Welcome to the Farewell to Finder’s Fest geo-art, brought to you by the Forest Minions! This series celebrates weird and unusual things throughout the Sunshine State. Please do not go to the posted locations. Rather, solve the challenging quiz found at the bottom of each page, for the final location. For the letterbox caches, please leave the stamp in the cache. They are not trade items. For the discerning traveler, we’ve included the GPS coordinates for these bizarre locations, when we were able to establish them.
The Devil’s Tree – Location 27.2801, -80.4086
In Port St. Lucie there’s a big oak in a county park on canal C-24 that has an evil reputation. It is the Devil’s Tree, an old oak tree located in Oak Hammock Park. According to legend, on January 8, 1971, a serial killer mutilated two teenage girls and then hung them from the oak tree. The killer then buried his two victims in a shallow grave beneath the oak. Allegedly, he returned on several occasions to have his way with the decomposing bodies. In January 1977, almost on the fourth anniversary of the heinous crime, two men found the girls’ skeletons along with two deteriorating ropes tied with a hangman’s noose. Ever since then, there have been reports of hooded satanic worshippers dancing around the tree, and some say that you can still hear the screams of the girls.
One allegation has it that before Oak Hammock Park was built, there were several attempts to cut down the oak, but it seems that chain saws refused to work when near the tree. When they tried to cut it down with a two-man cross-cut saw, all the teeth fell out of the saw blade. Witnesses claim that the women’s rest room at Oak Hammock Park is haunted by the dead girls. It is said that strange screams come out of the rest room and doors slam shut. There are supposed to be cold spots in certain areas of the park.
Here is the super duper, way challenging, really hard trivia question, which, if solved properly, will lead you to the final coordinates:
Question: What common toy is banned in Indonesia, for stimulating passion?
A: Machine guns = N29° 29.726' W81° 50.285'
B: Ballistic missiles = N29° 29.716' W81° 50.285'
C: Hula Hoops = N29° 29.706' W81° 50.285'