The Coffee Series LbNA #12375

September 1st,2008 - Well, the bonus after the coffee shop is now back. Who knew? Piping Hot is fine, Cup of Joe is still gone, I ran out of time on Starbucks and the Tea bonus so your guess is as good as mine. I met some folks today who said there's a lot of poison ivy, so wait til it dies back a little,I couldn't find Butlered Brew, but there is a new stamp quite near the spot, Coffee Shop and it's bonus are fine, but I couldn't find either No Coffee or Best Coffee. I will likely not be replacing them and since the last box is gone there is no logbook. If someone wants to toss one in there sometime, feel free. Westmoor was beautiful today, though quite buggy for this time of year. I guess we are paying for all the wonderful rain we had earlier in the summer. Hope you enjoy the hunt and the park.

August 2005 - Cup of Joe and the bonus after coffee shop are both missing. Please enjoy the rest of the stamps.

The Coffee Letterbox Series
Planted by the Anti-boxer and rtrw on November 1, 2002
Difficulty – pretty easy
Time – an hour if you are in a hurry, more if you want to enjoy yourself
Directions to starting place –From I-84 East, take exit 41 (South Main Street) and turn left at the traffic light onto South Main Street. From I-84 West, take exit 41 (South Main Street) and turn right at the traffic light onto South Main Street. Follow South Main Street for approximately 1.6 miles to the center of West Hartford. Cross Farmington Avenue (at which point South Main Street becomes North Main Street) and follow North Main Street for approximately 1.3 miles to the intersection of Route 44/Albany Avenue. Turn left onto Route 44/Albany Avenue. At the first traffic light (across from Staples) turn left, then immediately turn right at the blinking light onto Flagg Road. The entrance to the park is one-half mile up on the left. The address is 119 Flagg Road, West Hartford
Details you should know – This is a series with only one log book. Count it however you would like in your PFX. This is a short walk through a sweet park. You may want to consider not putting your book away in between boxes. ALSO, we learned the hard way, NO DOGS ALLOWED. And the staff makes you carry your dog out of the park. Glad we didn’t have a great dane
Details that you don’t need to know – I like coffee. I like the way it smells when it brews. I like visiting coffee shops. Each winter I give up drinking coffee for a month just to prove to myself that I’m not addicted and “could stop anytime I want to.” I don’t like that month very much.

“Piping Hot”
Kaldi the goat herder supposedly discovered coffee around 600 A.D. by observing his excited herd after they consumed the leaves and berries of a coffee shrub.
Coffee, as a world commodity, is second only to oil.
Studies tell us the human body will absorb only 300 milligrams of caffeine at a given time. Additional amounts are cast off and will provide no additional stimulation. The body dissipates 20% of the caffeine in the system each hour.
Clue -Drive down past barns and park your vehicle. Find the gravel path and follow the fence. See horse, donkey, goat, sheep, cow, and llama. Turn right with path. Just before white birch on left are some very tall evergreens. Your prize is at the base of the 1st very tall evergreen. Be cagey when the leaves are gone, because you can be seen from a nearby house.

Cup’o’Joe
The French philosopher, Voltaire, reportedly drank fifty cups of coffee a day. This explains a lot to me. The night he died, he apparently drank even more. Hmmm.
Coffee trees are evergreen and grow to heights above 15 feet but are normally pruned to around 8 feet in order to facilitate harvesting.
Bach wrote a coffee cantata in 1732. This makes me feel a little better about creating a coffee letterbox series
Clue -Proceed on the gravel path. Take S-curve on path (right then left). At gravel Y, go left. Go 13 paces from Y, and you’ll see a large flat rock off to your left (about four car lengths). Your prize is on the back side of the rock (just a stamp in a bag).

Starbucks
Following World War II, U.S. studies found that 10,000 marriages a year could be directly traced back to a shared coffee break.
Abraham Lincoln rarely had anything more than a cup of coffee for breakfast
Clue -Back on the path, continue straight towards woods. Past marker #2 but just before #3, go left on a side path (saw a deer here when planting) woodchip trail through a deciduous forest. Come to another Y (sign and birdhouse pole off to your left). Go about 7 paces towards a sign and birdhouse, look left into woods for a fallen tree. 8 or 10 feet along tree from base is your prize (a special box for the Spaniel and FireRose). A bonus box, Monkey Poison, BookWorm and some other letterboxers prefer this beverage to coffee. The box is at the top end of the same log.


A Butlered Brew
Liberty and freedom became synonomous with coffee in 1773 when the heavy tea tax imposed by the British enticed the Americans into drinking coffee.
One of the causes allowed by law in ancient Arab for marital separation was a husband's refusal to produce coffee for his wife.
While roasted coffee beans start to lose small amounts of flavor within two weeks, ground coffee begins to lose its flavor in minutes.
Clue - Return to the trail and return 7 paces back to the Y. Go past the Y on the path into the woods (not the way you came in and not toward the sign and birdhouse, go left, not right). You’ll pass about 20 large stones on your left. Shortly you’ll come to a large round clearing. Continue across the open area at about 335 degrees, veering slightly to the right, and cross the circle to an 18 foot upright tree stump. Continue beyond that stump toward the pond/river until you reach a very large fallen tree. Go to the other side of the log and go up fallen tree to 2nd peace sign (Y in tree) on this side of the log. Your prize is near the broken finger. Enjoy the peaceful water and woods!

Coffee Shop
Coffee was first known in Europe as Arabian Wine.
The Arabs are generally believed to be the first to brew coffee.
Milk as an additive to coffee became popular in the 1680's, when a French physician recommended that cafe au lait be used for medicinal purposes.
Clue - Follow the water’s edge to the right. Soon you’ll come to a wooden bench on your right. Continue straight on path, along the water’s edge. Gravel path curves right away from water, past sign #7. Stay on path. At sign #8, go about 25 feet into the woods on your right to 2 fallen trees. Your prize is tucked behind the second fallen tree.
Bonus Box (Clues to be put inside the tin later). From the coffee shop take 11 steps at 60 degrees for what every coffee shop should have in it. Carving by The Spaniel.

No Coffee
The Civil War in the United States elevated the popularity of coffee to new heights. Soldiers went to war with coffee beans as a primary ration.
In early America, coffee was usually taken between meals and after dinner.
Clue - Return to the path and continue towards the wooden bench. Go left towards bridge. Your prize is under right corner of the bridge’s beginning, on top of footing.

Best Coffee
Italians do not drink espresso during meals. It is considered to be a separate event, given its own time and is considered so essential to daily life that the price is regulated by the government.
The average age of an Italian barista is 48 years old. A barista is a respected job title in Italy which now has over 200,000 coffee bars.
Clue -Cross the bridge and take the path to the right. Count 50 paces to mass of gnarled grape vines up a tree and cut logs near the river. Under the back of a heap of logs, you’ll find your prize, the last in this series.

Return to the bridge, cross over to the gravel path, and continue towards a brown building on the hill in front of you. Walk up to the building. Head past the flagpole. The barns and parking lot will appear in front of you. Now you’ve wasted enough of your day. Go home and do something productive or kind for your family or other loved ones . (The anti – boxer was in charge of writing clues and felt compelled to share his bias here. I guess this is why he’s the anti – boxer. rtrw hopes you brought your family and loved ones with you and don’t feel as though you’ve wasted any time at all. Unlike coffee, she could not give this wonderful hobby up without a fight) Hope you enjoyed your time in Westmoor Park.