I have driven past this cemetery in Bethesda many times going up and down Miami Blvd. But I had never approached it on Ellis Road. I was struck by the dark irony of the road dead ending at the cemetery. I drove over and got out, looked around, and thought it would be an interesting place for a marker-math cache. But as I skimmed the trees at the verge of the well-kept marble orchard seeking a secluded spot to tuck a cache in, I was struck yet again by this place. It seems many of the grave markers have been swallowed up by the woods and the cemetery is actually larger than its current cleared grounds. I took a few minutes to read all of the stones I could and saw at least one of them was a child, forgotten in the encroaching brush.
To find this cache you will have to seek out specific grave markers throughout the cemetery and calculate based on dates.
PLEASE be as respectful in your search as I have been in placing the cache in honor of those we lose who should never be forgotten. The cache is near the cemetery; you will not need to move your vehicle. It is not near any marker.
PLEASE approach from Miami Blvd. or Ellis Road. DO NOT enter the grounds of the school next door to the property. (It is on the far side of its baseball field which abuts the cemetery.)
Do not park on the grass but on the gravel drive into the cemetery.
While geocaching is a fun activity, please show restraint at this cache and any others found in such a setting. Please be mindful where you tread as you read the markers and once you have the necessary information, please follow the fence on the south side of the grounds towards the cache area so that none of the graves back in the wooded area are disturbed.
The coordinates are: 35 56.XYZ 78 50.ABC
The stones you need to look for all have a common theme.
X = Last digit-1 of the birth year of Daniel Clay Briggs
Y = Last digit-2 of the birth year of Clarice Hellen Rich
Z = the age of Jodie Thomas X 4 (His marker is in the woods. So that it and its fellows are not unduly disturbed his dates are: June 15, 1909 - March 11, 1912.)
A = Third digit of the birth year of Lee Earl George
B = Last digit of the year of death of Dora Ellen Glosson
C = Second digit of the birth year of Dorothy Ann Smith
This exercise is not meant to be maudlin or morbid. If the idea is offensive to you, please do not attempt this cache. It has been placed with gentle care and warm thoughts for all lost children.