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The Duck Pond at Fuchs Park LbNA #37289 (ARCHIVED)

Owner:The3Bears
Plant date:Dec 26, 2007
Location:
City:South Miami
County:Dade
State:Florida
Boxes:1
Found by: The Last Gringo
Last found:Mar 26, 2008
Status:FFFFFaaaa
Last edited:Dec 26, 2007
The Duck Pond MISSING
SORRY TO REPORT THAT THIS BOX HAS BEEN VANDALIZED.

As a young girl, my parents would take me to a small park in South Miami to feed the ducks. We always called it “The Duck Pond”, but its real name is Fuchs Park, located at the corner of South Dixie Highway (U.S. 1) and SW 80th Street. (6445 SW 81st Street , South Miami , 305-663-6319)
If you always spend rush hour grumbling to yourself and fruitlessly punching the buttons on your radio, you may never have noticed that the spot of trees on the corner of South Dixie Highway and SW 80th Street opens up into a considerably large park named after Holsum Bakery founder and city leader Charles T. Fuchs. It contains the usual South Miami park amenities such as a picturesque lake (with a fountain maintained by a snorkeling park employee and a bounty of fish, including bass), fairly new tot lot, a gazebo fit for a family reunion, and, bizarrely enough, a pro beach volleyball area constructed far from any beach. This charming park also displays miniature versions of Miami-Dade's natural environments. Three years ago extensive restoration resulted in urban versions of hardwood hammocks, wetlands, and maritime woodlands. Again, the park's maintenance crew and the South Miami city commission chose wisely by planting native species during the restoration. Serenity in the middle of worldly clamor helps make Fuchs a perfect rest stop for weary travelers.
The City of South Miami, approximately 3 miles south of the City of Miami, encompasses 2.5-square miles within Miami-Dade County. It borders the University of Miami’s main campus and the cities of Coral Gables and Pinecrest. U.S. Highway 1 (South Dixie Highway) carries tens of thousands of vehicles through the city on a daily basis .
South Miami, incorporated in 1927, is one of the County's oldest municipalities with a permanent residential, tri-ethnic population of approximately 10,500. The “town center” area east of US1 is a vibrant shopping, dining and entertainment venue with a hometown ambiance. Two major hospitals within the city provide employment and services to people throughout the county and beyond.
Letterbox clues
(Note: bring your own ink pad.) As stated above, the park is at the corner of U.S. 1 (South Dixie Highway) and SW 80th Street. Enter the parking lot from 80th Street. Walk to the corner of the park closest to the intersection of the highway and 80th Street. There is a huge ficus tree with a trunk about 7 feet in diameter. On the park side of the tree, there is a sheflera tree, which has branches shaped like an umbrella, growing from the rock at the base of the ficus tree. Remove the loose rock under the sheflera tree and reach in to find the Duck Pond letterbox, concealed with a pile of leaves. Please replace the box carefully so that it is not visible to passersby.
Caution: there are alligators in nearly every body of water in Florida. This pond is no exception! They do hide in bushes and along shores. Keep a close eye on children and keep pets on a leash.

I've been advised that there is a geogache about 3 feet from the letterbox. Be sure you pick up the right one!

The box was MIA for a little while, but a fellow letterboxer will be replacing it by 4/13/08