Scavenger Hunt Pub Crawl

For Kyle's birthday, I planned a scavenger hunt pub crawl.  It was a legendary night!

I got the birthday boy a tiara, pink feathered boa, and microphone so that he could make speeches.

I planned the pub crawl down a particularly bar infested street, and asked everyone to meet at the first bar.  I handed out the scavenger hunt instructions, the route, and assigned teams.  We had 3 teams of 4 people each.  I didn't play so that I could keep track of the game as it progressed.

In a lucky twist of fate, while shopping at the dollar store, I happened upon the most amazing insect backpacks.  I bought 4 of them and assigned each one to a team leader, to store their scavenger items.  It also made it easy to keep track of our group....

I printed out the instructions, scavenger hunt list, and trivia questions to be completed at each bar for extra points.  And, of course, included plenty of embarrassing photos of Kyle for everyone to enjoy!

The instructions were - 

Proceed to each bar on the list.  Complete as many photo and trivia challenges as possible.  Gather scavenger items as you go along.  Avoid arrest.  Arrive at the last bar by 11PM for dancing, drinking, and debauchery.  Prizes await - good luck!

Earlier that day, I went to each bar on the list and hid bonus scavenger hunt items that were heavily weighted in points.  I placed them in unexpected areas (behind the bar, in the men's bathroom, etc).

It is important to make the`scavenger list long and varied, as no team will "find" all of the items.  As you can see from the list, there were some very odd items to locate.  I was taken aback by how competitive everyone was, and how hard they worked to gather all of the items and complete the list of photos!

I assigned point values to the items and photos according to difficulty.  Each page of trivia was worth a flat number of points.

Example of items to be gathered:

Toothpick                      Red lipstick                   Shot glass                     Sugar Packet

Newspaper                   Tampon                         Postage Stamp            Leaf   

Pencil                            Fork (not plastic)          Q-Tip                             Drink Coaster

Illinois quarter                Paper Airplane              Grey hair (plucked)       Envelope

Roll of toilet paper (it did not occur to me that we would be walking away with an entire bar's supply of TP - until I was handed 4 hefty rolls.  Whoops!) 

Original ink drawing of birthday boy, phone number from a stranger... you get the point!

The photo challenges were a lot of fun, and pretty much tell the story of the evening:

Take a photo of:

A person with a mullet
An unidentifiable body part

Your team jumping, everyone in mid-air

An animal tattoo or tramp stamp

A bartender tossing a bottle into the air, Cocktail style

Your team imitating The Beatles crossing the street (Abbey Road)

An unshaven female leg

Pose with someone in uniform

Team spelling a word with their bodies

A live pigeon

The clock at 10:32 PM

A man (or woman) with a handlebar mustache

A team member on someone else's shoulders

Your team name spelled out in ketchup

Someone eating something seductively

Your team leader giving a stranger a lap dance

The entire team line dancing
A male team member wearing lipstick

A same sex kiss

Someone doing a body shot

An open mouth with at least six fillings

A group hug

A team member sitting on a toilet

Someone with a strange hat

A police officer

Team members playing dead

Paying for a beer with change
Someone moonwalking
Chugging a beer with a stranger

All team members with shirts on inside out
A solar eclipse
Team lifting their captain into the air

Someone drinking a margarita

Team with spoons hanging off their noses

Someone playing a pin ball machine

And, finally, someone with a wet t-shirt.  Luckily I chose to wear black that day, as I had no idea I was going to have a drink thrown on me.

The bonus scavenger items I hid at each bar were the oddest (and cheapest!) things I could find - a bat mobile hot wheels car, a wind-up chicken, a stuffed milkbone, a plastic dagger, and the ultimate prize, worth more points than anything, the Mama Bear!

That bear may look innocent, but Mike ran through the pouring rain and captured it just before the other team, winning the game by just a few points!

The length of the total pub crawl was 1.5 miles.  I estimated it would take us 3 hours to complete... It actually took around 4, and we didn't even make it to the final bar!  But that didn't stop us from celebrating.

Dancing and debauchery was had by all!

I made prize bags with miniature bottles of champagne, bubbles, candy necklaces, personalized photo keychains with pictures of Kyle, noise makers, etc.  And of course, one top prize bag, with bigger, better versions of everything.  The group tore into them like rabid beasts, which is I guess what happens when you distribute snacks & beverages to drunken adults.

The birthday boy in all his glory!