“Give me liberty or give
me… mmmm… pancakes!” thought the fiery orator Patrick Henry, as he
set out from the colonial capitol of Virginia toward an appointment
with destiny at St. John’s Church in Richmond. This stalwart
of the American Revolution had been a member of the Virginia House
of Burgesses for nearly ten years by late March of 1775, traveling
back and forth between the capitol at Williamsburg and his home
near Richmond. As he set out from Williamsburg, he was often
distracted by the delectable smells wafting from the inns, known
as Ye Olde Houfef
of Pancakef, along ‘the Richmond Road’.
“Maple syrup…butter…blueberries…mmm… stacks of buttermilks
and buckwheats the size of silver dollars,” he thought dreamily.
But then he frowned in concentration, his reverie broken by
an unbidden thought. “British silver dollars from the Crown!”
he muttered in anger. “Bah! No more thoughts about stopping
off for a short stack!” he said to himself, spurring his horse back
into a trot. “Liberty or death! That’s how I shall finish my
speech tomorrow! Give me Liberty or give me death!!” The man
who would become forever known as ‘The Voice of the Revolution’
marshaled his willpower against his favorite repast and rode on
toward history.
Today, residents and visitors
to Williamsburg can still enjoy the meals that sustained, and as
you can see from above, almost distracted the revolutionary cause.
Pancakes!, and lots of them! Modern Williamsburg
contains at least a dozen Houses of Pancakes, successors to
the Pancake Houfef
of old, in a town/county of about 60,000.
What is it about pancakes that make them so central to the
Williamsburg experience? The answer to this question is
currently a matter of much research and debate among colonial
culinary scholars. No matter how well you did in history
class, now you can join the Williamsburg Pancake House and Colonial
History Institute® in this important research by completing this
cache!
Listed below are coordinates
for four of these historic houses of pancakes. You need
only to drive by them in order to complete this cache. At
each place, record the name of the establishment in the form
below:
1. A typical, locally-owned example can
be
found here: N37 20.532 W76 45.372
____ ____ ____
____ ____ (____10) ____
____ ____
____ ____ ____
____ ____ (____13) (____7) ____
____ ____
2. The most intriguingly named establishment
is here: N37 17.484 W76 43.393
____ ____ ____ ____
(____4) ____ ____ ____ ____ ’ (____9)
House of Pancakes
3. A classic example of '70s pancake house architecture
can be found here: N37 17.092 W76 42.689
(____5 & 14) ____ ____ ____
(____2 & 8) ____
Pancakes and (____3) ____ ____ ____ ____
____ ____
4. An old-timer and aptly named place is here: N37
16.768 W76 41.381
____ ____ ____ (____11 & 12) ____
____ (____1 & 6)
Pancake and Waffle House
Now that you have the restaurant names, convert them to a cache
location. The numbers embedded in the letter blocks are your
clues. The letters in those positions should be written out
as a set of coordinates, like this:
North Letter_1 Letter_2 degrees Letter_3 Letter_4 point
Letter_5 Letter_6 Letter_7 minutes,
West Letter_8 Letter_9 degrees Letter_10 Letter_11 point Letter_12
Letter_13 Letter_14 minutes.
Then substitute the following numbers for
letters:
W = 1 I = 2 L =3
A = 4 M = 5 S = 6
B = 7 U = 8 R = 9 G =
0
Navigate to that location, which will put you in the right time and
place for the other part of this cache’s theme. The mini-sized
cache is big enough for a small traveler and small trade
items.
In addition to being a member of the House of
Burgesses, Patrick Henry was a member of the Virginia Committee of
Correspondence, a delegate to the Virginia Convention, and became
the first Governor of the Commonwealth under its new constitution.
He would later be a Virginia delegate to the Constitution
Ratification Convention. Strong arguments by him and other
Anti-Federalists led to the passage of amendments to the
Constitution that became known as the Bill of Rights.
Today, these pancake houses valiantly fight on
in a war against Atkins dieters and carb-cutters everywhere.
This alternative history lesson has been brought to you by
the Williamsburg Pancake House and Colonial History Institute®.
Founding Faculty of the
Williamsburg Pancake House and Colonial History
Institute®:
Scholars of the Institute:
1. JK-n-VA appointed 7/28/04
2. Stepol appointed 8/1/04
3. Santa & his Elves appointed 8/2/04
4. The Warner Family appointed 9/3/04
5. WRK & FSH appointed 9/6/04
6. Microbe2 & RN Extra appointed 9/6/04
7. QOCMike appointed 12/12/04
8. 5 Shordi's appointed 11/27/05
9. Watopapitkin and MojaveDave appointed 2/16/06
10. Wdstk61 appointed 4/25/06
Distinguished Fellows of the Institute:
1. JK-n-VA appointed 7/28/04
2. Stepol appointed 8/1/04
3. Santa & his Elves appointed 8/2/04
4. The Warner Family appointed 9/3/04
5. Microbe2 & RN Extra appointed 9/3/04
6. Sammi Liz & Co. appointed 1/18/05
7. 5 Shordi's appointed 11/27/05
8. Watopapitkin and MojaveDave appointed 2/16/06
9. Wdstk61 appointed 4/25/06
Research Fellows of the Institute:
1. JK-n-VA appointed 7/28/04
2. Stepol appointed 8/1/04
3. Santa & his Elves appointed 8/2/04
4. The Warner Family appointed 9/3/04
5. Watopapitkin and MojaveDave appointed 2/16/06
Are
you a cacher in Hampton Roads or nearby? Would you like to connect
with other local cachers? Join
