my friend jimmy calls fridays 'dance party fridays' and i would have to agree with him. i agree with him for (as some of you don't know) i don't work on fridays. hurray for that! i work four 10hr days (boo!) to have friday off (yeah!). so it seems the last couple of fridays have become letterboxing fridays for me. it's a great way for me to get out of my apartment and go enjoy the day/city.
this friday i went to graceland cemetery and st boniface cemetery to find two different letterboxes. both of these cemetery's are in chicago and for the very first time i drove in chicago to get to them. (yep that's right, i'm a real city girl now, ive actually driven in the city. after over a year of not doing it, i had to break down and drive in the city. it was the only way to go to the cemetery's without a huge hassel. i've been in the car while someone else drove in the city, but i never had to be the one. i have to say it's more fun driving with someone in the city then driving by yourself. specially if they know more about the city then you do - i don't know too much of chicago's history.)
graceland cemetery is a beautiful cemetery and is a famous one for chicago. just a couple of the famous people that are buried there are: marshall field (the store owner), william w. kimball (piano maker), dexter graves (hotelier). there are many architects; including the guy who created the layout for what chicago's downtown would look like - to make sure the lake front is not clogged with businesses and to have beaches and such. while i was there i saw a coyote running across the field. i couldn't believe it. and it wasn't a fox, for it was bigger, it was definitely a coyote. the monuments and sculpting of the gravestone are amazing there! it's just beautiful. -- so the letterbox i found at graceland was a mystery letterbox. which means the clue didn't tell you what city or forest preserve or cemetery it was hidden at - the clue gave you clues as to where it was hidden. this is the first time i've ever been able to figure one of those out. (i know i'm slow. and the only reason was, i had been to this cemetery before - i have an old relative buried there. she doesn't have a headstone or anything, but she's there). so after you figure out where the letterbox is, it then has normal clues like every other letterbox. this letterbox had you start at the kimball monument and walk a little bit. this letterbox was hidden in a crevasse of the stone wall that partially surrounds the cemetery. the stamp was a piano. i enjoyed my time there very much.
kimball's grave
where the letterbox was hidden (well behind the tree that is)
st boniface cemetery is right down the street from graceland so i just hopped in my car and went there next. it is a much smaller cemetery then graceland and doesn't have as amazing sculptures there, but still is a nice cemetery. while i was here i saw two hawks fighting over a dead prey - a mouse. i couldn't believe there were hawks in the city, but there they were, two of them. this stamp was in memory to the carvers grandmother. and where you started the clues was from the carvers grandmothers grave. the letterbox was hidden under a stone by statue of st joseph. i hate bugs, and when i lifted the stone to get the stamp i was grossed out. but still made sure i got the stamp. hehe. i must say i was disappointment with the stamp, but at the same time, it's about the journey of getting the stamp and not the stamp in it's self.
the grave of the person's grandmother - where you started in finding the letterbox
the letterbox under a rock - there were so many bugs!
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