If X marks the spot… then what is a soda machine?

You wouldn’t be the first geocacher to ask questions about this sailor’s hideout! Open a delicious can of Cache-Cola and listen to us tell the story of Captain Haxton’s Treasure (GCAEZD2)!

This story begins in the back alley of a suburban neighborhood. An unlikely place to stash pirate treasure, sure, but sometimes the best places are the ones no one thought to look at.

Upon arrival, the geocacher notices a dead soda machine; This wasn’t just an odd location for a machine like this, but there was something different about this one…

We’ve all been disappointed by a broken soda machine, especially when we want to enjoy a thirst-quenching drink after a long geocache hunt.

However, this disappointment turned into joy, because this machine satisfies a thirst like no other: the thirst for geocaches.

Cache owner LeviCol was inspired to create this geocache for the local gadget cache competition, Caching and Campfire at Wapello Lake:

“I live in a city that doesn’t have much geocaching traffic because I’m far from a big city. I have to act big to make it worth the time for people to come visit me. I need it to be able to give out more great prizes, and I want it to be secure so it can be tracked to be a trackable hotel. That’s when late night browsing online led me to a fun listing: an old soda machine! After making an impulse purchase, I called a friend and rented a truck to transport this machine home.”

-LeviCol

With that, Captain Haxton’s Treasure was born. As part of a team known as “The Curio Cabineteers,” a duo that combines antique shopping with their geocaching trips, it’s only fitting that this machine comes from the same source.

The cache took three men to move it into place, a full day to remove the mechanisms inside, and countless hours of work to turn it into a treasure worthy of a pirate like Captain Haxton.

Not only is it Captain worthy, but it also earns the cache owner first place!

For all this work, finding the cache should be worth the challenge! Geocachers must decode some of the captain’s clues in the cache page to reach the treasure within.

What a treasure! As the door opened, one could see several treasure chests sitting atop piles of gold coins and sparkling gems.

This bounty is a sight to behold. As practicing pirate DinkinFlicka392 said, “OMG! Legendary! I declare this the best geocache ever!” With 30 Favorite points in just over a year, the caching community seems to agree.

A log like this is the best gift for a dedicated cache owner. We think LeviCol speaks for most hiders when he says, “No matter how hard a day I’ve had, opening my email to see the finds in this cache makes me smile.”

One thing we learned from this cache is that geocaching allows you to see something new every day. We never thought we’d see a pirate-themed adventure inside a soda machine, but we’re glad we did.

Captain Haxton’s Treasure continues to delight geocaching adventurers from everywhere. Now, there are even real treasures to be found inside!

“I created this coin to get a super unique treasure that you can only get from this one pirate captain’s stash! I love finding unique treasures in caches and wanted to create something memorable so people would remember the cache.”

-LeviCol

Treasure or no treasure, we don’t think anyone will forget this find.

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