You will be solving puzzles at each stage, so you may want to print this cache page and bring it along to use as a worksheet. A calculator may also be helpful. And you may want to bring along some rubber boots, water shoes, or an old pair of sneakers that you don't mind getting wet. You may or may not need them, depending on the season and the phase of the moon.
To make your search more interesting, I have included a few First-To-Find prizes:
FTF - $15.00 gift certificate to a popular Seabrook restaurant on a river
2nd - $10.00 gift certificate to a popular Seabrook restaurant overlooking a harbor
3rd - $5.00 gift certificate to Dunkin' Donuts
In addition to the gift certificates, the original contents of this cache include:
Erik's Birthday Geocoin - Geocaching pin - GPS Sticker - Package of poker chips - Lynyrd Skynyrd CD - Martini glass rubber stamp - $100 bill note pad - Ocean theme sticker book - Ocean theme follow-the-dots book - Tourist maps of Hampton Beach and Seabrook Beach - Mardi gras beads and coins (to give it that "treasure chest" feel) - Log book, pen and mechanical pencil
To maintain the quality of this cache, I would ask that finders please try to trade even or trade up!
Good luck and have fun!
The coordinates above are for Stage 1 and will bring you to the parking lot of a popular seafood restaurant.
Stage 1: Normally, you would go inside and solve the lobster tag board puzzle to find the coordinates for Stage 2. This restaurant was closed temporarily due to a kitchen fire. But it is now open again. I posted a photo of the lobster tag board in the gallery here on the cache page so you could solve the puzzle while the restaurant was closed. I will leave the photo here if anyone would like to get a jump start. The tags hanging on this board each have a unique number that matches the number on a wooden block tied to a net bag. When a customer picks a lobster from the tank, it is placed in a net bag and dropped into the boiling water. The wooden tag with the corresponding number is then given to the customer, so they can claim their hand-picked lobster when it is cooked.
To find the missing coordinates for Stage 2, solve for the following letters:
AB = The sum of the 3rd row across minus the sum of the 2nd row across plus 3.
C = The sum of the 6th column minus the sum of the 5th column.
DE = The sum of the 6th column plus the tag located in the 2nd row, 3 across.
F = The highest value tag on the board minus the tag at the bottom of the 2nd column.
(Don’t worry if the tag has been removed from the board and placed in the hands of an eagerly waiting diner… the tag numbers are also burned into the wood under each tag hook.)
Hours of Operation: 11:00am to 9:pm every day from April 15 to November 15. Winter hours - from November 15 to April 15, open Friday, Saturday, Sunday & Holidays, excluding Thanksgiving & Christmas.
Stage 2: BORDEN BASE LINE - N 42º AB.C10 W 070º DE.F1C
These coordinates will bring you to a unique border marker that was discovered recently by a nearby property owner who was clearing brush. (You will have to walk along the east side of the lawn here to get to the marker, which I confirmed is ok with the property owner.) It not only marks the border line between Seabrook and Salisbury, Mass., it also honors what is considered among the greatest achievements in precision measurement ever undertaken, the “Borden Base Line.” Simeon Borden, a self-taught mathematician from Fall River, Mass. devised and constructed in 1830 an apparatus used for the trigonometric survey of Massachusetts. The device, 50 feet in length, was found to be more accurate than any other in existence, according to a biography of Borden at Famous Americans. The apparatus was enclosed in a tube and was accompanied by four compound microscopes being mounted on trestles and adjustable to move in any direction. Borden’s work represented the first geodectic survey accomplishment in America,according to the website. His work was incorporated into a state map published in 1841.
When you get to the marker, count the number of letters in Surveyor Spofford’s first name and call this “B”.
To get to Stage 3, let W = B – 1, X = B – 2, Y = B - 4, and let Z = B + 2.
Stage 3: BOUND ROCK - N 42º W3.XW7 W 070º XZ.ZY6
Here you will find Bound Rock, one of the oldest boundary markers in the United States. This rock, originally in the middle of the Hampton River,indicated the start of the boundary line surveyed by Capt. Nicholas Shapely and was marked by him "AD 1657-HB and SH" to determine the line between Hampton and Salisbury, HB meaning Hampton Bound and SH, Shapely's mark. Lost for many decades due to the shifting of the river's mouth, the original course of the river and the Bound Rock were rediscovered in 1937. This historically important boulder, still serving as the boundary marker, was enclosed in cement by the State of New Hampshire that same year. There is a short path that leads up to the enclosure.
When you visit Bound Rock, make note of the number on the house that is closest, and directly east of Bound Rock. Weather you can Shingle out the House with the second number is simple if you look with your back to the rock. Add these two house numbers together with the year that Capt. Shapely marked Bound Rock and then multiply by 6.
Your answer will be __ __ __ __ __. (V)(W)(X)(Y)(Z)
Use this information to find the coordinates for Stage 4.
Stage 4: ELEPHANT ROCK - N 42º YZ.V6W W 070º YW.X4V
Glaciers left a most unusual configuration of rocks in this place. The biggest one is called Elephant Rock because it looks like… you guessed it… an elephant! A special conservation easement, placed here by the town of Seabrook, allows public access to Elephant Rock.
There is a yellow house next to Elephant Rock. If you lived here your address would be __ __ (P)(Q) Elephant Rock Road.
To get to Stage 5, let R = P + Q, S = P + P and T = P + S.
Stage 5: N42º QS.STQ W070º QP.RRS
There is a large box on a pole to the left of this rather large tower. There is a combination of letters and number on a sticker on the box. The sticker has a yellow background and the numbers and letters are black. Write the letter/number combination from the sticker here:
__ __ __ __ (A) (B) (C) (D)
To get to Stage 6, first use a telephone key pad to convert (A) and (B) to numbers.
A = ___
B = ___
C = ___
D = ___
E = A - B = ___
F = D - B = ___
G = E + F = ___
H = G + B = ___
I = E - F = ___
Stage 6: N42º ED.CHI W070º EF.GHE
Here you will find a very old building attached to a very new building. There is a sign attached to the old building that has a date on it.
What is the date on this sign? __ __ __ __(P)(Q)(R)(S)
Count the number of square panes of glass in the window directly above the sign. __ __ (T)(U)
To get to Stage 7, replace the letters in the coordinates with the corresponding numbers that you found here, at Stage 6.
Stage 7: GRACE C. FOGG MEMORIAL CONSERVATION AREA
N 42º 5S.RQS W 070º 54.075
At 103 years old, Grace Fogg, a life-time resident of Seabrook, donated 10 undeveloped acres of land to the town of Seabrook for use as a conservation and wildlife area. If you have time for a short hike or a some bird watching along the trail that winds through this property, take a few extra minutes to reflect on the strength and generosity of this fascinating woman.
From her obituary:
“Grace Colcord Fogg, 104, holder of the Boston Post Cane, a tribute given to the oldest citizen in the community, died Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2003, in the homestead where she was born, raised and lived her entire life.
Grace Colcord Fogg was born in Seabrook Aug. 24, 1899, one of seven children of the late Augustus and Annie (Hubley) Fogg, delivered by Dr. Colcord, who traveled to her mother’s aid in a horse and buggy, which was the determining factor of her middle name being Colcord.
Ms. Fogg was educated at the Crowtown School, a one-room schoolhouse built in 1760, and graduated from Hampton Academy. She attended Keene and Plymouth Normal School, leaving during World War I to earn money to continue her education and later returned to receive her teaching certificate. During that time not many women went beyond high school.
Linked through her ancestry to those who came to settle this area, she lived to help generations of Seabrook children read and write and live in an ever-changing world. She started her career of teaching at the Great Hill School in Hampton Falls, then to the Sanborn School in Seabrook and finally Seabrook Elementary School, where she retired in 1966.
Grace lived through two world wars, Korea, Vietnam and Desert Storm, as well as the Great Depression.
Three years after her retirement she saw the first man walk on the moon.
Her hobbies included dancing, the love of animals and birds and belonging to the Audubon Society and the S.P.C.A. She also was a member of the Seabrook Historical Society and the Bartlett Museum in Amesbury, Mass. and was a life member of the N.H. State Teachers Association.”
There are no clues to the next stage here, but approximately 50 feet south of the trailhead, on the same side of the road, you will find a small cemetery, JOHNSON BURIAL GROUND.
To find the coordinates for Stage 8, fill in the following information and then replace the letters in the coordinates below with the corresponding numbers.
Ralph Johnson died in what year? __ __ __ __(A)(B)(C)(D)
How old was Ann Gove Johnson when she died? __ __(E)(F)
How old was Ralph Johnson when he died? __ __(G)(H)
Subtract Ralph’s age from Ann’s: __ __ (I)(J)
Stage 8: N 42º JG.BCJ W 070º JC.CDC
Here you will find another historical marker. Based on the 1640 southern boundary of Bachiler's farm, it was surveyed by Capt. Nicholas Shapley (the same Capt. Shapely who surveyed and marked Bound Rock) in 1657, dividing the Province of New Hampshire from the Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1689 to 1741. In 1662 three Quaker women, being banished from the territory, were freed south of here by Constable Walter Barefoot. Edward Gove, imprisoned in the Town of London for leading the rebellion against Lt. Gov. Cranfield in 1683, lived nearby.
To get to Stage 9, which is a small family burial ground, look for a telephone pole near this historical marker that has a green sign and various metallic tags attached to it. Answer the following questions and replace the letters in the coordinates below with the corresponding numbers:
(A) - How many letters are in the first word on the green sign?
(B) - What is the sum of the three black numbers on the horizontal, orange metal tag? (Disregard the slash.)
C) - The number on the single yellow tag on the utility pole closest to the nearby hotel.
(D) - How many letters in the first word of the name of the nearby hotel?
Stage 9: GOVE’S BURIAL GROUND – N 42º AB.D9D W 070º AC.C4B
Thousands of people drive by this tiny burial ground every day and probably never notice it. But it is worth pointing out because the Goves were long time residents of Seabrook and made quite an impact, in many ways. David Gove, descendant of the infamous Edward Gove who spent three years imprisoned in the Tower of London, and his family, are buried here. (Edward Gove is buried in Pine Grove Cemetery in Hampton, NH.)
The Gove family owned and operated a windmill in Seabrook. It is mentioned in an account of Queen Anne's war: “It was related that the Indians killed Thomas Lancaster, on his way home from the mill. This was Gove's Windmill, afterwards owned by Edward Gove, grandson of that Edward who undertook to reform the government, in 1683. It stood where now is the homestead of David Gove, in Seabrook, a little back of the house, on some rocks, still called the mill rocks. There yet remains a stone, on the premises, thought to be one of the mill-stones.”
Not far from here is Stage 10, which is another family burial ground that deserves some recognition. To get to Stage 10, answer the following questions and replace the letters in the coordinates below with the corresponding numbers:
Fill in the blanks:
(A) = The number of letters in the blank word - Grove Burial Ground ______ 1830
Nancy Gove was __ __ (B)(C) years old when she died.
Susan Gove died on Sept. __ __ (D)(E), 1877.
Stage 10: CHEVY CHASE FAMILY BURIAL GROUND
N 42º AB.A61 W 070º AD.D46
This may have been an isolated and peaceful place at one time, but today, this tiny family burial ground has almost been obliterated by a nearby industrial and retail enterprises. Bulldozers and tractor trailers overshadowed the stones for many years and a well known pharmacy and bank are now its nearby neighbor. Recently, a furniture store was built just a few feet away from the burial ground and for over a year, the cemetery was surrounded by a locked chain link fence while the building was under construction! A tall pine tree once stood here at the corner, but it was also cut down! Only the stump remains. At least the well built stone wall that surrounds the burial ground remained intact. The furniture store was required to provide some "green space" around the cemetery. Finally, the construction is complete, the chain link fence has been removed, and grass and a few small trees have been planted around the burial ground. So, it is finally accessible again! I doubt that Chevy Chase is very happy about any of this. In fact, employees who work in the new furniture store tell me of strange things that happen in the store... like the automatic doors that frequently open and close repeatedly even though no customer is nearby. And the lamps that turn on and off. And shortly after the store opened, they found a large lamp shattered on the floor, far away from the shelf it was sitting on... as if it was thrown off the shelf! They think Chevy Chase is showing his displeasure over the disruption!
To move on to the last graveyard in this tour of forgotten cemeteries, answer the following questions and replace the letters in the coordinates below with the corresponding numbers:
Add together the two digits of the day in October that Adeline Chase died. Let that sum equal (V).
Chevy Chase
Family
Burial Ground
C.__ __ __ __(A)(B)(C)(D)
Stage 11: PINE STREET GRAVEYARD - N 42º DV.VDA W 070º DC.DC0
Most homes have green lawns or flower beds in their front yards. But this one has a graveyard in the front yard!
Fill in the blanks below:
Find the person who is NOT buried here.
Write the date he was born in number format:
__/__/__ __ (J)(K)(L)(M)
Clarissa was _ _ years old when she died. (N)(O)
Mary was _ _ years old when she died. (P)(Q)
The coordinates for the FINAL cache location can be found by replacing the letters in the coordinates below with their corresponding numbers:
A = (A) from Stage 9
B = (D) from Stage 5
C = (X) from Stage 3
D = (W) from Stage 4
E = (K) from Stage 11
F = (J) from Stage 8
G = (C) from Stage 6
H = (A) from Stage 9
I = (A) from Stage 11
J = (C) from Stage 12
Stage 12: FINAL - N 42ºAB.CDE W 070º FG.HIJ
There is a small parking lot at the final location. This area is a popular hang-out for locals. You may encounter the school bus driver who takes his breaks here, or the mailman who comes here at lunch time. Local anglers park their cars here and trek the same path that you will to get to their favorite fishing hole. If you enjoy fishing, you may want to bring your gear.
A short walk from this parking area will bring you to the cache. You may want to consult the tide chart for Hampton, NH before you attempt to find the final cache. Rubber boots may be useful during spring thaws and very high tides.
Congratulations on completing your tour of Seabrook!