klik to explore ...

No, it's not the best beer in the world. But it does have one thing that sets it up a bit higher than its real competition: it's a pilsner-style lager, which means it's got a more floral and hoppy aroma and taste than, say, Bud, which tastes like stale bread.

Okay - it's got two things: it's not owned by InBev, which threatened to use hostile takeover tactics if Anheuser-Busch didn't accept their offer.

Bad thing is, it comes in green bottles. But that fits the brand. So I buy it (yes, I buy it!) in 12-packs, which let very little light in.

Good thing is, people like it. As independent studies have shown, most beer drinkers will grab a Heineken before anything else when presented with a cooler stocked with a variety of ice-chilled beers, so it serves very well as as a "buffer" between the unitiated and the beer that I don't want them drinking... the stuff that Heineken is scared of.

Bad thing is, the label is not overflowing with world-class artwork, which makes it hard to justify creating a letterbox for it.

Good thing is, I don't feel pressured to create a world-class (read: Blue Diamond) letterbox! It was an an easy carve -- always good when you're rushing like heck to get it finished and you're carving on substandard materials in fading sunlight!

Bonus good thing: because little effort was expended, I had no troubling placing the box just off a Gulf beach down in Florida...

... where it appears that the box has been damaged, though not necessarily due to muggles or mishandling. I believe the container was damaged well beforehand, but when the container was painted the fractures in the plastic at a critical hinge point were hidden. And so the hinge broke. Phooey.

The stuff is still there, I believe. It's sheltered and hidden out-of-the-way. To find the box, copy the text below the photo and paste it into your clue compilation document (such as the Notes field on the AQ clue page). You do not need to copy the photo.

Somewhere on the paths and boardwalks extending the length of Delnor-Wiggins SP is the tree in the photo. Once you find the tree, get onto the lowest limb closest to the path. Walk "down" this trunk and climb onto the biggest, central trunk. Walk "up" the tree to a third, long limb that extends toward the beach. Go out onto this limb, just past the broken branch on the center trunk. A fourth limb, the smallest so far, reaches to the ground from the underside of the center trunk. Get down on this limb, facing the path, and look to your left, into the center trunk. Behind two pieces of bark is the black-painted box.

This stamp ain't the greatest, having been carved from a Dollar Tree eraser... on the fly... in fading daylight. But it's not bad, considering. Note that you DO NOT need to mash this stamp into the paper to get the impression to transfer. In fact, doing so may result in a blurred stamping.

Please be stealthy and inconspicuous. Most people won't give a hoot that you're climbing the tree, and the hiding spot cannot be seen without climbing the tree. Please be sure to firmly wedge the box back into the cavity in the trunk.