Trickery. Lies. Deceit. — That’s how the day started.
You asked for it, so here is the full story.
Tuesday, 4 August 2009, 2:51pm: Jasmine and Derrick’s friend Brian emails them, along with his roommate Nico, with the following message:
So, a former Boeing colleague of mine and good friend has been doing this scavenger hunt thing around DC for several years now, he always tells me about it afterwards and we always talk smack about who could put together a winning team, blah, blah, blah! So this year, I’m bring the smack talk to real life and I signed up for it. The team has to have 1-2 girls and 2-3 dudes, and we will traipse around the city (especially downtown near your office Jazzy and your house Derrick so I kinda need you guys, Allan, Smash, etc all live and work in the burbs). Obviously I want to beat the crappers out of the Boeing Team, let’s go Team ATK, whoo-hoo!!
Sadly Deena is out of town and since we can use cars, I think I’d prefer to keep it at 4 peeps. So you all are the chosen ones
Anyhoo, please let me know asap, its on August 15 from 3:30 to 6. If you want to check it out, the site for the scavenger hunt is www.seekdc.com.
My buddy has really made it sound awesome, so hopefully you guys can join me, and supposedly there is no running or major physical challenges for the females, so Jazzy, no worries about your knee. Then at the end everyone meets up at a bar for a free happy to see who all were the winners.
More details to come, I just have to get names on the roster ASAP
Jasmine, the Amazing Race lover that she is, replies just eight minutes later:
sounds good to me…. i was just going to have a garage sale that day, but am happy to do it on Sunday!
After a few emails and friendly barbing, we were on for a Scavenger Hunt on 15 August at 3:30pm.
Later that day, Jasmine comments to Derrick how much fun she thinks it will be and starts working out what strategy our team should take for the scavenger hunt. Jasmine even thinks about positioning cars through out the city so that we can be as mobile as possible.
Friday, 14 August 2009, ~8:00pm: We have dinner at our friends Mark and Kari’s home. Jasmine jokingly recalls a comment from roommate Brett on who will get married first — Brian and Deena, Ashley and Dylan (other friends), or her and Derrick. Everyone quickly moves on to a new topic.
Saturday, 15 August 2009, 12:29pm: With the Seek DC! Scavenger Hunt just three hours away, the team receives a clue that leads them to decide to meet at the Washington Monument at the start of the hunt.
Saturday, 15 August 2009, 3:30pm: The Seek DC! Scavenger Hunt is officially on! The team receives an email from Seek DC!:
Hello Seek DC! Scavenger Hunters! Let the hunt begin. Each photo must have at least one team member in the photo to count. Don’t forget to send your photos to your team’s special email address:
- 1pt – Find your starting point
- 1pt – Find a Washington Nationals logo
- 1pt – Find a car with a racing stripe
- 1pt – A picture of the Beatles
- 1pt – Pose for a picture with President Obama
- 1pt – Hold up the Washington Monument
- 1pt – You can take this plane around the world on a single tank of gas
- 1pt – Find this renowned shiny rock
- 1pt – Find the fourth line of Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address
- 1pt – Find a wooden baseball bat
- 1pt – A ticket stub from the Spy Museum
- 1pt – A presidential portrait
- 1pt – A shop that starts with the letter Q
- 1pt – A foreign candy bar
- 1pt – Find a cherry blossom tree
- 1pt – Take a picture with a DC police officer (1pt bonus if the officer smiles)
- 1pt – Take a picture with a DC Fire Fighter (1pt bonus if the fire fighter smiles)
- 1pt – Five matchbooks from five different restaurants
- 1pt – Metro Farecard with less than a dollar left
- 1pt – Team picture where Lincoln was shot
- 1pt – Menu with
- 1pt – Find the Dark Side of the Moon
- 1pt – Find someone named William
- 1pt – A Michael Jackson Tribute shirt
- 1pt – Fallout Shelter Sticker
- 1pt – A man in a bowtie
- 1pt – A blue moon
- 1pt – A can of Spam
- 1pt – A seashell
- 1pt – An eeyore (1pt bonus if tigger is in the picture as well)
- 1pt – Picture of something spicy
- 1pt – Find a White Castle hamburger
- 1pt – A newspaper from yesterday
- 1pt – A pre-Windows or Mac computer
- 1pt – A flight suit
- 1pt – Find a picture of golden sidewalks
- 1pt – People playing soccer
- 1pt – A lotto ticket
- 1pt – A slice of pizza
- 1pt – A fermented apple drink
- 1pt – Ice cream sample spoon
- 1pt – A bobblehead
- 1pt – Take a picture with a Monet
- 1pt – Picture with a Ryan Gosling movie
- 1pt – Something from the McDonald’s Value menu
- 1pt – A high school yearbook
- 1pt – An inscription of a team member’s home state (upto 4 states max)
- 1pt – A ticket stub for a movie
- 1pt – A dinosaur larger than you
- 1pt – A Christmas Tree
- 1pt – A picture in front of a fountain
- 1pt – Take a ride with Dumbo
- 1pt – A teammate doing a split
- 1pt – A photo with Mercury
- 1pt – Something Star Wars related
- 1pt – The Swedish Chef
- 2pts – Do a team YMCA on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial
- 2pts – An Alaska driver’s license
- 2pts – Three non-team member girls doing the Charlie Angels pose
- 2pts – A german sounding ice cream treat
- 2pts – Take a picture at the Lincoln with a Penny
- 2pts – Recreate a scene from Romeo and Juliet
- 2pts – Recreate the Abbey Road cover album
- 2pts- Find someone dressed as a hippie
- 2pts – Find someone wearing a band t-shirt
- 2pts – A Delaware driver’s license
- 2pts – Find someone with a pink hat
- 2pts – Get cozy with the father of relativity
- 2pts – Find a Coney
- 2pts – Find someone with a beard over three inches long
- 2pts – Where you might go to spoof politicians
- 2pts – Pose with a dime at the FDR
- 2pts – A picture from a rooftop deck
- 2pts – A picture with a priest
- 2pts – A picture with a Marine in uniform
- 3pts – Take a picture with the writer of the Declaration of Independence (3pt bonus if there’s a $2bill in the picture)
- 3pts – Pose with a chihuahua
- 3pts – Get total strangers to spell out a team member’s name (upto 4 teammates, 12pts max)
- 3pts – What does Farragut say on Pennsylvania Avenue?
- 3pts – Tapping these famous shoes together will help you get home
- 3pts – Pose for a picture with Pluto
- 3pts – Someone inside of a kayak
- 3pts – Where you might go to see an artsy film in DC5pts – Recreate the Marine Memorial
- 5pts – Take a picture of Sasha and Malia’s Swingset (no team member needed in this one)
- 5pts – Two teammates on a bridge
- 5pts – Picture of the whole team inside of paddle boats
- 5pts – Take a picture with this famous Rough Rider
- 5pts – Team photo with everyone inside a phone booth
- 5pts – Build a human pyramid of at least six people (1pt bonus for each person past six)
- 5pts – Picture with identical twins
- 5pts – Find someone in a tuxedo
- 10pts – Take a picture from this Civil War General’s House
- 10pts – Fine someone with that is ‘sleeved’. (ie arms covered in tattoos)
- 10pts – Find someone with a tramp-stamp–cannot be a team member
- 10pts – Get a total stranger to buy you a drink
- 10pts – Find a cherry blossom bloom
- 25pts – Take a team picture in the exact middle of the district
- 25pts – Take a picture with a Member of Congress (no cutouts, no pictures. The person must really be there)
- 25pts – Get a manicure and pedicure
- 50pts – Talk a park ranger into allowing your team to go to the top of the Washington Monument w/out tickets.
- 100pts – Take a picture from inside the West Wing (no breaking the law!)
Let the Hunt Begin!
Jasmine, Derrick, Nico, and Brian all begin looking for people on the Washington Monument grounds. Brian heads to the Washington Monument and talks to a National Park Ranger about getting our team up the Washington Monument. After noticing that the Ranger’s name is Jasmine, Brian gets permission for Jasmine and Nico to ride to the top of the Washington Monument without tickets. (Next to impossible in August tourist season.)
Over the next two-and-half hours, Jasmine would ask just about every stranger she saw if they were from Alaska or Delaware, take pictures of random strangers, and try to figure out how to get the remaining big ticket items on the list. Willing to take one for the team, Jasmine offers to get the manicure and pedicure and score the team a cool 25 points.
Saturday, 15 August 2009, 6:00pm: The Seek DC! Scavenger Hunt is officially over, as another email is received by the team indicating that it is over. The team is instructed to get changed- the awards ceremony will begin at 7:30pm sharp at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Party Suite 769.
Saturday, 15 August 2009, 7:40pm: Jasmine and Derrick arrive at the J.W. Marriott. Jasmine notices on the events board the awards ceremony is not mentioned, leading to a slight bit of confusion. Upon arriving on the seventh floor of the hotel, Jasmine wonders where the other scavenger hunt participates are. Derrick comments that the email did say 7:30pm sharp.
Saturday, 15 August 2009, 7:42pm: Jasmine and Derrick walk into 769. Jasmine is confused, as there is no one else in the room, but only a trail of pink rose petals and candles leading to the balcony. Completely confused, they head out to the patio to see what is going on out there. Jasmine makes sure to not step on any rose petals on the way out.
Saturday, 15 August 2009, 7:43pm: Jasmine and Derrick emerge onto the patio, and Jasmine notices a path of flowers and candles leading to the end of the patio deck. At which point, Jasmine turns around to discover Derrick on one knee with a very important question to ask. Now, Jasmine has figured out what is going. She says “Of Course” to Derrick’s proposal. Yeah!
Saturday, 15 August 2009, 7:45pm: Derrick heads inside the suite to get one more surprise for Jasmine. He emerges with two champagne glasses and a bottle of champagne. They enjoy a glass of champagne for the next few minutes.
Saturday, 15 August 2009, 7:50pm: Jasmine notices her friend, Naomi, peaking through the curtains from inside the suite. Then, about twenty of Jasmine and Derrick’s friends from DC pour out of the suite onto the patio and offer their congratulations. Jasmine is best described as shell-shocked.
Saturday, 15 August 2009, 7:55pm–???: The happy couple celebrates with everyone for the rest of the night as Jasmine is brought up to speed as what really happened that day as well as the previous two weeks. Jasmine and Derrick are both very happy.
Pictures from the Scavenger Hunt and the celebration can be seen here.
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