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Vet's Liquor LbNA #58430

Owner:wood thrush
Plant date:Jun 24, 2011
Location: 3900 Sellman Road
City:Beltsville
County:Prince George's
State:Maryland
Boxes:1
Found by: dreamweaverbear
Last found:Jul 22, 2014
Status:FFFFFF
Last edited:Jun 24, 2011
This is one in a series of boxes celebrating landmarks along historic U.S. Route 1 in Maryland. Because of the busy and sometimes dicey nature of Route 1, for box longevity I am planting them in parks relatively near each landmark, but including a component in the clue that requires the finder to actually visit the landmark itself.

Vet’s Liquor in Beltsville, Md., is primarily known for its awesome mid-20th-century neon sign, which features a military man in a blue uniform (Air Force?). Those who pass by the sign at night never forget it, as the man’s eyes light up. Sometimes the lightbulbs are white; at other times he’s had one green and one red eye. Most describe the experience as creepy. What will YOU see when you pass by?

To the box. First drive to Vet’s Liquor at 11622 Baltimore Ave. (Route 1) in Beltsville. Turn on Lincoln Ave. at the store and admire the sign. When you are ready, drive a little ways down Lincoln Ave. and make note of the first mailbox you see on the right. Write down the number on the mailbox. Now continue to the first stop sign and write down the number on the black mailbox to the right. You’ll need these numbers when you look for the box.

Next, travel to the Beltsville Community Center at 3900 Sellman Road in Beltsville, and when you get close to the building, look for the pedestrian footbridge on the right, just before the parking lot.

Park in the lot, and head across the footbridge (which crosses the Little Paint Branch stream) to the fitness trail. Pass by the sign informing you about non-native invasive species on the right, and you will soon see the first of many nice powder-blue fitness stations on the trail.

Time for those mailbox numbers. What was the last digit of the first mailbox you saw? You’ll walk about ___-tenths of a mile on the fitness trail before you get to the area where the box is. So enjoy the shaded scenery, and maybe try out some of the stations on your way.

When you get in the vicinity, there will be a plyometrics station to the right, and just past it, a nice bench and a branch trail. Stay on the main trail and look for the chest/back press station ahead.

When you get there, it’s time for more mailbox numbers. What are the first numbers of each mailbox? Walk ___ ___ steps ahead and stop. To your right, up a hill, you should see a good-sized tree that bends dramatically to the right, and further into the distance a similar tree that doesn’t bend quite as much.

Add the numbers of the first mailbox together, and walk ___ steps up the hill towards the dramatic tree. Now turn to your left and walk 10 steps along a faint trail towards the second tree. Stop. Look to your right and you should see a fairly small weathered grey remnant of a tree long ago blown over. All that remains is the root end of this tree, and it’s covered with moss. Walk the 6 steps to this snag/stump and lift up the end furtherest from you (it is quite light). What you seek is underneath.

This is a busy trail, and you are visible here. So why not take the box back to the nice bench to stamp in? When you are finished, either complete the fitness trail or simply return to your car.

Boxing history note. This park and trail once were the home of the fine “Baron’s Dog Walk” series by Girlguides, which was retired several years ago.