BOSTON SCAVENGER HUNTS
Ready for team-building with a dash of culture? On each of our scavenger hunts, you decipher clues to answer tricky, funny questions about the places you visit and things you find. Our hunts have received rave reviews from the Boston Herald, the New York Times, ABC News, the Washington Post, Citysearch, Daily Candy, andnumerous other media outlets. More than 75,000 hunters have gone on our scavenger hunts from more than 200 prestigious companies, not to mention trade associations, social groups, alumni groups, bachelorettes, school groups and more. Apple called their hunt “a highly organized, top notch adventure”–see more raves from Boston area clients. For details on how the hunts work, visit the Private Hunts page. Our Boston scavenger hunt locations include...
Old Boston & The Freedom Trail®, from Boston Common to the North End
Copley Square & Vicinity
Museum of Fine Arts
Museum of Science
Cambridge & Harvard
New England Aquarium
Harvard Museum of Natural History & Peabody Museum
Salem: Haunted Salem
Salem: The Peabody Essex Museum
Babson College in Wellesley
Citywide: The Conquer Boston Scavenger Hunt
...And Beyond
Print Out Our Boston Brochure
Contact Us
Public Hunts: See Our Boston Newsletter
Old Boston & the Freedom Trail®, from Boston Common to the North End:
The Secrets of Old Boston Scavenger Hunt
This adventure takes you along the Freedom Trail® to find the colonial in the modern city. You’ll visit numerous historic locations where America was born, Faneuil Hall, the site of the Boston Massacre, Paul Revere’s house, the Old North Church (where the lantern code was “One if by land...”), Old City Hall, the Old South Meeting House (where a particularly large tea party had its beginnings), and the Old State House, to name a few. But before you start thinking that everything on the hunt is Old, let us add that the hunt is packed with lively contemporary places, including delicious sights and sounds of Quincy Market and Italian bakeries and cafes in the North End. You’ll also investigate a tribute to local sports heroes, centuries-old gravestones, bustling Boston Common, and a place where a Kennedy bloomed. Along the way, you’ll search for the answers to such questions as...
• Scrutinize a menu with items you might think have gone stale by now. Find a dish that today would prompt the announcement, “Clean up in aisle three.” How much does this dish cost? Answer: A colonial-era menu at the Union Oyster House features “Dropped Eggs” for 20 cents.
• Near Paul Revere’s House, visit a triangle that’s a square. What two things meet but don’t cause an eclipse? Sun Court and Moon Street, at triangular North Square.
• At Old South Meeting House, a tax protest meeting was prelude to a famous dunking. What famous person got dunked here? Ben Franklin, who was baptized there, according to a sign.
We offer 90-minute and two-hours versions of the hunt, and if you like we can add Team Photo Questions. We also have a special version of the hunt involving handheld GPS devices. Contact us for more information about the hunt.
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Copley Square & Vicinity: The Copley Square Quest Scavenger Hunt
Perhaps the best thing about this hunt is the variety of experiences and locations you’ll encounter. Highlights include the strange and mysterious murals in the library, the medieval magnificence of Trinity Church, the posh shops on Newbury Street, the mansions of the Back Bay, the tranquil retreat of the Public Garden and much more. You’ll search for answers to such questions as...
• Visit the Boston Public Library and go up to Sargent’s murals. In a nearby room, down the street from a “melon sniffer,” what does the problem child do in 3D? A child plays a drum in a small diorama that re-creates a street scene in old Paris.
• Visit Copley Square’s Copley. Near him, find people who are traveling 26 miles. Complete this sequence: brook, hop, ash, _______ Answer: “framing,” as in Brookline, Hopkinton, Ashland and Framingham, seen in a map of the Boston Marathon route, near the statue of Copley.
• In the Public Garden, near where you would go to meet birds in warm weather, find a man who once worked here. What nearby town was he from? Answer: Near where the swan boats dock, a plaque honors a soldier from Charlestown.
We offer two-hour and 90-minute versions, and you can add Team Photo Challenges to spur additional creative teamwork. Contact us for more details.
The Museum of Fine Arts:
The MFA Madness Scavenger Hunt, The Naked at the MFA Scavenger Hunt, and
The Murder at the MFA Scavenger Hunt
Go on an eye-popping, jaw-dropping tour across the centuries at the Museum of Fine Arts, on hunts that capitalize on our fourteen years of experience staging museum hunts. We offer three versions: Our classic whirlwind tour, the MFA Madness Hunt; the somewhat racier search for nudity through art history, the Naked at the MFA Hunt; and a new murder mystery featuring secrets in works of art, The Murder at the MFA Hunt.
On each hunt, you’ll discover startling aspects of objects from ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, Japan, China, India, Paris, and all periods of American history. But you don’t need to know anything about art or the museum to win and have fun–instead, the questions emphasize wits, teamwork, and humor. You’ll find out why a guy would want heartburn on his wedding night, why King Kong would take up smoking, what ghoulish ingredient a lady keeps in a flower pot, and why a naked goddess isn’t naked. You’ll also go in search of answers to such questions as...
• What does a wiry artist turn a spiral into? Cow dung, near Alexander Calder’s ‘Cow.’
• Why would a boy’s mummy suggest that he put on gold lipstick? To insure speech in the afterlife, as explained near a portrait of a mummy youth.
• Find a Nubian baboon and jackal that look like bowling pins. What would go in one of them that might ironically make it say “Boy, am I full!”? Canopic jars would contain a mummy’s stomach.
• Find a Kongo playa who’s probably thinking, “Man, I got nailed!” What would you see if you contemplated his navel? Yourself, because there’s a mirror on the stomach of the Kongo power figure.
Please note that we haven’t included here the directions and other clues that lead you to the answers. We offer two-hour and 90-minute editions of each of these hunts. The entire museum is open late on Wednesdays, which allows for a great after-work hunt. (The museum closes late on Thursday and Friday evenings as well, but please note that only a small portion of the museum is open.) For more information about the MFA, visit www.mfa.org. Contact us for more information about the hunts.
We also offer an edition for kids, The Art Attack Scavenger Hunt, great for school groups, birthday bashes, and bar/bat mitzvahs. See Kids Hunts for more information.
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The Museum of Science: The Twisted Science Scavenger Hunt
How much fun is this hunt? Well, the Museum of Science itself commissioned us to create two special hunts for its members. If you’re a member, get in on the monthly hunts! If you have a group that would like to do a hunt at the museum, and you’re not a member or you’ve already done the members hunt, don’t despair—we have an entirely different set of questions ready for you.
If you haven’t been to the Museum of Science in a while, prepared to be surprised. Our whirlwind tour will reveal the best of the eye-popping new interactive exhibits, as well as all of the classic beasts and marvelous machines. Highlights include a life-size T-Rex, the world’s first computer mouse and digital virus, a pharaoh with a fan club, a classic clanging kinetic tower, optical illusions, a mad scientist’s lab, the fascinating/horrifying trophy room, mysterious messages from hobos, a tour of the Big Dig, a nightmare chair, and hot chicks (in an incubator, of course). You’ll tackle such questions as...
• What two dinosaurs could pose for an extreme diet plan’s Before and After photos? Answer: Campsognathus and triceratops, seen as they’d look in life and as skeletons.
• Wilson’s ironic lesson might be that you’re always hurt by the ones you love. Why would he think that? Wilson A. Bentley, a photographer of snowflakes, died from walking in the snow.
• Find a red machine that a dolt might think can help de-wrinkle clothes or make a cappuccino. Thanks to this, at what speed did Mariott almost check out? Astonishingly, Fred Mariott survived a 190 mph crash in a Stanley Steamer.
Please note that we haven’t included here the directions and other clues that lead you to the answers. Team Photo Challenges are available for this hunt! For more information about the museum, visit www.mos.org. Contact us for more information about the hunt.
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Cambridge & Harvard: The Munch Around Cambridge Hunt
See the best of Cambridge and the Harvard campus while getting tasty snacks along the way. You can literally taste victory! You’ll uncover the secrets of John Harvard himself, the spot where Washington took charge of the revolution, an L-shaped bullet hole, fowl play in Radcliffe Yard, a blacksmith made famous by a poem, the pranksters of the Harvard Lampoon headquarters, the oldest poetry bookstore in the U.S., a building an artist tried to eat and more.
And that doesn’t even touch upon the many delicious eateries you’ll discover along the way, such as the Cardullo’s (cricket lollipops, anyone?), the Hi-Rise Bread Co. (you can’t beat their grilled cheese sandwiches with mustard), Café Paradiso (with heavenly gelato), Pinocchio’s Sicilian pizza (check out the wall of famous fans), and Herrell’s ice cream (from the man who also gave us Steve’s), to name a few of the stops.
You’ll search for the answers to such questions as...
• Find a grassy area marked by an invitation to shop. What cunning carnivore indicates the home of a secret Harvard eating club? Answer: Across from the Newtowne Market sign in Winthrop Square, a door features a fox.
• On Bow Street, find the home of the Harvard Lampoon, the world’s longest-running humor magazine. Here X marks the spot where John Updike and Conan O’Brien got their start. If your “brother” lived here, what instrument would he play? Answer: On a tile on the side of the building, a friar plays the cello.
• In Harvard Square, near jungle dwellers, what firm might win your case but lose your trust? Answer: Dewey, Cheetam and Howe, located above the Curious George bookstore.
The hunt is available in 90-minute and two-hour versions, and for additional fun you can add Team Photo Challenges. Contact us for more information about the hunt.
The New England Aquarium: The Swimming with Sharks Scavenger Hunt
Boasting sharks, seals, penguins, electric eels, and all sorts of exotic deep-sea creatures, the is a great location for a 90-minute hunt. You will spiral around the 200,000-gallon, multi-story Giant Ocean Tank in the center of the aquarium, then fan out to the various bays on each level, and in warm weather you'll head outside to investigate the seals. Highlights include hopping fish, bifocaled fish, bisexual fish, punk penguins, and a tomato clownfish (no doubt laughed at by the other fish in his school). You’ll search for the answers to such questions as...
• Find a fish that would be handy in blackout. What secret ingredient might you put into skin moisturizer to get that same glowing look? Answer: Bacteria helps the Flashlight Fish glow in deep, dark waters.
• Why might a primitive obstetrician give something shocking to a lady in labor? Electric eels were once used as an anesthetic during childbirth.
• What predator—which sounds like Woods in a trap—can be said to be “unborn to kill”? The sand tiger shark, which eats its siblings in the womb.
Please note that we haven’t included here the directions and other clues that lead you to the answers. For more information about the aquarium, visit www.neaq.org. Contact us for more information about the hunt.
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Harvard Museum of Natural History & Peabody Museum:
The Museum of Natural Hysteria Scavenger Hunt
Go on what might be our most surreal hunt in Boston—a whirlwind tour of two museums in one, featuring exotic stuffed animals, sparkling gems, odd artifacts, thousands of glass flowers, meteorites and more. You’ll search for the answers to such questions as...
• In Meteorites find a big rock / That gave one cow a fatal clock. / These aren’t little bits of stardust / Indeed, how heavy is Harvard’s largest? Answer: Near a meteorite that struck a cow, the largest is more than 400 pounds.
• Among Asian mammals, you could get crushed by a snake or shredded by a tiger—or even worse, get an embarrassing nickname. Which crazy quadruped is often the butt of jokes? Answer: The Kiang’s nickname is “wild ass.”
• Insurance agents, take note! Which frequently airborne African animal comes equipped with an “antiskid” device? Answer: The scale-tailed squirrel—the scales help it stop after a leap.
The hunt is 90 minutes and Team Photo Challenges can be added for an additional spur to creative teamwork. For more information about the museums, visit Harvard Museum of Natural History and Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology Web sites. Contact us for more information about the hunt.
Salem: The Secrets of Salem Scavenger Hunt
BOO! Sorry to startle you like that, but you might as well prepare now for our “spirited” search for the ghosts and historic highlights of this, um, bewitching town. Armed with only a flashlight, you’ll learn the tales of the restless souls you might disturb. Find out how Witch Trials villain Sheriff Corwin has helped one house become the “fourth most haunted” in America, visit locations associated with the crushed-to-death execution of suspected wizard Giles Corey and assorted witches, see where Nathaniel Hawthorne met a ghost, and learn from one murder victim why you should never brag about treasure hidden in your home. If you do this hunt after sunset, we’ll supply the flashlights and the garlic (to keep evil spirits away, of course).
This hunt features longer questions than the others, because we want to make sure you learn all the creepy stories associated with each stop. Here’s an example:
• Visit the Old Burying Point. The cemetery holds the earthly remains of Mary Corey, second wife of Giles Corey–who implicated his third wife, Martha, as a witch, and then got himself crushed to death for refusing to admit that he too practiced the dark arts. Use the map on a plaque to find the newly framed tombstone of John Hathorne, ancestor of Nathaniel Hawthorne and a judge in the witchcraft trials. Hathorne’s ignominious actions helped inspire Hawthorne’s novel The House of the Seven Gables. Near the judge, find a family whose name relates to your current quest. How many with the same last name come in a row between Joseph and Hannah? Answer: Eight people named Hunt are in the row behind Hathorne.
Two-hour and 90-minute versions of the hunt are available. For added fun and souvenirs to take home, you can add Team Photo Challenges. If you're concerned about the possibility of bad weather, you can choose our hunt inside Salem's Peabody Essex Museum as a backup (see below). Contact us to learn more about our Salem hunts.
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Salem: The Peabody Essex Museum
For a salty taste of the 19th century sailor’s life on the high seas, and the kind of booty they brought back from distant lands, you’ll want to get shanhaied for this surprising scavenger hunt inside the Peabody Essex Museum. Your team will go in search of art and artifacts featuring harpooned whales, shipwrecks, the luxurious cabin known as Cleopatra’s Barge, drunken sailors carousing, nutty Japanese Netsuke, a mysterious hand beneath a fashionable gown, a castaway’s unusual calendar, the first penguin ever seen in North America and more. The varied, impressive galleries make a great location for our 90-minute hunt. Contact us to learn more.
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Babson College in Wellesley
Do expect to spend hours in conference
rooms at the Babson Executive Conference Center? Need a break to get outdoors and find a new way to get to know your colleagues? Try out team-building scavenger hunt on the surprising Babson campus. You’ll discover a direct descendent of Isaac Newton’s famed apple tree, a chapel that seems ready to set sail, Roger Babson’s surprising stock market prediction, unusual outdoor sculptures, a cryptic totem pole, a jinxed tennis court, a heretic burned at the stake and one of the world’s largest globes, to name just a few of the highlights. When we recently staged this hunt for a gathering of Omnicom’s top executives from around the world, the event was such a success that one participant said, “I wish we had done this when we first arrived so we got to know each other sooner.” (We also have the Great Indoors Challenge as a backup in case of bad weather.) The hunt itself lasts 90 minutes, with a post-hunt slideshow of team photos also available. Contact us to learn more.
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Citywide: The Conquer Boston Scavenger Hunt
Our citywide tour of the best of Boston takes you to Quincy Market, the North End, Harvard Yard, Fenway Park, Chinatown, Boston Common, Beacon Hill, and many other colorful neighborhoods, historic sites, TV and movie locations, and more. You can take on the city by limo or mass transit. You’ll search for the answers to such questions as....
• At the Bull & Finch Pub, whose exterior is known to TV viewers as the Cheers bar, Norm stands before the name of one of his “best friends,” Sam. What other two pals’ names are written here? Answer: Molsen Golden and Bud, on a sign behind Cheers’ beer-loving Norm (George Wendt), which lists those beers and Sam Adams. (No, not Sam Malone.)
• Make way for ducklings and visit the Boston Commons, what executioner was killed in 1876? The great elm, a bygone execution site, mentioned on a sign near the Commons entrance across from the Make Way for Ducklings statue in the Public Garden.
• Find people who are traveling 26 miles to visit Mr. Copley. Complete this sequence: brook, hop, ash, _______ Answer: framing, as in Brookline, Hopkinton, Ashland and Framingham, seen on a map of the marathon route near the statue of Copley in Copley Square.
Please note that we left out some hints and directions from those questions (after all, we don’t what you to have too much of an advantage over the other teams, right?). During the journey from point to point, you’ll also have to tackle ten trivia questions—but you can use any resource to answer them (so have your favorite telephone lifeline ready). We recommend doing a three-hour version of this hunt, although longer and shorter versions are available. If you like we can add Team Photo Questions for additional fun and souvenirs. Contact us for more information about the hunt.
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...And Beyond
Possible hunt locations are as limitless as Boston’s variety. You can suggest a new location for a classic Watson Adventures hunt, or you can try our popular Anywhere Hunt and classic Grab ’n’ Go Hunt, which we’ve staged for companies at parks, resorts, neighborhoods, even in apartment buildings and homes. Contact us to find out what we can create for you!
PRINT OUT OUR BOSTON BROCHURE
You can always print out pages on our site. But if you’d like a compact summary of our hunts to bring to a meeting, to show friends, or to help get future hunters excited, click the link below to call up our brochure as a PDF file. You may need Acrobat Reader to access it (click here to get it for free). Or you can contact us to mail you or fax you a copy.
See the Boston brochure.
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ON YOUR MARK, GET SET...
If you’re ready to book a hunt, or have questions, call us at 877-9-GO HUNT, extension 11. Or use our handy e-mail Contact Form. The hunt’s afoot!
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TRY A PUBLIC HUNT:
SEE OUR BOSTON HUNT NEWSLETTER
Watson Adventures offers monthly hunts in Boston that are open to the public for low promotional prices. To see the latest schedule, check out the Boston edition of The Culture Vulture. It also includes surprising trivia, jokes from famous comedians, and links to cool and offbeat Web sites. If you’d like to receive this free quarterly newsletter in your own e-mail box, sign up here—and on the next page you’ll see, be sure to check off “Boston Area”:
(We do NOT share your address with purveyors of spam.)
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