A Day at Coney Island

Coney Island is a small amusement park southeast of Cincinnati on the shores of the Ohio River. The park started as an apple farm in 1867. By the early 1870s, Mr. Parker had added a bowling alley, dance hall and dining hall as amusements were more profitable than growing apples.

crossing the Ohio River for the 3rd time this morning

the Ohio River

ferris wheel at the amusement park

Hubby and I and 5000+ other geocaches also visited Coney Island today for a yearly event called GeoWoodstock. This was #16. We attended another, #14 in Denver in 2016. The thing that made this one different is the number of people attending. This event was billed as North America's largest geocaching gathering, a Giga Event because 5000 people planned to attend.

We were meeting friends Jon & Sherry as today was our last opportunity to spend time together for maybe the next 18 months. When we got to the meeting spot they were intently working.

There are unusual things at a large geocaching gathering. For example...

someone wanted people to write their names on their car

really?????

the original can of beans recovered from the 

very first geocache, May 2000

a woman wearing many extra pounds of metal

which is actually travel bugs and geocoins

I have seen her at events before

some people bring their OLD friends

Vendors selling geocaching supplies, clothing, and non-essentials are a big hit. Geocaching groups promoting their events, or others selling their hand created geo-related items filled 4 large tents.

this group (and a thousand others) went looking for geocaches

For me, and especially this time because of limited mobility, it was the people we see, like...

our friend Josef from Germany

whom we met at a big event in Seattle WA in 2015

Del & Mary from AZ whom we met at one of my geo events

Wally & Christine from AZ

Liz (in blue) from Canada & Kenny (in red) from AZ

Ed from AZ

geocachers from MN

we geocached with the front 2 at the oldest cache in CO

Mary from AZ

and there were others I did not get photos of, like Janice from TX or Charlie Baltimore from AZ, or Ruth & Chuck from Sioux Falls or Russ & Jeanne AZ/OR.

The temperature today was in the high 80s with 80% humidity. A brief rain appeared about 15 minutes after we left the event. Coney Island was certainly large enough (365 acres) to host the 5000+ people who stopped by today. Today was also opening season for the amusement and water park, but most of the geocachers did not venture to that area. It was a fun day, but we are both ready to head home.

An American Pastime

On Thursday afternoon, we joined some of the geocachers who have gathered in the area for the Cincinnati Reds baseball game. It was our first time at this ball park.

in front of the stadium

Hubby checking out Johnny Bench statue

GeoWoodstock banner at the game

and some of the geocachers

most of us found shade, immediately

Reds stadium along the Ohio River

'modern' steam boat passed by

stadium has a riverboat theme

seats look out to the river

LOTS of empty seats

fireworks from the 'smoke stacks'

the Reds won 5 to 4 over the Phillies

AND the real bonus...a grand slam by Suarez, a Reds player

what's a ballgame without peanuts???

more statues around the stadium

found a few geocaches before and after the game

and another gathering of geocachers after the game

I bought a T-shirt just for the ballgame

It was a fun experience. Again, we met up some geocaching friends and chatting helps the game move along. It was very warm and humid, so I grabbed some seats in the shade as soon as we arrived in the stands. I am so glad I did, as I would not have survived the afternoon. 

Butler County Donut Trail and GeoTour

Wednesday in Cincinnati started at 4:30 AM...on purpose. Hubby and I were meeting friends Jon & Sherry who were camping about 30 miles away. The four of us planned to complete the Butler County Donut Trail and the Butler County GeoTour.

The 80 mile round trip involved stopping at 12 specific donut shops in communities in Butler County, north of Cincinnati. The Butler County GeoTour involved finding 15 geocaches in the same communities. Most times, the geocaches were near the donut shops. The reward for completing the Donut Trail was a free T-shirt. The reward for completing the GeoTour was a free geocoin. And the best reward was spending time with great friends!

The donut shops have been part of the challenge for a couple of years, so it is not something new. The donut shops were also prepared for the possible surge of geocachers this week. However, the rule for donut shops is when the donuts are sold out, they close for the day. To earn the T-shirt, we had to physically go into each donut shop and have them stamp our passport. Rumor was, some shops were sold out and closed by 10 AM on Tuesday. So the pressure was on to try to find the 15 geocaches and visit all 12 donut shops as quickly as possible, and a close to 10 AM as possible, so we would not have to come back a second day.

the first stop

amount of donuts at 7:15

notice empty trays

shops opened at 6

some shops had cute bags

no requirement to purchase donuts

but we did, sometimes, and shared, most of the time

most shops were 'famous' for a specific donut

this one was called the Ugly, it was tasty

Butler County LOVES their donuts

To make the most of our time, each of us had a job to do. Jon was the driver, Hubby & Sherry looked for the caches, and I ran (not literally) into each donut shop and stood in line to have our four passports stamped.

driver & navigator, Jon

and sometimes photographer

and sometimes donut buyer

lots of laughs and giggles

Jupiter Coffee & Donuts had the geocachers donut, a frosted raised donut frosted with candy rocks! So appropriate, we had to buy 2!

At the final geocaching stop...

the last geocache

And inside the Butler County Visitor's Center...

all sorts of donut themed items

we thought about buying this for you, Bill R.!

dressed in out earned Donut Trail T-shirts

mission accomplished at 11:00 AM

and the coveted Donut Trail Geocoin!

A great long and tiring day!

But so worth the 4:30 AM wake-up!!!

(additional photos from Sherry & Jon)