Oaklands Mansion

Our Murfreesboro at night geotour began with a flashlight tour of the Oaklands Mansion.

We felt the younger crew members had finally out grown the reasonable age for going Trick-or-Treating and they agreed (mostly).

Laura and I searched the internet for what we thought would be appropriate and affordable Halloween entertainment.  Of course, there was a multitude of pop up haunted houses, haunted trails, and haunted hayrides.  But these seemed to either be for older folks and most had a hefty price tag when you consider buying five tickets.  We even looked into the Chattanooga Ghost Tours here in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  But the price tag for the tour we wanted to do was way too much for us.

Then Laura found “Flashlight Nights in Oaklands Mansion,” which gave us the opportunity to explore a “mysterious mansion and experience some of the unusual mourning customs and creepy superstitions of the Victorian era.” in Murfreesboro at night.  How great!  Spooky, educational, and within our price range.  But wait!  It’s only on Thursday and Friday.  We didn’t find it until Thursday (That’s short notice, even for me!).

We decided that we could make it on Friday night since we are in a different time zone, but it would require me getting home from work and heading right back out.

Jack Trail GeoTour in Murfreesboro at Night

Being a geocaching addict, of course, I found a way to make this a geocaching trip.  I planned out a trip that included grabbing all of the Jack Trail Geotour caches in Murfreesboro at night.

Oaklands Mansion –

To my surprise, there is a Jack Trail Geotour cache right on the Oaklands Mansion property.

After enjoying the flashlight tour of the Oaklands Mansion, we headed over to the gift shop to look around.  They were getting ready to close up for the night so we left, but we didn’t’ head toward the parking lot.  We ducked behind the gift shop to find our first geocache in Murfreesboro at night.

GC5C8YH – JTGT – Rutherford- Oaklands Mansion was our first stop for the night.  After making a quick grab here, we headed for the van and drove off into the night to find our next cache.

The Heart of Tennessee-

Our next stop on the Geotour brought us to GC5C8WJ – JTGT – Rutherford- Heart of Tennessee, the very center of the state of Tennessee. This park features a stone obelisk marking the geographic center of Tennessee, determined by Professor James Hamilton in 1834.  Did you know there was a marker for the center of the state?  We never would have found this if we hadn’t been geocaching in Murfreesboro at night.  We found this cache fairly quickly and got the necessary information to determine the coordinates of a mystery cache at the same location.  How cool!!

Historic Courthouse-

Our next stop was GC5C8YM – TGT – Rutherford- Historic County Courthouse.

The historic courthouse is Rutherford County’s most iconic structure. As one of only 6 antebellum courthouses in the State of Tennessee still serving its original purpose, it is also stands as a living piece of Civil War history. Today the Courthouse still serves as the administrative headquarters for the Rutherford County government, and as home to the county’s legislative body, the 21 member County Commission.

I am sure it is a beautiful building anytime of the day, but seeing it while geocaching in Murfreesboro at night is a totally unique experience.

Heritage Center-

Our next stop on a geocaching in Murfreesboro at night trip was only about a tenth of a mile way so we decided to walk.

On the way to GC5C8YP – JTGT – Rutherford- Heritage Center of Murfreesboro, we got to witness a lot of the night life in Murfreesboro at night.  I don’t think I have ever seen so many bars, saloons and clubs in one place.  To make it more interesting many of the locals were in costume since it was the Friday night before Halloween (The scariest had to be the skinny Santa getting tipsy on the sidewalk outside one of the bars).

The Heritage Center of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County provides an in-depth local historical experience through their visitor orientation center that combines a museum and field trip site. This trip to the historic downtown area close to midnight provided us with an experience we will not soon forget.

Discovery Center-

Next we hopped back in the van and head to GC5C8YX – JTGT – Rutherford- Discovery at Murfree Spring.  The Discovery Center at Murfree Spring is a hands-on museum and nature center that inspires exploration, enhances learning, and builds confidence through diverse programs and exhibits.

Although it was too late for us to experience the museum and nature center, we were able to track down the cache.  It was well camouflaged and hidden.  If you have ever tried to find a well camouflaged container in the dark, you how difficult this one was for us.

Cannonsburgh Village-

At this point, there were only two Jack Trail GeoTour caches in Murfreesboro that we hadn’t found.  We decided to push on.  When we arrived at GC5C8YW – JTGT – Rutherford- Historic Cannonsburgh Village, I realized that I had made a terrible mistake.  I had not looked at the attributes on the cache page.  We needed to be inside a fenced in area that was locked at night.  No, we did not climb the fence!  This one will have to wait for another day.  Plus, it looks like a great opportunity for education the kids.

Convention and Visitors Bureau-

Last on my list was GC5CTQQ – JTGT – Rutherford- Convention and Visitors Bureau.  “The Rutherford County Convention and Visitors Bureau is an all-in-one hospitality stop to help you plan your visit to Rutherford County. The state-of-the-art Visitors Center features maps, brochures, a Civil War timeline, kiosks with details on attractions and touch-screen interactive directories for lodging, dining, attractions and events.”  (Hummm, maybe we should have stopped here first, before midnight)

We were able to find a nice sized ammo can hidden behind a few trees and freed the “ghost of geocaching” at the same time, since it was now 12:03 Central Time.

At this point, I think the Crew was ready to head to the motel and grab some shut-eye.  We had a big day planned for Saturday which included a two-mile plus hike at Henry Horton State Park.

I hope you have enjoyed reading about another one of our crazy geocaching adventures. Geocaching in Murfreesboro at night was probably one of the most fun adventures we have had as a family(Laura and I did find ourselves hanging off of an unfinished walking trail bridge once at 2:00am).

So what’s the craziest thing you have done to find a geocache?  Have you ever been out geocaching in the wee hours of the morning?  Tell us about it in the comments.