GC1FJMD The Citadel & Marion Square (Unknown Cache) in South Carolina, United States created by Charlestongator

This cache has been archived.

gpsfun: This cache page has been archived due to the lack of a timely resolution. If the owner would like to have it reinstated, please contact me through my profile within 90 days.

Please note that unarchiving a cache page places it through the same review process as a newly proposed cache, using the cache placement guidelines currently in effect.

-Brad
Groundspeak volunteer reviewer

GC1FJMD ▼

A cache by Charlestongator Message this owner

Hidden : 8/24/2008

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

This is a fun historic and botanical lesson on Charleston. The cache is located in Marion Square in downtown Charleston, SC.

To get to this quick cache you will need to park in any street parking space near Marion Square that you can find. Some spaces require you pay a parking meter so be sure to check this before you begin caching. This is a busy square please be as stealth as possible. I recently relocated the cache several feet to make it accessible even find during the Saturday farmers market but you will have to use a little more stealth (PLEASE :) )

Begin this cache by going to the listed coordinates. This will take you to Calhoun Monument. This monument honors John C. Calhoun who served as Vice President of the United States from 1825-1832 under both John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. John Calhoun was a South Carolina native and is buried in Charleston in the Saint Philips Church cemetery at 146 Church Street.

At the coordinates look up at the monument and find the plaque about 30 feet high. Read the plaque and write down the year that the monument was "ERECTED". To locate the cache which is a large medication vial painted camouflage use the number "2166" and subtract the year the monument was erected. This will give you 3 digits: ABC

Put the 3 digits ABC into the following coordinates:

N32 47.ABC W079 56.110

This will take you a short distance across the park to the cache.

There are 2 more things you will want to observe on your way to the final location. First notice the large building in front of you. From 1843 to 1922 this was home to the Citadel . The Citadel is a college used to educate and train cadets prior to entering military service.

2nd notice some of the plants and trees in the square. We are going to specifically look for Magnolia and Jasmine.
Magnolia trees are abundant in the south and are a very old species. In fact they existed before bees. For this reason the Magnolia trees used large flowers in their branches to encourage pollination by beetles. This is also why the leaves are so thick and waxy. The Magnolia trees needed beetles to come to the flowers to help with pollination but then not stick around to eat up all the tree's leaves!

Jasmine is a evergreen Chinese WOODY CLIMBER VINE with shiny dark green leaves and intensely fragrant white flowers. It is closely related to the Magnolia trees. In fact they share the same Kingdom (Plantae), Division (Magnoliophyta) and Class (Magnoliopsida). Confederate Jasmine (also known as Star Jasmine) is the most common type of Jasmine in Charleston but don't let the name fool you. The use of the word "Confederate" in the name actually originated as a reference to the Federate States of Malaya (Malaysia) but us Southerners found such a liking to the name that we quickly adopted it and most would tell you it is due to South Carolina being proud members of the Confederacy.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Va fbzr Wnfzvar tebjvat ba n jnyy nobhg jnvfg uvtu.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)