cooking and for home remedies.
Unfortunately the widow grew to love something more fiercely than her beloved Pawleys Island - whiskey. Her desire for frequent and great quantities of whiskey caused her to abandon all appearances of a normal life and eventually cost her the family's home.
The widow took up residence in a decrepit shack on the mainland just across Pawley's Creek. The widow would leave her shack to gather firewood, roots, and berries or to make an occasional trip to Georgetown. People were shocked by her appearance. The widow's hair was wild, dirty, long and tangled. Her face was hidden by a large black hat.
Stories about the old woman began to circulate around Georgetown and on the island. Those very people who had consulted the widow for home remedies now began to spread rumors about her. She was a witch, people would say, a conjurer. Living out there in the old shack she could "do things."
As the rumors circulated a young man from Georgetown began to get an idea. He was intent on winning the affections of a young woman from Georgetown but was very apprehensive about courting her. Maybe the old hag could help him.
Early one morning the man set out for Pawley's Island and found the old lady's shack. Just as he was about to knock on her door it jerked open and he found himself not two feet from the old woman's face. Squaring his shoulders and trying to remain calm he said, in a shaking voice, "I need a love potion. How much?" After thinking about the phase of the moon and the rising of the tides the woman croaked "a bottle of whiskey, two days from now at sundown."
Two days later, at sundown, the old woman was in front of her shack when the young man road up. He approached the woman cautiously and handed her the brown bag containing the whiskey.
"The potion is ready." Sweeping her knobby stick toward the ocean she said,"The moon be on the increase and the tide be on the rise. Now you must do the rest." She pulled the bottle of liquid from the folds of her black cloak. "Drink half of this" she said as she thrust the bottle towards him. "Drink!"
Mesmerized and shaking he snatched the bottle from her and drank deeply. To his surprise the liquid tasted good. As he drank a warm glow spread over his muscles.
The old woman pointed her stick at him and said " Before the moon be full, see that the girl drinks the rest of it. You had half, she gets half. And see that the tide be on the rise when she drinks. You do as I say and she will be yours."
As the young man walked to his horse he looked at the bottle and realized he had only consumed about one fourth of the contents and thought that he would drink the rest of his half tomorrow before he went to call on the young lady who he already considered his.
The next day he decided not to drink any more but to give the lady three-fourths of the bottle instead of half. Surely it would make her love for him greater. Later that day he called on the young woman and slipped the potion into her tea.
The potion took effect immediately! The young woman fell madly in love with her suitor and before long they were engaged. At first the young man was ecstatic, but soon he found that his ardor had cooled. While the young woman was completely devoted to him, he found that he could barely stand the sight of her. He broke the engagement but the young woman followed him everywhere. He soon left town without a trace. The young woman learned of her beloved's disappearance and drowned herself in the ocean. The young man was never heard from again.
News of the old woman's potion soon became known throughout the region. Word of mouth soon had her busy with potions for the lovesick as well as for the vengeful.
Many nights the fire outside her shack burned long into the night. Often, late at night, the old woman could be seen digging but no one dared approach the shack to see what she was burying.
When the old woman died it was commonly assumed that she had hoarded money or valuables and had hidden them away. She had had a busy practice in magical potions and must have stored away much of her income. The woman's shack and the grounds around it were carefully searched but nothing was ever found. Speculations continued on what had happened to her secret treasure. Furtive individuals continued to trek to the site. Many times a hopeful digger would feel his shovel strike something hard but would be disappointed to find he had hit a jug or bottle of whiskey.
Finally the digging and searching stopped. There were too many unexplained noises - howls and growls - that made it impossible to concentrate on digging. No one had ever dug up a any money or treasures.
Standing on the southern most tip of Pawleys Island one can still sometimes see the light of a fire in the dark, wooded part of the mainland across the creek. If one watches long enough a silhouette can be seen passing in front of the fire. On a very still night one may hear the high, eerie, cackling laugh of the old woman: The Witch of Pawley's Island.

Last week we went to Wilmington to meet a fellow cacher Michelle Fray to do some caching with her and have lunch. She took us to a great multi-cache located in Oakdale Cemetery right in Wilmington. Oakdale Cemetery was chartered on December 27, 1852 by the General Assembly of North Carolina. The founders purchased 65 acres for $1,100. The acreage now has grown to 165 acres of natural beauty. Created during the era of the Rural Cemetery Movement in the US, Oakdale was the first in the state, only fitting for the most populous city in the state at the time. It was five blocks beyond the town boundaries. The nice part of this cache is the gravesites it took us to.
The first gravesite we visited was that of the first of the current 28,000 interments in Oakdale which took place on February 5, 1855. Ironically, it was 6-year-old Annie DeRosset, the daughter of physician Armand John DeRosset, the first president of the cemetery corporation.
Second gravesite was that of Mrs (Wild) Rose Greenhow (1817–October 1, 1864) who was a renowned Confederate spy. As a leader in Washington, D.C. society during the period to prior the American Civil War, she traveled in important political circles and cultivated friendships with presidents, generals, senators, and high-ranking military officers, using her connections to pass along key military information to the Confederacy at the start of the war.
Greenhow was born in 1817 in Port Tobacco, Maryland, as Maria Rosatta O'Neal. Her father, John O'Neal, was supposedly murdered by one of his slaves in 1817. His widow, Eliza O'Neal, was left with four daughters and a cash-poor farm to manage. Orphaned as a child, Greenhow was invited to live with her aunt in Washington, D.C. as a teenager. Her aunt, Maria Ann Hill, ran a stylish boarding house at the Old Capitol building, and Greenhow was introduced to important figures in the Washington area. When she was a young woman, Greenhow was considered beautiful, educated, loyal, compassionate, and refined. Her olive skin and rosy complexion earned her the nickname "Wild Rose". Greenhow's companion, John C. Calhoun, (a man of pro-Southern politics) convinced Rose to follow pro-Southern interests. In the 1830s, she met Dr. Robert Greenhow. Their courtship was well received by the society of Washington, especially by famed society matron Dolley Madison. In 1835, they married with Dolley's blessing. Greenhow's husband taught her history and gave her access to documents of the state through his work in the state department. she was a girl.
The Greenhows had eight children: First came Florence, Gertrude and Leila. Then came four children who would never make it through infancy, Alice Rose, Robert, Jr.; Morgan Lewis and Rose. The last child and Rose's constant companion and namesake was named Rose O'Neale Greenhow and given her mother's maiden name as a middle name. She is the little rebel known affectionately as "Little Rose".
Tragedy struck the family when Greenhow's husband died soon after little Rose's birth. After his death, Greenhow saw her oldest child Florence marry and move west, and later, just before the Civil War, Gertrude died. Greenhow's sympathy for the Confederate cause grew after her husband's death. She was strongly influenced in her commitment to the right to secession by her friendship with John C. Calhoun. Greenhow's loyalty to the Confederacy was noted by those with similar sympathies in Washington, and she was soon recruited as a spy.
On July 9, 1861, and July 16, 1861, Greenhow passed secret messages to Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard containing critical information regarding the First Battle of Manassas and the plans of Union General Irvin McDowell. Assisting in her conspiracy were pro-Confederate members of Congress, Union officers, and her dentist, Aaron Van Camp. Confederate President Jefferson Davis credited Greenhow's information with securing victory at Manassas for the Confederate Army over the Union Army.
Knowing that many in Washington suspected her of spying for the Confederacy, Greenhow feared for her remaining family's safety and sent her daughter Leila west to live with her other daughter Florence and son-in-law, Seymour Treadwell Moore. Moore was a captain in the Union Army.
On August 23, 1861, Allan Pinkerton, head of the recently-formed Secret Service, apprehended Greenhow and placed her under house arrest. Other leaked information was traced back to Greenhow's home, and upon searching her home for further evidence, Pinkerton and his men found maps of Washington fortifications and notes on military movements.
On January 18, 1862, Greenhow was transferred to Old Capitol Prison. Her eight-year-old daughter "Little" Rose, was permitted to remain with her. Greenhow continued to pass along messages in unusual ways while imprisoned. For example, she was said to have sent one message concealed within a woman visitor's bun of hair. Passers-by could see Rose's window from the street. The position of the blinds and number of candles burning in the window had special meaning to the "little birdies" passing by. Greenhow also on one occasion flew the Confederate Flag from her prison window.
On May 31, 1862, Greenhow and her daughter were released from prison. Deported to Richmond, Virginia, Greenhow was hailed as a heroine by Southerners. Jefferson Davis welcomed her home and soon enlisted her as a courier to Europe. From 1863 to 1864, Greenhow traveled through France and Britain on a diplomatic mission for the Confederacy. There was much sympathy for the South among European aristocrats. While in France, Greenhow was received in the court of Napoleon III at the Tuileries. In Britain, she had an audience with Queen Victoria and became engaged to Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville. Two months after arriving in London, Greenhow wrote her memoirs, titled My Imprisonment and the First Year of Abolition Rule at Washington, which sold well in Britain. The details of her mission to Europe are recorded in her personal diaries, dated August 5, 1863, to August 10, 2010.
In September 1864, Greenhow left Europe to return to the Confederate States, carrying dispatches. She traveled on the Condor, a British blockade runner. On October 1, 1864, the Condor ran aground at the mouth of the Cape Fear River near Wilmington, North Carolina. A Union gunboat, USS Niphon, had been pursuing the ship. Fearing capture and reimprisonment, Greenhow fled the grounded Condor by rowboat. The rowboat was capsized by a wave, and Greenhow, weighed down with $2,000 worth of gold from her memoir royalties intended for the Confederate treasury, drowned.
When Greenhow's body was recovered from the water near Wilmington, North Carolina, searchers found a copy of her book "Imprisonment" hidden on her person. There was a note inside the book, which was meant for her daughter, Little Rose. The note read:

London, Nov 1st 1863 You have shared the hardships and indignity of my prison life, my darling; And suffered all that evil which a vulgar despotism could inflict. Let the memory of that period never pass from your mind; Else you may be inclined to forget how merciful Providence has been in seizing us from such a people. Rose O'n Greenhow.

In October 1864, Greenhow received a full military burial in Oakdale Cemetery, Wilmington, North Carolina. Her coffin was wrapped in the Confederate flag; her epitaph reads: Mrs. Rose O'N. Greenhow, a bearer of dispatches to the Confederate Government. To this day, annual ceremonies are held graveside to honour Rose and her contributions to the Confederate cause.
Third gravesite was that of 367 unknown Confederate Soldiers who were killed during the Civil War at Ft Fisher. In 1872, The Ladies Memorial Association, which became the Cape Fear Chapter #3, Daughters of the Confederacy, erected the monument. It consists of a bronze statue of a Confederate soldier and medallion likenesses of Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. Mr. O'Donovan of Virginia provided the design and Maurice J. Power at the National Art Foundry in New York, executed it. A North Carolina quarry furnished the granite pedestal. You will notice that true to southern tradition this soldier is looking south with his back directly to the north.
Fourth grave site was that of Nancy Martin who while on a voyage with her brother in May of 1857, Nancy became ill and died near Cuba. Her brother was blown overboard during a hurricane on the same voyage. Her father wanted to take her home to his wife and body was placed in a large cask filled with rum then returned to Wilmington. Upon their arrival back in Wilmington, the officials would not allow the cask to be opened so she was buried in the cask of rum. Her grave is marked with a simple rustic cross that bears her name “Nance” by which she was called. Her brother who was washed overboard on the same voyage has a simple message carved on the nearby family obelisk stating “lost at sea.”
The last site was the site of The Yellow Fever Epidemic back in 1862. When the blockade runner Kate pulled into port on August 6, 1862, who knew what she was carrying. Sick seamen from the crew were brought to boarding houses in Wilmington to recover. A hot, humid summer mixed with a mosquito problem and the yellow fever disease were a combination that would prove fatal to many of Wilmington’s population. The town of 11,000 people decreased to 4,000 as people died or fled the city. Over 600 people are confirmed to have died from the fever over three months and those numbers are believed to be wildly inaccurate. Records of those who died among Wilmington’s slave and black population are almost nonexistent. As for whites, most people who died of the disease went into this unmarked mass grave.
The final cache site was 31/2 miles away from the cemetery so as we were leaving the cemetery Michelle had a problem with her car so she had to leave and drive to her garage, so we weren't able to have lunch with her. We did 2 more caches and then the downpours hit so we quit, had lunch and came home.

Earlier this week we drove up to the Brunswick Nature Park with Liz and Bob and met Michelle again to walk the nature park and do the 6 caches in the park. We found them all and said goodbye to Michelle as it was a pleasure caching with her as she is such a lovely lady and so much fun to cache with. We drove on and found 3 more caches and then it was on to Oak Island and a meeting for lunch with sailingbev, Grin N Bear It, baby bear and baby bird (Bev, Jen, Jillian & Jenna). We ate at Pizza Hut and again had a nice lunch then went over to see the house that Bev owns and has been renovating, after throwing her tenants out for non-payment of rent. It was a lovely little house and she is doing a great job on it so far considering the renters were smokers. There is absolutely no smell of smoke in it now. We said goodbye to them until the fall and we were off to MB.

We have been watching the Olympics quite religiously both day and night. They have been quite nice to watch especially when the U.S. has been winning so many medals. Well I guess that's about it for now. We will back with the blog in a few more days as we head out on Monday but just for a few days here to see if everything works ok. So until then we miss and love you all. Mom & Dad Dori & Dick