Treasure Hunting

Fifty remarkable, vintage images from the Civil War era are on display at the South Caroline Confederate Relic Room & Military Museum.

On loan from the David L. Hack Collection of the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Va., “these are some of the most powerful and well-known photographs in our nationa’s history.” Relic Room director Allen Roberson says “The images are stark, human and unforgettable.”

So exactly what are these vintage photographs of?

One of the most piercing photographs is of President Abraham Lincoln, taken only 11 days before he delivered the Gettysburg Address.

There’s also a series of eight vintage Gardner prints of the hanging of the conspirators in the Lincoln assassination - the only photographs taken of the event. They even include a 3-D stereoscopic image of the hangings, which came just three months after Lincoln was killed.

Other photographs include one of General Robert E. Lee in the uniform he wore at the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Courthouse. Wearing the uniform was a violation of the terms of his surrender, but he wore it anyway.

Check out the events and exhibits at the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room & Military Museum website. You can also take a virtual tour online. The exhibit closes June 28, 2008, so if you’re in the area this summer please be sure to stop by!

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Any treasure hunter worth their salt should consider themselves a pirate!

The folks in Newport, Rhode Island are no exception, and this year’s Pirate Fest promises to be a swashbuckling good time!

If you’re in Rhode Island and have a good plastic sword on hand, make your way over to Cap’n Nick’s Newport Pirate Walk. Events start at 10:00am with scurvy vendors selling authentic period clothing, books, jewelry, toys, and other miscellaneous pirate paraphernalia.

There will also be a Pirate Treasure Hunt in downtown Newport. Maps are only $1.00 and you get two hours to find the loot. But if you’re not up to the task, the Rum Tasting and Grog will go down at the Tropical Pirate Bar from 11:00am to 1:00am - so be prepared to pace yourself!

Since this is a family friendly event, there will be a Family Pirate School where kids and adults can learn how to give the most intimidated “aaarrrrr!” possible.

But the highlight of the event is the Buccaneers Ball at 8:00pm at the Newport Yachting Center. It’s the official, final event of Pirate Fest 2008 and is completely Pirate themed with a costume contest and entertainment.

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If you’ve been through Polk County, FL (just outside of Orlando), you know there’s not a whole lot to do there. This weekend, the Trek Ten Trails program, developed by the Friends of the Parks foundation, hopes to change that. Polk county has over 125 hiking trails, and many of those will be used this weekend to encourage residents and visitors to experience the outdoors.

The Fort Fraser Trail will be featured in the first of 10 organized treks through next September in the innovative program that features hiking, exploring, and geocaching. We’ve covered geocaching on this site before, and it seems like it’s really gaining popularity. The organizers are hope that geocaching will encourage children and those who are savvy about technology to visit Polk’s paved and unpaved walking trails.

More more details on the event, visit the Orlando Sentinel, or contact the coordinator, Amy L. Edwards, at aledwards@orlandosentinel.com or 407-931-5946.

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Live in La Crosse, WI and looking for something to do tomorrow? The La Crosse Area Sports Commission is holding a geocaching event and seminar to excite people about this new hobby. If you’re unfamiliar with geocaching, it involves GPS users exploring wilderness and urban areas in search of hidden caches, with location coordinates listed on a Web site or provided by the person who placed the cache. In other words, people place a cache, which is usually a water-safe box, in a hidden location with a logbook, a pen, and usually some item left behind. Once you find the item, you write your name and date in the logbook, take the item, and put an item of your own in the cache for the next person to find. It might seem easy, but many times, the caches are located underwater, or buried - which is where metal detectors come in.

Here’s a map showing La Crosse, WI:

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For more information on geocaching, visit the geocaching website.

Here are the details of this weekend’s event:

• WHAT: Get Caching With the La Crosse Area Sports Commission, a seminar on geocaching
• WHEN: 9-11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 22
• WHERE: La Crosse Area Convention and Visitors Bureau in Riverside Park
• COST: $5
• RSVP: Call Brian Meeter at 782-2250 or sports@explorelacrosse.com or register the day of the event.
• NOTE: Attendees are encouraged to bring a GPS if they have one, but a limited number of units will be available for use or for purchase.

If you make it to the event, let us know.

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