K 276

I was excited about this bench mark from the day we began planning our trip because it is supposedly located along Treasure Harbor Drive, as is the Ragged Edge Resort, our lodging destination for the first three nights of our trip. I also thought the anchor and museum building sounded interesting, even though the NGS datasheet indicates that as of 1990 the building was no longer a museum. What could it be?

When we first approached the building on Monday, I could hardly believe it. It's in the style of a gaudy 1950s roadside attraction, with castle turrets, a moat, overgrown gardens, and colorful adornments. It is no longer a museum, as noted on the datasheet—it's now a Montessori school called "Treasure Village Montessori Charter School."

It took us until this morning (Wednesday) to look for this mark, since it wasn't visible from the road as we had initially thought it would be. When we pulled into the parking lot, teachers were just beginning to arrive for the school day. One teacher carrying a stack of papers had a pleasant appearance, so I approached her and asked about the anchor. She knew nothing about the bench mark, but of course knew about the anchor, which was set on a monument near the entrance to the school. Only the monument remains; the teacher told us that she's pretty sure the anchor is at the new Theatre of the Sea Museum. She led us to the monument and encouraged us to take as many photographs as necessary.

The disk is in good condition, set in a concrete monument on the grounds of the Treasure Village Montessori Charter School.