Anyone that has been to Highlands knows that it has a great
downtown, full of interesting, independent shops and great
restaurants - and a pleasant stroll down Main Street will provide
all the information you need to find this cache. Once you've
parked, even the final cache location is just a short walk.
You'll need to go no further than Reeves Hardware at one end,
and Mountain Fresh Market at the other - less than a half mile
roundtrip. Along the way you can do a little window-shopping or
grab some lunch - just keep a lookout for a few clues.
First, the coordinates above are wrong - heck, they're nowhere
near Main St.! The correct coordinates are:
The clues to determine the final coordinates are as follows:
- A = 4th digit in the year Juliana's store was established
- B = Look for the Masonic lodge sign; you need the middle digit
of the three-digit lodge number
- C = The Methodist Church was organized in one year and then
rebuilt/rededicated in another year; SUBTRACT the last digit in the
"rededicated year" from the last digit in the "organized year"
- D = There are several water meter covers in the sidewalk
manufactured by the Ford Company of Indiana - you need the number
of letters in the Company's hometown (no, not the ones made in
Rome, GA - keep looking!)
- E = The primary intersection in town (which you will cross) is
Main St. and a "numbered" street - from this number, SUBTRACT the
number 2
- F = The Highlands Inn is on the National Register of Historic
Places - find the "year" given on the related plaque and ADD the
first digit and the last digit
- G = Paoletti's Ristorante gives a number to call for
reservations, and you need to SUBTRACT the 4th digit from the first
digit
- H = There are two NC Geodetic Survey benchmarks on Main St;
find the one not in front of the little flower shop, and
determine the 3rd digit of the year on the marker
- I = Using the year Ann Jacob's gallery was established,
SUBTRACT the last digit from the second digit
- J = Both the Old Edwards Inn and the First Presbyterian Church
are also on the National Register of Historic Places - find both
their plaques, and SUBTRACT the last digit in Old Edwards "year"
from the third digit in First Presbyterian's "year".
Check figures:
A+B+C+D+E+F+G+H+I+J=XY
X+Y=4
Probably sounds difficult, but it's really not - just two blocks
or so, and you do not need to go into any buildings - all these can
be determined from the sidewalk (although you will want to cover
both sides of the street.) You can do this one at night, and I'll
even tell you that you ought to save figuring-out "J" or "G" for
last, as you'll be just a couple of minutes walk from the final
cache. You are looking for a medium-sized lock-n-lock
container.
[11/21/06 Edit: Due to the unfortunate experience of EBBJr., (who
would've thought that street lights - post, lights, and all - could
be taken down and put up with the seasons?) the clue for "B" has
been changed - but everything else, including final cache location,
is unchanged.]
[6/21/08 Edit: Main St. continues to change, so freshened-up the
clues; the final location remains unchanged.]
Please re-hide the cache well, as there is a lot of pedestrian
traffic. Enjoy your stroll down Main Street!
FTF honors
go to ffuGzO!