My boy's girl had a birthday last week. The year prior he held a citywide scavenger hunt for her, and she loved it. This year he decided to do it again for her. The premise is simple: everyone meets up at a bar and forms teams, the teams simultaneously receive the list, everyone runs around for 2 hours trying to collect items form the list. The list of 29 (not 30, mind you) items is roughly broken up into 3 categories; “Riddles,” “Collected items,” and “Photos.”
The year prior, I had successfully avoided participating in the event, but this year I wasn't so lucky. The thing is, everyday life in NYC is a scavenger hunt. Don't believe me? Next time you're in the city, give yourself 2 hours to find a postage stamp, a pomegranate, and a police officer and see how you fare.
(Our list, and photos after the jump...)
The list, which I think is difficult, went something like this:
1. Where is the rainbow on the Bowery?
2. Find a waitress at R Bar that has tattoos and is from Arkansas and buy a shot from her and prove it by getting her name on a napkin.
3. A picture of one of the members on a mechanical bull (hint: go to Mason Dixon).
4. An acorn.
(Difficult, but not impossible...)
5. Xerox copy of a picture of “Britany” Spears.
6. One red Lego piece.
7. A one cent stamp.
8. Fortune cookie.
(Which proved to be my team's Achilles heal somehow...)
9. Kids menu from anywhere.
(A real sonofabitch to get...)
10. A picture of a man in a bra.
11. A bus schedule.
12. Picture of your group doing a human pyramid.
13. Picture of your group in front of a house with the address 123.
14. 3D glasses.
15. A musical gift card.
16. A coaster with a picture of a beer on it.
17. A picture of a group member with a K-Mart employee.
18. A set of stripper nipple tassles.
19. A 1980 coin of any “denomenation” (My man's girl's birth year).
20. A cocktail umbrella.
21. A hotel shower cap.
22. A policeman’s business card.
(Btw, there were absolutely no uniformed police in sight. Anywhere. One team found a cop who, to no one's surprise, was a complete dickhead when asked for his card. Apparently only detectives have give out business cards.)
23. A empty PBR can.
24. At Katz’s Deli, Johnny Depp met his FBI contact in Donnie Brasco, and Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal had an ecstatic meal in When Harry Met Sally…. If you sat where Meg sat, what does the restaurant hope?
Answer: “Hope you had what she had,” says a sign over the table.
25. Enter Cooper Union’s triangle to visit Tom Thumb’s inventor. What did his wife add to his dessert?
Answer: In front of Cooper Union a small triangular park features a statue of Peter Cooper, where you can learn that he invented Jell-O—but it was his wife’s idea to add fruit.
26. Visit a pub that boasts, “We were here before you were born.” What stirred the sawdust in 1970?
Answer: High heels, according to a headline in the window of McSorley’s, one of the city’s oldest bars — which didn’t admit women until 1970.
27. In Little Italy, Mobster Joey Gallo was rubbed out at a restaurant that’s no longer there. He was shot inside, then he staggered outside and died in the middle of Hester Street. (As they say, “He ordered clams and got slugs.”) What word has been almost rubbed out on this corner today? (Hint: Think cement shoes — or at least cement and shoes.)
Answer: Umberto’s, the name of the restaurant, was spelled out in the cement (under your shoes) at one corner. You can still see the ghostly, filled-in impression of the letters.
28. A picture of a group member eating a Grasshopper Taco from Galaxy Café.
(As in real Grasshoppers in a taco.)
29. A picture of a “Happy Birthday Jenny” “grafitti” message in a bar's bathroom.
The Hunt was so hype, two Swedish girls flew in to participate.
My man puts The Hunt together, but suspiciously stays at the bar all night, drinking. Meanwhile, everyone else runs around like rubbernecks.
The first 3 placed teams get super awesome prizes of unbelievable value trophies.
"Find the rainbow on Bowery..." (Gay)
Btw, fuck McSorley's. Historic? Maybe. But on par with B-Bar in terms of doucheyness.
(Gay)
There were some moderately funny moments, and it's somewhat uplifting to see how most people get excited and supportive when they find out you're on The Hunt. For example, I had to go to R Bar, which isn't really a bad spot, despite the velvet rope. I was explaining to the two huge black bouncers that I need to find the waitress with the tatoos when suddenly their eyes got really big, and they were, "You're on the scavenger hunt? Go, Go!!!" as they pulled back the rope to let me right in. The one dude even ran in with me and helped me find her. Wow.
In the end, my man's girl was super happy, and she's a sweetheart. So it was worth it. Thank you.
