Skip to Content
Register · Login
About Theme

A Letterboxing Community

Atlas Quest
Search Edit Search

Read Thread: Birthday LB'ing 2008 Part 3

Birthday LB'ing 2008 Part 3
Board: State: Ohio
Jul 31, 2008 5:34pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Day 2 finds our intrepid birthday boxers in Hartford, CT. There is a BCOD departure and off we go. First stop is the Mark Twain house and is one of my favorite boxes of the whole trip. But then I have always loved Twain and will out myself for the geek that I am – have read the entire Twain-ology (It’s a serious illness folks w/ no hope for a cure). Cruising thru the gift shop stuffing our pocketses (remember the LB shorts must have LOTS of pocketses) with goodies for Antimony’s boss, BPD’s wife, a Twain poster for Antimony (who hopes once she jettisons the tree-killing clue pages for the return flight that there will be room for this) we came across a sweet lil HH put there by none other than our very own Pioneer Spirit (I point this out to BPD and we stand in the very fancy gift shop/museum looking like AT thru hikers and laughing like hyenas).

Then back to the cemeteries, where we learned a lot about the stylized half moon shapes on the top called lunettes typical of this area, we visited with Eunice Stocking who lost her family in a gunpowder plant explosion during the Revolutionary War, we visit the moving statue where BPD actually stops for 5 minutes to wait and see if she moves (NO), we learn about the love of a wife for her sea-captain husband and that lore says that is why her stone leans into his and we visit with POOPY’S box – probably the most unusual box I have ever visited or will again. BPD is a big chicken says he isn’t getting that one. So I jump out dial the combination lock and pull the box out. It isn’t till I am back to the car that it hits me what I just did. This box is placed on the grave of these letterboxer’s toddler son. And I am bent over clutching the hem of my shorts w/ pocketses and threatening to either vomit or burst into tears. BPD gallantly (he is a really nice guy no matter what I say about him) offers to put it back. It is a great stamp and a wonderful way to honor POOPY. That puts a damper on the cemetery boxes for the day tho’.

I was intrigued by X-rated or adult only stamps posted on the CT AQ. We only managed to get one of these and not one of the truly cautioned ones. Guess here in Cinti, we still feel the long arm of Si Leis too much to venture there. But next time for sure. The last couple we collected are two excellent places to visit, letterboxers or no – the Time Machine Toy Store - 3 stories in an old factory. Quirky vintage toys. An entire floor of just trains. The basement used for adult RPG nites (yeah like that wouldn’t look just like the ppl from the research lab). BPD and I got a little side-tracked in here goofing with the toys, but he scored gifts for the lil boxers at home. The other place is Hosmer Mountain soda a third generation green soda bottler. We mix and match a bit of everything and take the plunder back to the hotel to swill that evening. I LOVED the White Birch Beer- like drinking bubbly wintergreen lifesavers (so if any of you know where to find that locally I would love you forever if you hooked me up. I did order some on line, but the delivery cost is too much to do that again)

We finish out our day at the Nathan Hale homestead and then try to make a run at the Dry Bones boxes (A series of boxes in cemeteries that each contain part of a skeleton – a theme we see again in other boxes), but we lose the light and dark, old, haunted cemeteries is just a bad combo for me. So we ask Karen to just take us home. we have been out boxing for 12 hours (a new personal record – timewise but sadly not boxwise), have not eaten since bkfst and one of us is very crabby ☺.

Join me for the final installment tomorrow and we can see how our intrepid boxers do in Part 4.
Re: Birthday LB'ing 2008 Part 3
Board: State: Ohio
Reply to: #260434 by antimony
Jul 31, 2008 5:40pm
Thread (disabled) Board
I think I'm as excited about your final installment as I was about the last Harry Potter book. :-) What a day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Re: Birthday LB'ing 2008 Part 3
Board: State: Ohio
Reply to: #260434 by antimony
Jul 31, 2008 5:45pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Hey!! We found Eunice Stocking and the Dry Bones series when we were there 4 years ago!! We were incognito though, so you probably wouldn't have recognized the stamp we used :)

My next dream boxing vacation is to Oregon.....The elusive sleeping giant is there right now and tortures me as he casually mentions how he "has to go to Powells" after work etc etc.

Sounds like you guys had fun (Poopy freaks me out a bit) and I can't Wait for the next installment
Re: Birthday LB'ing 2008 Part 3
Board: State: Ohio
Reply to: #260434 by antimony
Jul 31, 2008 6:05pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Antimony,

You really are a born storyteller. It was like I was there. I felt the creeby jeebies in the cemetery, enjoyed the toy store and the soda drink sounds so cool. And I am so happy that you got to visit Mark Twain.

I can't wait for the next installment.

I don't think that your and my next adventure will be as exciting; but who know!!

LS
Re: Birthday LB'ing 2008 Part 3
Board: State: Ohio
Reply to: #260465 by Lindsays Snowman
Jul 31, 2008 7:55pm
Thread (disabled) Board
i have a DIFFERENT kind of story to share with you. boy meets girl.......and then........
Re: Birthday LB'ing 2008 Part 3
Board: State: Ohio
Reply to: #260434 by antimony
Jul 31, 2008 9:00pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Stupid question...where is this taking place? I have been reading all of the installments but can't remember where they went....
Re: Birthday LB'ing 2008 Part 3
Board: State: Ohio
Reply to: #260535 by The Turtle Squad
Aug 1, 2008 2:14am
Thread (disabled) Board
Connecticut.
BPD and Antimony went there for their birthday boxing trip :)
Birthday LB'ing 2008 Part 4
Board: State: Ohio
Reply to: #260590 by Mama Stork
Aug 1, 2008 6:01am
Thread (disabled) Board
I have a really busy evening, so I am going to post this early. That way Mama Stork won't have to put me on the naughty chair.

Our last day in CT was a whirlwind before leaving on the evening flight. We focused our efforts on one set of boxes Noah’s Ark (29 boxes, 5 or 6 add ons and the ever present CT bonus boxes). Each stamp carved by a different carver around the country – some whose stuff I had encountered in my travels. There was the ark, noah and then animals in pairs of all varieties. BPD utilized his superhero power of finding boxes that we had no clues for – in this case Brother Cadfael. I have NO IDEA HOW HE DOES THIS!!! Just a great concept for these boxes and BPD and I thought it might be fun to organize one of these for the Cinti area – the theme – favorite childhood vacation. Probably colored by our trip to the A&W for the FLOAT ON DOWN box. BPD and I both have very fond memories of the A&W drive-ins while on family trips to MN. (But secretly - not as good as the Hosmer Mtn stuff).

We got an unplanned exchange when we came across a family of 5 who were OBVIOUSLY also looking for Noah and not being stealthy. We introduced ourselves and asked if we could exchange stamps. Stampede -5 had never heard of exchanges or gathers. Huh? Philistines! And they had been boxing for 3 years! So we explained about AQ which they had no knowledge of. It was fun. Stampede mom told us that she had a T shirt that said 'Recovering Letterbox addict – hide your Tupperware'. I WANT one!!!

At this point we have pushed the time limit to the last moment and head to Providence for our return flight - smelly, hair full of leaves and twigs. Your worst nightmare for a seatmate on a plane. We return the car and slide in just in time for FLIGHT DELAYED. Ronald Reagen where we are connecting is closed due to weather. Teeth grinding at the fact that we could have gotten a couple more boxes. But we eventually leave only an hour or so behind schedule. We are probably gonna miss our connecting flight in DC, so we adapt our plans and decide it would be fun to get a cab and tool around DC at night and look at all the monuments lit up. We fly all the way to DC. The pilot comes on with what we think are gonna be the usual landing announcements. But NO!!! Dude says that Ronald Reagan has a curfew of 10:30 and we are going to miss it by 15 minutes. This just seems ridiculous to me that a major airport in our nation’s capitol has a curfew like a teenage girl??? So we are going back to Providence. BPD and I just bust out laughing – it is so like an episode of Groundhog Day. Our fellow passengers, none too happy with our aromatic bouquet and sunburned faces give us the hairy eye ball. We just laugh harder - like hyenas.

We are the last off the plane. Last in line to re-book a flight. It is 11PM and the clerks are soooo slow. We have hiked all day. Missed a couple more meals. Someone is kinda getting crabby again ☺. So we grab a seat and just people watch. Not like we are gonna get any more last-er. The gate agents and passengers all just stressing, tired and BITCHING at one another. So BPD and I start cracking jokes and making each other laugh. We are a little sleep deprived and one of us also has low blood sugar so it isn't very hard to be entertained. BPD is very good at this once you get him going. Our antics seem to annoy every one - that we aren’t behaving in the prescribed way for delayed passengers. In other words acting like THEM. Quite sure they thought there were some strange fungi in our backpacks (overstuffed and now bleeding out clue papers everywhere) that were the source of all the hilarity.

But we both notice that the glares eventually turn into smiles as we continue to clown and goof around. We listen as flight after flight fills. Looks like we will be leaving on the red eye tomorrow night at the same time. So we are pleasantly surprised when the agent FINALLY gets to us. She smiles bc we are still cracking each other up. Maybe she also recognizes that we made her job a little easier over the last 2 hours by volunteering to be the airport clowns. And she routes us back to Columbus thru Charlotte. Good news. We leave at 8 AM. Bad news. It is now 2AM and it seems silly to get a hotel for 4 hours. BPD and I camp out like some homeless folk, who we are starting to resemble more and more with each passing hour. We entertain ourselves with the photobooth on my laptop – will be posting those too bc they are exceptionally hilarious. We sleep on the airport floor (YUCK) and eat crap out of the vending machines. BPD is still in possession of some Hosmer Mtn Soda that he wants to take home to Kanga-Sue and the girls. I know he is holding some birch beer and I want it! Luckily I fell asleep before it got ugly.

The rest of the trip is uneventful. We both are out cold from PVD to Charlotte, and again from Charlotte to Columbus. BPD returns home to the wife and girls. And I make my regular monthly massage at 7PM.

Final box count 50 (not quite our 100 dream boxes). We managed to get only one of donutz716 whose stamps are phenomenal. 1 little HH came home with us. But we had fun as always.

Now about next year……..
Re: Birthday LB'ing 2008 Part 4
Board: State: Ohio
Reply to: #260633 by antimony
Aug 1, 2008 6:08am
Thread (disabled) Board
Good Morning Antimony!

Thanks for the wrap up--and thanks for a nice reminder of how to roll with the punches :)

See you around soon, I hope!

MS
Re: Birthday LB'ing 2008 Part 4
Board: State: Ohio
Reply to: #260639 by Mama Stork
Aug 1, 2008 6:11am
Thread (disabled) Board
Will be out on the trail w/ Sno at the BCOD tomorrow. So you never know.

And then it is back to my cave until the end of August. :-(
Re: Birthday LB'ing 2008 Part 4
Board: State: Ohio
Reply to: #260633 by antimony
Aug 1, 2008 7:09am
Thread (disabled) Board
Okay---this time last week, I was completely caught up on all AQ boards I follow and my IN box was down to a key 5 messages. I have fallen SO far behind on the Ohio board and it only seems to be getting worse.

So I will say this for now....antimony, I am now reading your posts in reverse order and part 4 is hilarious! I skimmed others' responses to you and you have provided not only great
airport clown
entertainment----but I would say that you have managed to do that same here as well! Well done!!!

Does BPD know you have shared all this?? =D

Happy belated birthday!
Re: Birthday LB'ing 2008 Part 4
Board: State: Ohio
Reply to: #260680 by Trailtracker
Aug 1, 2008 8:06am
Thread (disabled) Board
baby brother doesn't keep up with the boards - giving me free reign to say what please w/o repurcussions
Re: Birthday LB'ing 2008 Part 4
Board: State: Ohio
Reply to: #260633 by antimony
Aug 1, 2008 8:46am
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote Stampede mom told us that she had a T shirt that said 'Recovering Letterbox addict – hide your Tupperware'. I WANT one!!!


After a quick google search, I didn't get a hit on that phrase, but I DID get a hit on the phrase, "I'm a member of Letterboxers Anonymous, hide your Tupperware" - http://www.dixiegraphix.com/shop/letterbox/shirts/main.html

I personally love the camo "You can't see me, I'm letterboxing" one.

Doodle Bug.
Re: Birthday LB'ing 2008 Part 4
Board: State: Ohio
Reply to: #260741 by Doodle and Deedle Bug
Aug 1, 2008 8:52am
Thread (disabled) Board
doodle bug

how FUN!!! thank you for finding those. gonna have a hard time limiting my selection to one or two for my personal collection.

bonus - it looks like a couple christmas gifts can be crossed off too and it is only August.
Re: Birthday LB'ing 2008 Part 4
Board: State: Ohio
Reply to: #260745 by antimony
Aug 1, 2008 3:13pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Do you know my size?
Re: Birthday LB'ing 2008 Part 4
Board: State: Ohio
Reply to: #260944 by Lindsays Snowman
Aug 1, 2008 3:17pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Do you know my size?


Funny, I was gonna ask her the same thing. I want the camo one!
Re: Birthday LB'ing 2008 the PHOTOS
Board: State: Ohio
Reply to: #260946 by Mama Stork
Aug 1, 2008 4:07pm
Thread (disabled) Board
OK all the photos are up in an album called Birthday LB 2008.

make sure you see the last 2 or three - they should help set the tone for the WHOLE trip.
Re: Birthday LB'ing 2008 Part 4
Board: State: Ohio
Reply to: #260741 by Doodle and Deedle Bug
Aug 1, 2008 5:39pm
Thread (disabled) Board
"I'm a member of Letterboxers Anonymous, hide your Tupperware" - http://www.dixiegraphix.com/shop/letterbox/shirts/main.html


Adding this to my favorites list and calling it "Buy me these for Christmas or Birthday!" :)
Re: Birthday LB'ing 2008 Part 4
Board: State: Ohio
Reply to: #260713 by antimony
Aug 13, 2008 7:03pm
Thread (disabled) Board
OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHH REALLY!!!!!!

baby brother???? is watching :{>
Re: Birthday LB'ing 2008 Part 4
Board: State: Ohio
Reply to: #267166 by bigpoppaduz
Aug 13, 2008 7:12pm
Thread (disabled) Board
oops!

i stand corrected.

welcome back bigpoppaduz!!!!

big sista
antimony
Re: Birthday LB'ing 2008 Part 4
Board: State: Ohio
Reply to: #267166 by bigpoppaduz
Aug 14, 2008 5:41pm
Thread (disabled) Board
BPD,

Where did you come from? Your sister tells us that you are too busy to join in the Ohio board fun.

Sounds like you had a great BD trip to Connecticut and RI. We enjoyed the four part story over four days.

LS
Re: Birthday LB'ing 2008 Part 4
Board: State: Ohio
Reply to: #267604 by Lindsays Snowman
Aug 14, 2008 7:03pm
Thread (disabled) Board
I just don't have enough time to do this like I used too. Lots of stuff going on. Things I let slip for too long.

I had to correct Sis on some things. just like every trip it has its ups and downs. But it was totally beautiful. my favorite part of CT was how the mountainous rocks just pop out of nowhere.

just remember I am watching :)
Re: Birthday LB'ing 2008 Part 4
Board: State: Ohio
Reply to: #267642 by bigpoppaduz
Aug 15, 2008 5:08am
Thread (disabled) Board
look BPD has a HAT now!!!

hahahahaaaa happy birthday lil brother. belated.

antimony