Knight of Blanik - Chicago Sculpture Series
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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This is an offset cache.
To find the cache follow these instructions...
1) Enjoy the view at the posted coordinates. After doing that...
2) Walk to the front of the statue and once the GPSr zero's out...
3) Project a waypoint 360 feet on a bearing of 50 degrees and walk there...
4) Find the cache container.
You are looking for a small official Geocaching Lock-N-Lock.
Please bring a bag and some gloves as this area need a lot of CITO.
Be careful as the hint is a giveaway.
I remember the first time I came across The Midway, the grand open space took my breath away. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
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The Masaryk Memorial Monument, (The Blanik Mountain Knight Sculpture) By Czech sculptor Albin Polasek, was originally commissioned by a group of Czechs and then WWII broke out and the funds had to go elsewhere. Polasek ended up completing the statue with his own funds.
1949, installed May 29, 1955.
Watching over the Midway Plaisance, the Masaryk Memorial Monument's bronze horseman represents the knights of Bohemian legend who stood guard at the Blanik Mountain.
In legend, the knights sleep under Mt. Blanik in Bohemia, waiting to follow St. Wenceslaus into battle in country's hour of need.
The horseman also recalls a real-life defender of his country: Thomas Garrigue Masaryk (1850-1937), the philosopher turned political leader who was Czechoslovakia's first president. Whether as statesman or as professor, Masaryk never shied away from hard issues; as a philosopher, his first major work was entitled Der Selbstmord als sociale Massenerscheinung der modernen Civilisation (suicide as a mass phenomenon of modern civilization). Definitely a wintry topic.
T. G. Masaryk’s name has also a special significance to the University of Chicago. He taught there in 1903 and 1908 and was honored here during his triumphant visit in Chicago in 1918
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The Midway Plaisance
Laid out with long vistas and tree lines at the turn of the century, the "Midway" between Washington and Jackson Parks, Cottage Grove to Stony Island Avenues and 59th and 60th Streets, followed the vision of Frederick Law Olmsted, minus his imposible dream to create a Venetian canal between the lagoon systems of Jackson and Washington parks.
Later designers and artists, including Lorado Taft, added or sought to add their vision to the Midway. The sunken panels, home now to soccer players and a new ice skating and sports facility, the cross-street "bridges," and the east-west lines of trees, pay homage to Olmsted's vision.
It's part of Chicago's great boulevard system but administered by Chicago Park District Southeast Region. It gave its name to the sideshow sections of amusement parks because that (along with "anthropological" displays) was there during the World's Columbian Exposition ( the Ferris Wheel, the Moorish Village, and Little Egypt, the dancer).
The Midway Plaisance is a long stretch of land at the south end of Chicago's campus that provides sports fields, scenic bicycle and walking paths, and open areas for outdoor activities. Originally the site of the 1892 World's Fair and Columbian Exposition, today the Midway is home to a variety of beautiful trees and plant life as well as immense statues that were built as part of the World's Fair.
The large fields are frequented by club sports teams playing Ultimate Frisbee or field hockey and intramural sports competitions in football and soccer.In the center of the Midway lies a new Olympic-sized ice skating rink that offers skate rentals, a café, a rooftop observation deck, and a quaint warming house. In the summer, the facility is used for roller skating, cultural productions, and community festivals.
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Dedication:
To Special ED (AKA: Geogeek65 (RIP) and Sox Fan). His open and welcoming nature has made many friends in the Geocaching community. He has made the newest of geocacher feel welcome and at the same time shown a 'thirst' for geocaching that has earned the respect of many a seasoned one as well.
Congratulations on your recent #1200 find and #100 hide, may you double those numbers soon.
Since this was my first 'Southside' cache hide, I felt it fitting to dedicate this cache to him.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Vs lbh svaq lbhefrys va gur zvqqyr bs gur fgerrg, ernq gur vafgehpgvbaf zber pnershyyl.
Va n ubyr va gur obggbz bs n gerr.