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Finger in the Dike Traditional Geocache

This cache has been archived.

Dogliest: Not a very popular cache, probably because it is not in a very welcoming part of town. Time to move on.

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Hidden : 4/27/2015
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

This cache is not in the safest (or unsafest) part of town, so it is recommended that tourists use caution and not search for it in the later hours. The ground zero area itself is an open parking lot that is accessible 24/7. You are looking for a micro-size container, and you will probably think about the story of "The Finger in the Dike" while you look for it.

Inexperienced geocachers might not know this, but hidden caches can never be buried. So of course there would never be any need to move any dirt in any cache.

Many people know the legendary Dutch story of Hans Brinker saving his town in Holland by sticking his finger into a leaking dike all night long to prevent it from being eroded and flooding the town. But actually that is not even the fictional story, and people in Holland hardly know the story unless they deal with American tourists.

The book "Hans Brinker" is an 1865 novel by American author Mary Mapes Dodge. The novel takes place in the Netherlands and is a colorful fictional portrait of early 19th-century Dutch life, as well as a tale of youthful honor. However it is an American novel and not a Dutch legend, so it is not well known in Holland, although many towns in Holland use the theme to draw American tourists.

A small part of the novel is a story told in a schoolroom about a Dutch boy who saves his country by putting his finger in a leaking dike. The boy stays there all night, in spite of the cold, until the adults of the village find him and make the necessary repairs. In the novel the boy and the story are called simply "The Hero of Haarlem". Although the hero of the dike-plugging tale remains nameless in the book, Hans Brinker's name has sometimes erroneously been associated with the character.

Today most Americans know the saying "finger in the dike" and associate it with this story within a story. I bet that same story will come to mind while searching for this cache.

Click to watch YouTube videos:
The whole 1969 movie/musical of "Hans Brinker".
A short humorous cartoon of the Finger in the Dike, full of bad puns and deliberate anachronisms.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Gur zntargvp pnpur vf bhg bs fvtug, ohg abg uneq gb ernpu.

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)