This weekend marked the culmination of several weeks in planning. Well, actually, for happy couple, it was many years in the making, but for the part that the rest of us played, it was relatively short and involved. On Wednesday, July 2nd, Nick asked Carrie to marry him in one of the most interesting ways that I have been a part of: a strange scavenger hunt leading her all over Manistee County. I was personally excited, because ever since Amélie, my friends and I have had fun crafting several citywide (Chicago) hunts involving sets of mysterious clues.
It all began with a fake website for the 3rd Annual Arcadia Mystery History Hunt. I sent an e-mail around claiming that I had found an exciting Arcadia activity for us to participate in over the 4th of July weekend. Carrie, as Nick suspected, took the bait. She is a total geek and loves scavenger hunts. Over the following week, I sent out a few e-mails as a fake scavenger hunt organizer, enough to make it seem legit before our very first clue came in the mail.
“Four original schools of thought contemplate flight, furniture and old toys. Find your first clue “
This was the fun part for the rest of us, the game had begun. Nick had come up with a series of clues that Tom and I were to stealthily place around Arcadia and Frankfort in preparation for the big hunt. Even though we had to get up at the crack of dawn and tie ziplocked envelopes to precarious public landmarks in the pouring rain, it was well worth it for the thrill of what followed.
“The first King reigned over his North Breakwater castle with a luminous stare. He reigned with a cast iron fist and his Sixth Order colored the waters red. Find your second clue”
Even though we thought Nick’s clues were pretty hard, and quite unbelievable for the old ladies that run the Arcadia Historical Museum to have come up with, Carrie was able to nail clue after clue in a few minutes time. We were off to the lighthouse in Frankfort, where she was prepared to walk to the very end of the pier in heavy waves. Luckily, we had put it further inland.
“My blood runs red and white. I was bludgeoned and left for dead in this 80 year old catacomb. Find my brethren and find your third clue.”
While the first two clues were broke open and signed, as if another team was ahead of us, we coordinated the next clue to make it look like we were ahead. Everyone was playing their part. The girls were excited and interested in winning, the boys were interested in slowing down for a couple glasses of beer. Carrie promised that once we got ahead, THEN we could have our first drink. The next clue led us to the wine bar at the Bestie Bay Inn. Unplanned genius!
“200 slain Ottawa Indians defy death and pull towards the center of their burial mound. A famous alchemist and founder of calculus’s head would not need mending. Find your fourth clue on holy ground.”
The next clue took quite a while to figure out, so it was a good thing we were chilling at the bar. The mobile internet was coming in handy for me to prove to Carrie that she was on the right path. We were off to Gravity Hill. Every time the group split up to take two separate cars, we’d be dying in laughter. Carrie was getting mildly upset that Nick wasn’t taking the hunt seriously enough, if only she knew. We were all anxiously awaiting the big finale.
“This hallowed hall of wood with heavenly roofs and bramble walls has seen 1 suicide, 3 car wrecks, 2 ship wrecks, and countless youthful kisses. Pace yourself, look to the lake and find your fifth clue.”
As we approach the lookout point, we notice something strange… a gold van that we had seen at the last few places was beginning to follow us. Later we find out there was some other weekend scavenger hunt going on for the town of Frankfort and the Bestie Bay Inn had given some team our clue by mistake. Man, those people must have been pretty confused when they reached the end.
“The spirits of “the Chief†and “The Mom†still haunt this place. Youths find happiness and a spiritual guidance of a different kind here. Find you sixth clue.”
Camp Arcadia for the last and final clue. The boys wait outside while the girls plant the seed with Carrie that we might have better luck splitting up, something she wasn’t terrible comfortable with. This was the end, the winning clue, and why was everyone now being so disorganized!!
“This is not the board game Clue, but the real Colonel Mustard was murdered in 1815 by his mutinous soldiers in this exact spot. Legend says his blood stained the ground for 50 years. Today his gravestone has been erected. Find me north of STATE, south of LAKE, east of FIRST and west of SIXTH/22.”
The rest of us stopped back by the house to grab a chilled bottle of champagne. Nick and Carrie set off in the pouring rain, little did she know he was leading her to their property. We took the back roads and then began to sneak up in the bushes just at the right time. “Oh MY GOD!!” said Carrie. At that point she was staring at a dumb Halloween gravestone planted in their property. She knew something was fishy, someone had been tricking her, but it was not sinking in.
As we peered through the crack in the bushes, we saw Nick hand her the “final clue”, a card he had written to profess his love before getting down on one knee and proposing. Tears were shed, we ran out from around the bush, popped the Champagne. Everyone was happy and laughing. About three minutes later, Carrie asks, “Wait, so the scavenger hunt wasn’t real?” We had done such a good job that it was still hard for her to believe.
The pictures and videos of the event will end up showing up in many places… this blog, my Flickr, probably even at the wedding when that day finally arrives. Definitely a unique experience that has be incredibly excited to start building scavenger hunts for little kids. Yeah yeah, I know I just wrote that baby blog article, but things change all the time. Tom and I even started picking out some prospective names this weekend. But nobody keep their fingers crossed 
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