405. Clemency

405. Clemency
Definition: (n) mercy, lenience
Location Placed: Jackson Post Office, Jackson, New Jersey
Date Placed: 6/4/12 at 3:24pm





Since the weather was not conducive to any outdoor placements like I had hoped, I decided to pop into the post office for some stamps and place a crane. Can I just say how adorable some of these stamps are? I picked up a book of the new Pixar stamps and I love them! I picked up a set of the previous Pixar stamps a while ago but these are so much cuter. I love sending paper letters so it's nice to have fun stamps to go along with them. I mean, who wouldn't want to be greeted by a letter in the post with Sully, Nemo, or Woody on it?!

404. Fidelity

404. Fidelity
Definition: (n) faithfulness to a person, belief, or cause
Location Placed: The UPS Store, Jackson, New Jersey
Date Placed: 6/4/12 at 3:20pm
Status: Found!





There is something about the word fidelity that I just love. And not because it is an investment company (although that was a very good choice of company name based on the definition!) I don't often hear fidelity used very often so I tend to appreciate it when it is. Perhaps it's the way that I say it, but it has a lot of meaning behind it and it carries weight to me. Do you have a word that you just love or appreciate?

EDIT:// This crane was found on 6/4 by Tom, a UPS store employee. In his email, Tom said, "I found it while I was cleaning and was surprised to see your website and what you are trying to do. It was also funny because we were wondering where it came from. Thank you for all that you do."

403. Genteel

403. Genteel
Definition: (adj) polite, refined, respectable
Location Placed: Jackson Public Library, Jackson, New Jersey
Date Placed: 6/4/12 at 3:04pm





On my day off from work, I decided to have lunch with my grandparents. Since I was down that way, I figured I'd check out the Jackson library as I hadn't been before. It's quite bright and cheerful. Not to mention they're around the corner from a really super looking park for kids. I almost wanted to stop and play on it, but I didn't want to frighten the children already there!

402. Sublime

402. Sublime
Definition: (adj) Of such excellence, grandeur, or beauty as to inspire great admiration or awe
Location Placed: Longstreet Farms, Holmdel, New Jersey
Date Placed: 6/2/12 at 2:59pm





I'm really starting to enjoy this living like I'm a tourist thing I've got going on. I'm trying to see all the different and unique sights that I've not managed to see over the years I've been living in this county. I decided to pop over to Longstreet Farms as it's just down the street from the NJ Vietnam Vet Memorial. And what a cute little working farm it was! They had a lovely old house owned by the Longstreet family starting in the 1700's, which the family had lived in well into the 1970's! They had all sorts of old buildings and farm machinery as well as tons of little (and some large!) animals. They have different sorts of presentations on weekends and even have a segment where you can help them milk the cows. Definitely different. But it was a lot of fun to see how a farm from back then functioned and be able to tour around it today.

401. Softly

401. Softly
Definition: (adv) in a quiet voice or with a gentle manner
Location Placed: New Jersey Vietnam Veteran's Memorial, Holmdel, New Jersey
Date Placed: 6/2/12 at 2:39pm





Despite the number of times I had been at the PNC Bank Arts Center next door for concerts and graduations, I had never made it over to the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I'm glad I made a trip out there to visit it today. It has to be one of the most impressively symbolic memorials I've had the pleasure of visiting. As per my Vietnam Vet tour guide, every little detail was a symbol of something. From the placement of the trees (the spacing of soldiers in the jungles), to the ground plants on the different levels (one grown red berries symbolizing the bloodshed, the other symbolizing the dense jungle top), to the statue in the middle (3 people of different races helping and protecting one another.) It was really impressive and emotional. The museum next door, in addition to giving a lot of history and scale dioramas, had actual letters that were sent by soldiers to their families and loved ones, and letters to the soldiers. The most heart-breaking was the letter from a mother to her son saying he was going to be a first time father, followed by a letter to her that signified that he had passed away. It was a very touching place. And I very much so appreciated my veteran tour guide and the stories that he was able to tell us. The sort that the history books don't really get into. If you get a chance, definitely check it out.

A Crane Found and Replaced!

I got an email from Andrea at the Tampa Bay History Center saying that they found Crane 388, Dainty!

April 29th: "One of our staff members at the History Center found her a couple days ago and it just so happens that a few of our staff members are heading up to the American Association of Museums Annual Conference in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota tomorrow so we are sending her there! Thanks for visiting the Tampa Bay History Center Dainty, have a great flight"

Very exciting! I've never been to Minnesota. I'm get a little jealous that my crane it seeing places that I haven't before. But I was extremely pleased to get the following email from Manny who also works at the Tampa Bay History center.



May 2: "She's at the American Association of Museums Conference in Minneapolis. I took the picture at the Minneapolis Convention Center on May 2 and I left her there at the conference hospitality booth. We’ll see if someone picks her up."

Check out the point I put on the map to see Dainty's current placement! And thank you to the wonderful people at the Tampa Bay History Center for finding and replacing Dainty. Also, thank you fine folks for running a pretty interesting museum so that we could enjoy a lovely outing in downtown Tampa!

400. Outing

400. Outing
Definition: (n) a brief trip taken for pleasure
Location Placed: Starbucks, Largo, Florida
Date Placed: 4/28/12 at 8:20am





While my trip was more of a vacation than an outing, I thought it was a fitting last vacation crane to place. It definitely was a good trip where I got to see lots of fun things and go to places I hadn't visited  before. I got to spend time with my family and ate a bunch of yummy food. (I'm looking at you, Sweet Potato Beignets from Marlin Darlin!) That is what makes a good vacation to me. Food, outings, family, and great weather. What makes a good outing or vacation for you?

399. Enrich

399. Enrich
Definition: (v) improve or enhance the quality or value of
Location Placed: Gamble Plantation, Ellenton, Florida
Date Placed: 4/27/12 at 4:10pm





Sadly we reached the plantation too late to get an actual tour but the history behind the property was interesting. Gamble owned quite a bit of land in the area. I always enjoy poking around old houses and properties and definitely would've liked to have poked around a bit more.

398. Capable

398. Capable
Definition: (adj) competent; having the ability to achieve a specified thing
Location Placed: Ringling Art Museum, Sarasota, Florida
Date Placed: 4/27/12 at 3:00pm





I had no idea, but apparently the Ringling's had quite the fondness for acquiring art from many different areas and many different periods of time. It wasn't really like any other art gallery that I've seen before as it was sort of a mishmosh of different things. Some of them were interesting and good. Some of them, well... art is in the eye of the beholder. I appreciated being able to see all the different things that the Ringling's acquired.

397. Popular

397. Popular
Definition: (adj) liked, admired, or enjoyed by a great number of people
Location Placed: Ca' d'Zan, Sarasota, Florida
Date Placed: 4/27/12 at 1:39pm





After walking around Ca' d'Zan, John and Mable Ringling's mansion, I got an idea as to just how lucrative the traveling circus business was. The mansion was just gorgeous. Only the 1st floor was included with admission, but those common area rooms were good enough to give me an idea at just how awesome it all was. I overheard one guide say that the chandelier in the main living area was saved from the Astor House Hotel in New York City because he knew an important historical piece when he saw it. The coolest thing I noticed was that the panels in the glass windows were all different, lightly tinted with red, yellow, blue, and green. Very impressive all around.