During my caching adventures over the past ten years now I have traveled throughout the Country with a new perspective. Not like I used to… before I would travel around and not even take a second look at the city or state I was in. I have always traveled for work and pleasure but never took the time to “see” where I was going. I would hit a town do my work and go back to the hotel and sit in my room clicking the clicker until the wee hours of the morning or go to the “one” spot and miss everything else around me.
Now, with every new town and state I pass through it is refreshing. I thrive on the new treasures I see… monuments I would have whizzed by. They are now new nuggets of knowledge, vista points I would have passed by without a blink are now postcard images burned in my mind, and side streets of towns are secret treasures that only non tourists find. Geocaching has made me stop and smell the roses.
Hopefully, this little puzzle will help enlighten you on the State of Louisiana and maybe make you “stop and smell the roses” too.
N 30° 12.ABC
A = In the late 1(A)th century, French and French Canadian expeditions, which included sovereign, religious and commercial aims, established a foothold on the Mississippi River and Gulf Coast in Louisiana.
B = The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America in 1(B)03 of 828,000 square miles of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana. The U.S. paid 50 million francs ($11,250,000) plus cancellation of debts worth 18 million francs ($3,750,000), for a total sum of 15 million dollars (less than 3 cents per acre) for the Louisiana territory ($236 million in 2013 dollars, less than 42 cents per acre).
C = June 195(C), Audrey (Category 4 Hurricane) devastated southwest Louisiana, destroying or severely damaging 60–80 percent of the homes and businesses from Cameron to Grand Chenier. 40,000 people were left homeless and more than 300 people in the state died.
Checksum ABC = 22
W 093° 19.DEF
D = The New Orleans Saints was founded in 19(D)7 and won Super Bowl XLIV beating the Indianapolis Colts 31 to 17.
E = Louisiana was named after Louis XIV, King of France from 164(E) to 1715. When René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle claimed the territory drained by the Mississippi River for France, he named it La Louisiane, meaning "Land of Louis".
F = Since 183(F) the New Orleans & Carrolliton Line is the oldest street railway line still in operation.
Checksum DEF = 14
Some interesting tidbits about Louisiana:
State Capital – Baton Rouge
Largest City – New Orleans
State Nickname – Pelican State
State Slogan – Fall in love with Louisiana all over again
State Song – “Give Me Louisiana”
State Bird – Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis.)
State Flower – Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora)
State Tree – Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum)
State Flag – The flag of Louisiana consists of a heraldic charge called a "pelican in her piety," representing a mother pelican wounding her breast to feed her young from the blood. The mother pelican's head and outspread wings covering the three pelican chicks nested below her form a stylized fleur-de-lis, another emblem of similar significance often depicted in Louisiana.
Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties.
The southern coast of Louisiana in the United States is among the fastest-disappearing areas in the world.
I would like to thank Blue Blazes for working with MaddieCacheGrabber and Blondvoodoo for being my sponsor for State of the Nation – Louisiana and of course MaddieCacheGrabber and Blondvoodoo for helping me place this gem.
Congrats to BlindZMan for the FTF.
As always, enjoy.