Geocaching: Woolworth Sit-in, Greensboro, NC

It was 1 February 1960 when four African American Students from NC A&T university sat down at the segregated counter at the Woolworth's store in Greensboro, NC. While blacks could come in and stand while eating, only whites were permitted to take a seat. They were refused service but were allowed to remain. The next day more students came in support of the sit-in. It grew from there to over 1000 in the next few days. The whole event sparked boycotts as well as national attention on segregation. As you visit the center of Greensboro be sure to not only pass by the Woolworth's and remember the courage of these four students but also pick up a few geocaches. Recently some of the local geocachers have replenished the city center with some great geocaches worth your time. Check out Greensboro History - GSO Walk About (GC2JB9M). Come visit my home town! A special thanks to NCReedplayer and dbking for the photos.

Plaza de Armas, Lima, Peru

If you make it to Lima on your travels one of the nice things to do is to watch the changing of the guard at the Palacio del Gobierno (Government Palace). If you are there at noon you'll get the chance to see the 19th century uniformed soldiers slowly goose step the changing of the guard. The Plaza de Armas (Central Plaza) is also an interesting place to explore. The main Cathedral has a museum and opposite to it on the other side of the plaza is a street with numerous small restaurants and sidewalk cafes. Around the corner towards the Rimac River is the San Francisco Church. Below it you can tour the catacombs. I hope that we can get a geocache in the area soon. It will most likely have to be a magnetic nano well-hidden. The gardeners do an excellent job in the city parks and the likelihood of any other kind of cache surviving is low. Maybe you'll place a cache here!

Rumicuchu - near Mitad del Mundo, Quito, Ecuador

Rumicucho is an Inca fortress situated on a vantage point overlooking the Guayabamba River and the northern approach to Quito. It is located within about a mile of the Mitad del Mundo (Mittle of the Earth) equator monument. If you make a trip from Quito in taxi it is easy to ask the driver to take you over to these ruins. In Quichua the name means "stone corner". Rumicucho consists of five large stone terraces ascending in a low pyramid-like shape. The terraces each have their own walls but today mostly the base of the wall is all that remains. Archaeologists believe that in addition to being a fortress this could have been a ceremonial location as well. Some believe that it was a place for observing the solstices and equinoxes and that it was a center for sun and moon worship. There is a very small admission fee when you get there. When we first started visiting the location there was no organized tourism and maintenance so we walked in free of charge. The closest geocache to the site is The Fake Equator (GC934A). I hope you get the opportunity to visit Rumicucho and see the vistas from there. Take time to visit the equator monument nearby and the two caches close by.A special thanks to iNyar for the photo.

The Wetlands

When we go off on an anniversary trip (this year made 35 years of happy marriage for us) we don't fill the trip with geocaching. While I'm the enthusiast, my wife is tolerant but to a point. As we headed out for our two-day get away I had lots of geocaches plotted out. Now I knew that I'd only get to a handful of them but I always plan ahead just in case. On our way from Greensboro, NC to Charlotte we stopped of at a wetlands park in Cabarrus County. I particularly enjoy parks where you can leave the car safely parked, get out and wall the trails and have a good time. It was an overcast day when we pulled into the Wetlands Park. It is just a short distance off of Interstate 85. There were several caches in the park, my favorite being the earthcache Wetlands of North Cabarrus Park (GC28YNW). We found several regular size woodland caches as well. It was a great stop off to drop some Travel Bugs and Coins and to stretch our legs. Fortunately the only caches on the ground were up in the woods and not in the wetlands.