Contest #484 – Lincoln Statue, Ashmore, Illinois, USA

Built in 1969 on commission from the nearby town of Charleston, Il. The town leaders took one look at the cartoonishly big head and relegated it to a campground near the local race track. The land it sits on has changed hands quite a few times, and the statue has had periods of serious neglect and attempts at renewal. Currently, the site is held for private use and the only way to see the statue is from the road.

Giant Lincoln in Ashmore, IL by Flickr user Schu

Look at those huge legs by Flickr user Schu

Those who spotted Mr. Lincoln while passing by included:

  • Gyorgy Horvath
  • Lighthouse
  • Eloy Cano
  • mehmet durmus
  • George, Esq
  • Phil Ower
  • Ashwini Agrawal

And after the hint:

  • Glenmorren
  • Ben S
  • Sanju
  • Jeather
  • Tim
  • Garfield

Contest #483: Evergrande Soccer Academy, Guangdong, China

The Evergrande Soccer Academy is the worlds largest with over 2500 students (2015) and has at least 47 soccer fields. Costs to date are close to $200 million USD, with coaches coming from Spain to help with the training.

The eventual goal is to bring the FIFA World Cup trophy to China, and to make sure everyone at the school knows what the goal is, there is a oversized 13 metre high statue of the FIFA trophy.



Found without needing extra time:

  • Garfield
  • Lighthouse
  • Gyorgy Horvath
  • Phil Ower
  • mehmet DURMUS
  • Glenmorren
  • George, Esq.

Taken to extra time, with a decision reached:

  • No-one

Contest #482: Sable Island, off Nova Scotia Canada

Roughly 190 miles (300 km) SE of Nova Scotia, Sable Island was long known as the graveyard of the North Atlantic. Over 350 ships have been lost in those waters, the first recorded being HMS Delight in 1583, the last being the steamer Manhasset in 1947. That being said some of the wreckage from the ill fated Andrea Gail, sunk during the perfect storm of 1991 washed up on the shore there.

Probably the most famous wreck is that of the Gloucester schooner Columbia that went down in 1927. In an eerie moment in 1928 the trawler Venosta dragged her up, masts still intact although clearly damaged. Venosta’s lines snapped, and Columbia returned to her watery grave.

Sable Island is the subject of extensive scientific research. A wide range of manual and automated instruments are used at the Station, including the Automated Weather Observing System operated by the Meteorological Service of Canada, an aerology program measuring conditions in the upper atmosphere using a radiosonde carried aloft by a hydrogen-filled weather balloon to altitudes beyond 40 km (25 mi), and a program collecting data on background levels of carbon dioxide, which began there in 1974.

Sable Island Station:

Resident horses:

Weather beaten boat:

Probably not on the official roster of wrecks, but clearly abandoned:

 

 
Those who found the site before the hint:

  • Eloy Cano
  • Gyorgy Horvath
  • Phil Ower
  • Lighthouse
  • Glenmorren
  • Lelie
  • Garfield
  • Jesus Rodriguez
  • George, Esq
  • Jeather
  • mehmet durmus
  • Tuxedo Jones

and after the hint:

  • Robin
  • Luís Filipe Miguel
  • landsend

Contest #482 Hint

Once known as the graveyard of her surrounding waters, now a site for assorted scientific investigations, including upper atmosphere studies involving radiosonde balloons. Oh, and there are horses.