Sign Up  /  Login

Dick Clark's American Bandstand LbNA #15222

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:May 22, 2005
Location:
City:Manchester
County:Hartford
State:Connecticut
Boxes:5
Found by: Nairon (5)
Last found:Mar 20, 2021
Status:FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
Last edited:May 22, 2005
This hike is about 3 1/2-4 miles long.

DIRECTIONS: From I-384, take exit 3. Turn onto route 83 south and head towards Glastonbury. You will pass Lutz Children's Museum on the left. From there, drive 1.1 mile to a 4-way intersection near the town line. Shallow Brook Rd. is on the right BUT you should turn left onto Line Rd.(NOTE: The street sign was down when I planted these.) Once on Line Rd. drive .7 miles to a parking area on the left. You may encounter some mountain bikers during your hike today. Stop at the info stand for a map.

NOTE: This series can be done at the same time as the "Casey Kasem Counts 'Em Down" letterbox series. If you do them both, it is about 5 1/2-6 miles.

Are you ready for more music madness? After parking, cross the road and see a brown sign for Case Mountain. Enter the YELLOW trail there. At one point you will arrive at a junction where it seems that the yellow trail goes in a couple of directions... continue straight here. Walk slightly uphill. Soon you will reach a major intersection. Look for a sign that says "20" on a tree. From here, you need to continue following the yellow trail at 110 degrees. Walk 80 steps (or so) to a stone foundation on the right side of the trail. Find the southeast corner. Take 16 steps at 150 degrees to the second of 2 large rocks. Look out below for the "MacArthur Park Letterbox."

"MacArthur Park" was originally recorded in 1968 by Irish actor Richard Harris, who portrayed King Arthur in the Broadway play "Camelot." The song reached #2 on the charts in May of that year. It later became a #1 hit for dance diva Donna Summer in 1978. According to the lyrics, "Someone left my cake out in the rain. I don't think that I can take it, 'cause it took so long to bake it and I'll never have the recipe again." Nope, I don't quite understand it either! Anyway...

Return to the trail and continue in the direction you were going (northeast). Soon you will cross a stream and come to an intersection with the red trail. Turn right onto red. Please note, the blazes are a bit faded here. Follow it carefully! After about 5 minutes you will come to a very nice "lounging rock" in the middle of the trail. Continue on. Soon you may notice a small vernal pool on the left as the trail climbs a bit. You will walk on a flat stone that has a thin quartzlike vein in it. About 100 yards or so beyond that, you should come upon a 5-sister tree on the right. STOP! On the left side of the trail, at roughly 250 degrees, you can spot 3 good sized rocks that seem to line up. Take 26 steps to the third rock. There you will find the "Stars On 45 Letterbox."

"Stars On 45" was the creation of Dutch percussionist Jaap Eggermont. He came up witht the idea of recording a medley of Beatles songs and other tunes from the 60's to a driving disco beat. Unfortunately, he had problems getting permission from Apple Corp., the Beatles record label. Because of legal difficulties, the song's name had to be changed from "Beatles Medley" to "Intro Venus/Sugar Sugar/No Reply/I'll Be Back/Drive My Car/Do You Want To Know A Secret/We Can Work It Out/I Should Have Known Better/Nowhere Man/You're Going To Lose That Girl/Stars on 45" This #1 hit from 1981 has the longest song title to ever hit the Billboard record charts.

Continue along the red trail. Watch the red blazes CAREFULLY. Some are quite faded. You will come to a junction near a very house-like boulder off to the right. Don't turn there, unless you want to explore the stone. Continue straight on red. Eventually you will walk downhill, pass through an area littered with large rocks, cross a stream, and climb uphill. At the top of the hill, you come to the intersection of the blue Shenipsit Trail. Standing at the tree labelled "17", take 21 steps at 230 degrees to a rock with a twisted tree on top. From here, spot a split rock at 310 degrees (about 40 feet away). Look under it for "Oh! Susanna!"

Believe it or not, "Oh! Susanna" was a #22 hit in 1955 by the Singing Dogs. The song, recorded in Denmark, consisted entirely of canines barking! The band was made up of four dogs: Dolly, Pearl, Caesar and King. Listen closely for Pearl's solo!

Return to the intersection. Follow the blue trail north. Soon you will pass a large block-rock with a large tree growing along side. At the next intersection (#16), turn left onto the yellow trail. As the trail starts to climb, notice ledges on both sides of the trail. At the top of the hill, look for the "egg rock" on the left. From it, walk 26 steps along the trail. Turn around, look up at the nearest blazed rock. Under the north side is "The Safety Dance."

The "Safety Dance" was a quirky song recorded by the Canadian new-wave band Men Without Hats. It hit #3 in 1983.

Continue on the yellow trail as it meanders around for about 10 minutes. Keep your eyes open for a large split rock on the left side of the trail. (If you get to the intersection of the red trail, you've gone too far.) Standing on the lower rock, notice a 3-sister tree at 210 degrees. It is about 40 feet away. Go there and "Macarena!"

"Macarena" may be the most unlikely hit of all time. It was recorded by Los Del Rio, a flamenco band formed in Seville, Spain way back in 1962. The tune, released in 1996, was a #1 hit in the US for 14 weeks and spent 60 weeks on the charts. One summer night in the Bronx, the New York Yankees broke the all-time Macarena record by getting more than 50,000 people to dance it during a game.

Follow the yellow trail past the turn-off for the red trail and across the stream. Stay on yellow all the way back to your car. Hope you had fun today! (I hope that you don't have any strange songs stuck in your head)

Josef (Hello...from Joe!)