Wednesday, May 4, 2011

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!

8 comments:

  1. OMG I LOVE LOVE LOVE this idea!!! I was looking for a good bar scavenger hunt for my bday and this is the best thing I have found. Question, do you have a copy of your actual score card? I would love to see it!!! Thanks so much!!

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  2. hi, i love this and am trying to organise something like this, could u please email me your score card too if you dont mind, thanks in advance. :) surf_switchfoot@hotmail.com
    Samantha

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  3. This was HILARIOUS! And what a fabulous list! Thank you for posting! I'm doing something similar with my book club... and I'm stealing a few of your ideas. Absolutely fabulous!! :)

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  4. The Pink Team had Badoo as their captain. The Brown Team had a Cappers and the Yellow Team had a Max.childrens Scavenger Hunt Clues

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  5. Fabulous ideas!! You guys had a great party and had lots of fun. I was wondering a place for celebrating my grandmother birthday. I want to give her surprise and make her day special. Suggest me some best birthday party bar nyc.

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  6. this post is awesome...can you share the score card?

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  7. We're planning one for my 39th birthday. Thanks for these great ideas!!!!!!!!!

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  8. Hi, I'm Valentina, 26 from Italy and your ideas are great! I'm definetly going to take a cue from your scavenger hunt pub crawl, thanks!

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