Going Caching 2018 – Haunted Mysteries

From the moment the Going Caching 2018 theme was announced, I had been looking forward to getting back to Rome for some awesome geocaching adventures.

Experience legends and lore that will give you goosebumps as you geocache your way around secret locations in the city of Rome, Georgia. Travel back to the 1890’s and don your best steampunk ghost-hunting attire as you attempt to tackle unsolved cases and other haunted mysteries.

Going Caching 2018 had a little something for everyone and every geocaching personality.  The entire Crew had a great time, but each member would give you a different reason or reasons.  If you have never been to a Going Caching Mega Event, I believe you will find something in the following list that you might enjoy.

Lab caches

This year, there were thirty (yes I said 30!).  They were divided into three groups of ten.

Highlights of Barnsley included ten traditional type lab caches which lead you around the scenic resort and teach you some of the history of the location.  This group was great for those who love the outdoors, hiking and history.  Best of all, Geocachers wearing their Going Caching 2018 name badge got entry for free all day on Thursday.

Baggo’s Roman Haunts

Baggo’s Roman Haunts got you out exploring downtown Rome and the local businesses.  This gave everyone an opportunity to easily find the lab caches without a great deal of hiking.  This year Rome even provided “chariot” service to shuttle you around town like a Roman Emperor.  For this group of lab caches, you were looking for clues provided by “Baggo” the skeleton.

Tombstone Tour was a special treat for those who prefer to stay on the leading edge of tech. These ten lab caches required downloading a special app on your mobile phone to use in an AR adventure.  The Crew ran out of time leaving this undone.

Puzzle Solving And Earthcache Classes

There were some great classes to learn some valuable geocaching skills.  I have learned some of my best puzzle solving skills at Going Caching events over the years.

GPS adventure games

At Going Caching 2018, the GPS adventure was the Geocaching Haunted Observations and Supernatural Tales (G.H.O.S.T) Challenge.  We followed clues which took us all over Rome and Floyd County to stamp our passports.  For those who were able to finish the challenge received an awesome geocoin to commemorate our adventures.

Trading Cards

Going Caching 2018 trading card

Each year, the Going Caching Crew creates trading cards for all those who wish to participate.  You can just purchase your cards or you can get packs of random cards.  Included in the random card pack you will also receive puzzles pieces to help solve yet another mystery.  The puzzle will lead you to geocaches which include stamps to validate your cards.  Why? To get you into the escape room at the main event on Saturday.

The Going Caching 2018 trading card puzzle pieces lead you to clues and helped up solve the mystery of what really happened to Annie Laurie.  The escape room was actually an “experience” room where we got the final clues and discovered the “Truth”

Many of us enjoy collecting all the cards.  This year over 260 cachers created a personalized card to be traded.  You might think this would be very stressful, but it’s not as hard as you might think.  After the event is over and we have all departed to our geocaching headquarters, we can head over to the Going Caching Geocacher Trading Card Group on Facebook to finish up the collection.

I almost forgot to mention, each and every Going Caching Trading Card is trackable.  They can be discovered at geocaching.com

Lots of geocaching vendors

1. Georgia’s Rome – Rome Souvenirs, Snacks & Water
2. OakCoins/Geoswag – Trackables
3. Space Coast Geocaching Store – Geocaching Items
4. Georgia State Parks – Info & Georgia State Park Swag
5. Red Hat The Geocaching Outfitter – Geocaching Gear
6. AMS Travel – Geocaching Travel and Tour Info
7. Houma Travel Geotour – Louisiana’s Only Official GeoTour
8. Let’s Go Earthcaching – Info on Earthcaching
9. Georgia Geocachers Association (GGA) – Geocaching 101 & Info
10. Turtle Tracks Design – Geocoins, Pathtags & Lapel Pins
11. GeoWoodstock 2019 – Info

Meet geocachers from all over the world

Going Caching is the third largest mega event in the United States so it attracts a lot of geocachers.  I have had the opportunity to become friends with geocachers from several different states, countries, and continents right here in the small town of Rome, Georgia. If you love meeting new people Rome is where you should be for Going Caching 2019.

What was your favorite part of Going Caching 2018?

There is not enough time or space to describe every detail of the Going Caching mega event.  So was there something I forgot to mention that you thought was awesome?  Are you going to be at Going Caching 2019, which will be in Rome again?  What is your favorite event and why?  Tell us in the comments below.