Cemetery Plot Cache....?

[+Snoogans]

A post on fb this morning got me thinking....

 

How much do cemetery plots cost on the low end average and if someone bought one could they use it as a cache site until they got planted there or even beyond that point....???

 

I personally think cemeteries are a waste of good land (but an interesting source of history) and I personally plan to be cremated and scattered in a favorite spot, so I haven't the foggiest idear what one costs on the low end.

 

What do YOU think?

 

Too expensive for the average cacher?

 

But maybe not the above average cacher? (One word: Necropolis)

 

Against common terms of plot ownership?

 

Poor taste?

 

Discuss.....

[+buttaskotch]

I don't know how I feel about the purchasing a plot for a game until being "planted" there for eternity. Feeling its a little crass, but if my beloved were an avid geocacher I may ask for a space for a micro so cachers can come visit me and my beloved can "maintain" it when visiting me.

 

Regarding cemeteries being a good waste of land, that was my thought a few years back. I, too want to be cremated, but its on religious grounds. Now, I realize that cemeteries are a source of greenbelts (and history). In large cities there would be more concrete and high rises about if not for the cemeteries. I live in Queens, NYC we are called the borough of cemeteries and as creepy as they are, I can still see the green and have a clear view to the skyscrapers of NYC from my apt. If it weren't there, I would be breathing in more smog and possibly not get the sunlight into my apartment as I do now.

[+Snoogans]

I, too want to be cremated, but its on religious grounds.

 

Ah, opting out of the Zombie Apocalypse if it doesn't occur in your lifetime...

 

Yeah, me too.

 

[+Geodalf]

It depends on where a plot is. In Estancia it only costs a couple hundred bux. Also no restrictions. All kinds of momentos, homemade markers. One cowboy was sewn up in a couple of feed bags and buried.

 

Me I would like a Tibetan air burial, but lacking that I will be buried in Estancia and make my own geocache marker.

 

See my geocache "The Last Hanging II" which has a couple of shots of the Estancia cemetary.

[+Snoogans]

It depends on where a plot is. In Estancia it only costs a couple hundred bux. Also no restrictions. All kinds of momentos, homemade markers. One cowboy was sewn up in a couple of feed bags and buried.

 

Me I would like a Tibetan air burial, but lacking that I will be buried in Estancia and make my own geocache marker.

 

See my geocache "The Last Hanging II" which has a couple of shots of the Estancia cemetary.

 

So if you already own a plot there..... Can you use it for other means until your time comes?

[+Semper Questio]

MrsSQ works at a local church that has a cemetery. The plots are $1k each and they are VERY strict on what you can do with them. No large headstones, no trinkets, no plantings. Dunno what the thinking is behind all that.

[+Snoogans]

Dunno what the thinking is behind all that.

 

Uniformity

[+terrkan78]

As long as you bought a plot in a cemetery that allows headstones, mementos, etc. (as opposed to the kind of cemetery that has no headstones, allows nothing but flowers as mementos, and the flowers get sucked up by the lawn mower every so often), I would think the cemetery wouldn't care if you left a "geocache memento" on your plot, even though no one was buried underneath yet. People coming to visit the cache would be no different than people coming to pay their respects to Uncle Bob.

 

Unless, of course, you decided to leave a full-sized coffin geocache on top of your plot? Which would be incredibly funny, but would probably get an adverse reaction from the cemetery staff (not to mention the nearby Uncle Bob's mourners). But if you place such a cache, please mention it on the forums. I'd travel all the way there just to see that!

[+BaylorGrad]

As long as you bought a plot in a cemetery that allows headstones, mementos, etc. (as opposed to the kind of cemetery that has no headstones, allows nothing but flowers as mementos, and the flowers get sucked up by the lawn mower every so often), I would think the cemetery wouldn't care if you left a "geocache memento" on your plot, even though no one was buried underneath yet. People coming to visit the cache would be no different than people coming to pay their respects to Uncle Bob.

 

Unless, of course, you decided to leave a full-sized coffin geocache on top of your plot? Which would be incredibly funny, but would probably get an adverse reaction from the cemetery staff (not to mention the nearby Uncle Bob's mourners). But if you place such a cache, please mention it on the forums. I'd travel all the way there just to see that!

 

Hahahaha! Count me in--I'd find that cache!

[+dreamarcher]

It's incredibly poor taste and selfish. It might not matter to you but a cemetery is a sacred place to many other people.

[+Snoogans]

It's incredibly poor taste and selfish. It might not matter to you but a cemetery is a sacred place to many other people.

 

I guess that depends on your own personal mystique about death. I have none. It's an acceptable inevitability to me. (Though I'd hate to outlive my son.)

 

Some see cemeteries as places of death and some see them as places of life. Geocaching has taught me that. I quite like older cemetaries for their history. I'd have never discovered just how much there is out there without geocaching to take me there. The Woodmen of the World were an interesting revelation and I look for them in every cemetery I visit now.

 

My recent visit to The Columbarium, in San Francisco, and an awesome cache there in called Columba shows the truth of how people see places of rest. I've never been to a place of death rest that felt so alive. My father is buried in Arlington Cemetery. It and just about any other military cemetary are not fun places to visit. I'd visit The Columbarium often if it was nearer to my home.

Edited November 1, 2010 by Snoogans

[+Semper Questio]

It's incredibly poor taste and selfish. It might not matter to you but a cemetery is a sacred place to many other people.

 

And it is a place of joyous remembrance to others even to the point of holding picnics and other family gatherings at the grave site. So who's right?

 

Seems to me that if you bought the plot and what you want to do conforms to the restrictions of the cemetery with respect for, and without infringing upon, the rights of others, cache on.

[+wimseyguy]

+1 on the Colombarium and the cache within. I am so glad we added it to our GW6 tour route. (Based on the recommendation of locals) But I digress.

So if you have a burial plot picked out, and if it was in an open minded cemetery, would you be able to allow digging for the cache there?

Edited November 1, 2010 by wimseyguy

[+42at42]

If you wanted the less expensive way to do this...

 

Pet Cemetery

 

Just watch out for the viscious re-born animals.

[+Snoogans]

+1 on the Colombarium and the cache within. I am so glad we added it to our GW6 tour route. (Based on the recommendation of locals) But I digress.

So if you have a burial plot picked out, and if it was in an open minded cemetery, would you be able to allow digging for the cache there?

 

Only if it was set up like View Carre.

 

Just imagine the grave digger on duty grabbing a shovel and handing YOU one before you head out.

Edited November 1, 2010 by Snoogans

[+dakboy]

Dunno what the thinking is behind all that.

 

Uniformity

That and maintenance, cleanliness, less opportunity for things to be left that other people dislike. Wreaths, ribbons, bouquets, etc. all eventually become trash which will blow away or must be cleaned up.

[jd-mitchell]

I'm working on one @ a cemetery now. I love the name of it, even though it is driving me nuts! Example of a dead-on pun

Edited November 1, 2010 by jd-mitchell

[+Geodalf]

Here is the link to my cemetery cache "The Last Hanging II":

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.asp...&submit4=Go

 

By the way: Not too much maintainance at this cemetary, so the description includes the request to pack out some trash. See the images.

[Luckless]

I suppose if you owned a plot and wanted to place a cache on it before you moved in to occupy the place, well, technically you own that piece of land, although you might want to check with the cemetery organization.

 

Here lies ______ He cached to the bitter end.

[+captnemo]

 

I personally think cemeteries are a waste of good land (but an interesting source of history) and I personally plan to be cremated and scattered in a favorite spot, so I haven't the foggiest idear what one costs on the low end.

 

Better yet I'm going to have my ashes made into a travel bug so I can keep visiting caches

[+Simon Mates]

I've got a plot already, but I can't put a cache on it because there's one only 300 feet from my headstone. And remember folks, you're not supposed to bury a cache.

[+narcissa]

I think it depends entirely on the cemetery. Around here I notice a lot of cemeteries have very strict rules about flowers - flowers must be artificial between November and March, but must be real between April and October... but then some cemeteries don't seem to care at all.

 

After visiting so many cemeteries as a geocacher, I certainly know what to ask about if/when I'm shopping for a plot. I'd certainly want my descendents to feel comfortable having picnics and cheerful conversations around my grave without somebody else imposing their own ideas about solemnity and sanctity.

 

I get the sense that the whole death industry is leaning toward personalization, so I wouldn't be surprised if there are already cemeteries where anything goes and a geocache on a plot would be completely welcome.

[+Snoogans]

I get the sense that the whole death industry is leaning toward personalization, so I wouldn't be surprised if there are already cemeteries where anything goes and a geocache on a plot would be completely welcome.

 

Sooo, we're leaning toward the purchase of an iPlot then?

 

 

Oh geeze, I crack myself up sometimes.... .... DIBS ON THE TRADEMARK!

[+Ecylram]

Not my thing so I don't particularly like the idea, but...It's not unheard of.

 

A few years back Penn & Teller bought a grave site in Forest Lawn Cemetery for a card trick they used in their show and a book.

 

Here's a picture of the headstone.

 

And then there was this.

[+cw1710]

I think its a great idea! After you finally kick the bucket, you can have a TB tag affixed into your headstone the way that pictures are, for everyone to discover. Or, it could be the first stage of a multi with the coordinates to the next or final stage engraved somewhere on it. (Though it would need to be somewhere a cache could be permanent as you couldnt very easily edit that one)

[+debandrobin]

MrsSQ works at a local church that has a cemetery. The plots are $1k each and they are VERY strict on what you can do with them. No large headstones, no trinkets, no plantings. Dunno what the thinking is behind all that.

 

Ease of care. It's easier to mow a flat surface than to mow and weedeat around lots of markers, plantings, etc.

[+ngrrfan]

Dunno what the thinking is behind all that.

 

Uniformity

And ease of maintenance.

[+LaffNCranes]

I don't think that I'd like for my final resting place to be guided by rules for someone else's convenience. Or for it to reduce my individuality to the 'uniformity' of everyone else buried there. While I'm geocaching at cemeteries, I'll be scoping them out to find the one that has the right attitude and feels like a place I'd like to be laid to rest. I see nothing wrong with picnics and laughter in a cemetery - that feels much more celebratory of the lives of those who are there than the solemnity of a very strict and 'uniform' cemetery. Just my humble opinion, for what it's worth...

[+Snoogans]

 

I personally think cemeteries are a waste of good land (but an interesting source of history) and I personally plan to be cremated and scattered in a favorite spot, so I haven't the foggiest idear what one costs on the low end.

 

Better yet I'm going to have my ashes made into a travel bug so I can keep visiting caches

 

I thought about that. My wife said she'd have nothing to do with it.

[Luckless]

I don't think that I'd like for my final resting place to be guided by rules for someone else's convenience. Or for it to reduce my individuality to the 'uniformity' of everyone else buried there. While I'm geocaching at cemeteries, I'll be scoping them out to find the one that has the right attitude and feels like a place I'd like to be laid to rest. I see nothing wrong with picnics and laughter in a cemetery - that feels much more celebratory of the lives of those who are there than the solemnity of a very strict and 'uniform' cemetery. Just my humble opinion, for what it's worth...

 

I go caching with the local queen of the cemetery hiders/finders so I've been to numerous ones. She loves the history she finds in some of the cemeteries. I would think picnics and laughter would be all right in a cemetery- within reason, but you do want to be respectful of others. I was in a cemetery once looking for a cache and there was a man there by a grave. I could see that he was clearly distraught and feeling grief over the loss of the person whose grave he was visiting. I felt a little like an interloper intruding upon his solemn moment and hurried by as quickly as I could.

[+Castle Mischief]

 

I personally think cemeteries are a waste of good land (but an interesting source of history) and I personally plan to be cremated and scattered in a favorite spot, so I haven't the foggiest idear what one costs on the low end.

 

Better yet I'm going to have my ashes made into a travel bug so I can keep visiting caches

 

I actually found and moved on just such a travel bug recently. The remains weren't human, however.

[+Too Tall John]

A post on fb this morning got me thinking....

 

How much do cemetery plots cost on the low end average and if someone bought one could they use it as a cache site until they got planted there or even beyond that point....???

I would imagine price and restrictions would vary greatly depending on the cemetery.

I personally think cemeteries are a waste of good land (but an interesting source of history) and I personally plan to be cremated and scattered in a favorite spot, so I haven't the foggiest idear what one costs on the low end.

You might consider a Green Burial. There is an ever-expanding number of places that do this. It is much more park-like, with only natural materials used in both the burial and markers. It is "green" because you aren't filling holes with the tons of wood, metal and concrete that go into burying a person in the standard practices of today, not to mention all the embalming fluid that goes into it. Some places don't even have markers, they just give you a set of coordinates if you want to visit someone (which seems to lend itself to geocaching!) Working at a camp, I know of several in the region that are considering offering green burial plots in their wilderness areas. It is also a greener than cremation, which releases all kinds of nasty pollutants into our air including nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, mercury, hydrofluoric acid, & hydrochloric acid. Our former director grew up in a funeral home, she's dead-set against cremation based solely on that impact.

What do YOU think?

 

Too expensive for the average cacher?

 

But maybe not the above average cacher? (One word: Necropolis)

 

Against common terms of plot ownership?

 

Poor taste?

 

Discuss.....

Expensive? Maybe, depends on the plot. Too expensive? Not if you're planning on buying one anyways. The terms of ownership will vary, not only state to state, but individual cemeterys will each have a different set of rules.

 

Poor taste? Well that's subjective. I wouldn't have a problem with having a cache hidden in a plot/marker of mine, but I think my wife might think differently. . .

Edited November 2, 2010 by Too Tall John

[+EscapeFromFlatland]

Just don't buy a plot in the Portland area. Some guy was walking through one of the cemeteries and found someone else had been buried in the plot he had bought.

Somewhere around 1500 plots have been discovered to have been sold more than once.

[+chartmaker]

One of the best caches I have come across involving a geocache was located near Romulus, Michigan. The deceased was an active and well liked geocacher. A friend of his who was also a geocacher obtained the deceased wife's permission to add a geocache to the tombstone. On the side of the tombstone is a spot to inset a 35mm micro film cannister. There is no need to walk on the plot or to touch the tombstone to retrieve the cache and sign the log. In order to permit the establishment of this geocache another geocache previously located in the cemetery was archived by a third active geocacher. Upon discovering this geocache, which as I say is very well done for the aspects of respectfulness, I truly felt a special moment while signing and after signing the log. Lots of respect for the individual has been shown via this cache and for his well loved geocaching hobby by his wife and his fellow friendly geocachers. This shall always be a special find for me though I've done many other cemetery caches along the way. This find will always be a special geocaching memory.

[+johnsingleton1974]

Course you could just start your own cemetery,

on land you already own,

thereby protecting it from being urbanized in the future,

making money in the time being,

receiving fresh flowers on a regular basis,

and place your geocache anywhere you'de like on the land.

be it a fake headstone, or full sized Dracula coffin in a mausoleum.

 

Now that I think about it, I think I will do that.

 

All I would have to do is mow the lawn once in a while, and dig holes.

Not bad for a days work.

[+Bergie Bunch]

It's incredibly poor taste and selfish. It might not matter to you but a cemetery is a sacred place to many other people.

That is purely a matter of personal opinion.

 

 

And it is a place of joyous remembrance to others even to the point of holding picnics and other family gatherings at the grave site. So who's right?

 

Seems to me that if you bought the plot and what you want to do conforms to the restrictions of the cemetery with respect for, and without infringing upon, the rights of others, cache on.

My family owned a large orchard, several square miles, and on the orchard is a cemetery where many of my ancestors are buried. Growing up I can not begin to tell you how many picnics we had there, it was and still is a beautiful location. As I grew older know how secluded the area was, it was a great lovers lane for several folks who knew it was there. We could drive to it, walk or go by horse back. You might be surprised at what you can catch people doing in a cemetery when they think they are alone in the place.

[+Bergie Bunch]

It's incredibly poor taste and selfish. It might not matter to you but a cemetery is a sacred place to many other people.

That is purely a matter of personal opinion.

 

 

And it is a place of joyous remembrance to others even to the point of holding picnics and other family gatherings at the grave site. So who's right?

 

Seems to me that if you bought the plot and what you want to do conforms to the restrictions of the cemetery with respect for, and without infringing upon, the rights of others, cache on.

My family owned a large orchard, several square miles, and on the orchard is a cemetery where many of my ancestors are buried. Growing up I can not begin to tell you how many picnics we had there, it was and still is a beautiful location. As I grew older know how secluded the area was, it was a great lovers lane for several folks who knew it was there. We could drive to it, walk or go by horse back. You might be surprised at what you can catch people doing in a cemetery when they think they are alone in the place.

[+Sol seaker]

Cute idea, but violates the guidelines about not burying a cache.

 

Unless you're planning for the casket to be sitting on top of the ground.

 

Even partially buried won't work.

 

Perhaps you can buy one of those urns and get it to open. It would just be awful if the wife of the guy in the one next to yours showed up when someone was searching all the urns for yours. So much for sacred memories.

 

Yeah, it's making lamp posts seem better all the time. At least the only ones they offend is the cachers.

[+Castle Mischief]

You might consider a Green Burial. There is an ever-expanding number of places that do this. It is much more park-like, with only natural materials used in both the burial and markers. It is "green" because you aren't filling holes with the tons of wood, metal and concrete that go into burying a person in the standard practices of today, not to mention all the embalming fluid that goes into it. Some places don't even have markers, they just give you a set of coordinates if you want to visit someone (which seems to lend itself to geocaching!) Working at a camp, I know of several in the region that are considering offering green burial plots in their wilderness areas. It is also a greener than cremation, which releases all kinds of nasty pollutants into our air including nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, mercury, hydrofluoric acid, & hydrochloric acid. Our former director grew up in a funeral home, she's dead-set against cremation based solely on that impact.

 

I was looking into this at one time in either North or South Carolina. Small mom and pop company and a reasonable price. Then a big cemetery conglomerate bought them out and the price more than quadrupled.

 

In some states and counties it is perfectly legal to bury on your own land with minimal restrictions in regards to chemical preservatives and casket construction, etc. We're looking into this now.

[+sojourners7]

Your idea is dead on!

[+sojourners7]

Your idea is dead on!

 

I just couldn't resist!

 

I have always wondered why undertakers never placed the coffins in the ground vertically? It seems to me you could bury a lot more deceased this way and therefore sell several more plots. Granted, it would be a bit more challenging to walk around each plot, but this method would take up less land.

 

I'm taking dibs on this trademark or patent.

[+Castle Mischief]

I have always wondered why undertakers never placed the coffins in the ground vertically? It seems to me you could bury a lot more deceased this way and therefore sell several more plots. Granted, it would be a bit more challenging to walk around each plot, but this method would take up less land.

 

I'm taking dibs on this trademark or patent.

 

For the simple reason that it's easier to dig and easier to keep the corpse laying down and the lid shut. If you ever tried it the other way you'd quickly understand.

Edited December 13, 2010 by Castle Mischief

[+edscott]

There's one nearby that is in one of those cemeteries with the flat metal plaque and the vase that can be removed and stood up for flowers.... You can remove the vase and sign the log.... It was a bit creepy to be messing about a with plaque destined to mark the spot of a fellow cacher, but hey.. it is his property and none of the neighbors complained.

Edited December 13, 2010 by edscott

[+Snoogans]

There's one nearby that is in one of those cemeteries with the flat metal plaque and the vase that can be removed and stood up for flowers.... You can remove the vase and sign the log.... It was a bit creepy to be messing about a with plaque destined to mark the spot of a fellow cacher, but hey.. it is his property and none of the neighbors complained.

 

GC# please?

 

I might be in PA for GW IX and I'd like to do that one.

[+Buggheart]

I kind of like the idea. It's like tending to your own grave in a way. Kind of creepy but kind of cook at the same time.

[+Viajero Perdido]

The plots are $1k each and they are VERY strict on what you can do with them. No large headstones, no trinkets, no plantings. Dunno what the thinking is behind all that.

I was on the way to a cemetery cache, back in the bush behind the outhouse, and discovered what becomes of all those non-standard wreaths and solar-powered lights and whatnot. They're just unceremoniously dumped behind the outhouse.

[+RobDJr]

If someone is going to go to as far as buying a plot, why not go whole hog and get a custom built gravestone with a built in compartment to hold an ammo can?

[+EscapeFromFlatland]

If someone is going to go to as far as buying a plot, why not go whole hog and get a custom built gravestone with a built in compartment to hold an ammo can?

 

Tilt the vase on the gravestone to open up the secret compartment- the casket/cache rises up out of the ground.

[+EscapeFromFlatland]

Edited December 14, 2010 by bramasoleiowa

[b_storch]

Might be bad luck