Scavenger Hunt

On a chilly, damp Sunday morning three brave souls set out to explore Central Park and uncover thirty-some-odd treasures. It soon became clear that while our warriors have lived and run in the area for at least twenty-something years combined, they were not the most observant bunch. They have been so dedicated on running and becoming better runners that they have missed the significance of the some of the statues in the park. (Actually, they never realized there were that many statues in the park, but let’s not split hairs.)

They began strong, quickly finding the carousel (audio tour by Kelly Rippa), Sir Walter Scott, Robert Burns and Cleopatra’s Needle. Here I would like to point out that we purposely lined up our shot to include the wheelchair(?) racer in the background—we like to support our fellow runners. (We also thought it would be safer than photoboming the race.)

 

As one explorer was climbing down off the Sir Walter Scott statue, she noticed a woman off to the side patiently waiting to take a photo of the statue. To explain she said "The things we do for a scavenger hunt!". With the ice broken, the woman asked about the hunt and the warriors explained that they are training for the marathon and run on behalf of the Association. She was happy to hear this and explained that she did a Memory Walk the day before. Small world.

As time went on and the clues either became harder (Jeanine who?) or they knew the who or what, but not the where (Hans Christen Andersen), they began the age old custom of when in doubt take a photo! For a couple of items this actually worked! However, there were a few other images that made it into the montage that had absolutely nothing to do with any clue (The Falconer, anyone?).

You will also notice several bridge images. Bow Bridge did not readily come to mind, so they got inventive. While running to the fountain, our explorers noticed paintings of Hindu Gods under the bridge. Since Legolas is a character from Lord of the Rings, we thought lords/gods—semantics! They also came across a bridge in the Bramble that looked like it could fit right into the movies, so bridge picture number two. They also took that moment to snap an image or two of the surrounding area. Look Ali they ran trails!

It was then they discovered Bow Bridge and made the correct connection. Check out the Vanna White action by the sign! Not only did they get the sign, but they also got the bridge. I think it should also be noted that one of our brave souls (who has no sense of direction) not only went into the Bramble, but actually came out without getting lost—of course that was due to her teammates!

At the statue of the Polish King, our runners decided it was a good time to pose and check to see if their deodorant was working. Multi-taskers! They also decided it was time to earn some extra points (cough-brown-nosers-cough) by photographing a water tower for Coach Brian!

When all was said and done, it was evident that while our members may not have found all (or most) of the items, they did have fun! They discovered where each other lives, their running histories and even traded stories on why they run for the Association. There was also some riveting conversation that included a discussion which posed the question are Sweedish people also considered Danes? (This what happens when you try to make random things fit the clues.) Could Jeanine remember her parents by a memorial bench? And if so, do we need the actual bench? Or can we just take a photo of any bench? (Will Ali really check?)

So I think we can consider the adventure a win.