Team-Building Washington D.C. Scavenger Hunts

WASHINGTON, D.C., 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 been acclaimed by the Washington Post, the New York Times, ABC News, Citysearch, Daily Candy, and numerous other media outlets. More than 80,000 hunters have gone our scavenger hunts from numerous prestigious companies, not to mention trade associations, social groups, alumni groups, bachelorettes, school groups and more. For details on how the hunts work, and to see our rave reviews and prestigious clients, visit the Private Hunts page. Our Washington, D.C, scavenger hunts include...

The White House, Lafayette Park & Vicinity
The Museum of Natural History
The National Gallery of Art
Georgetown
Madame Tussauds Wax Museum
The American Art Museum & The National Portrait Gallery
The Air and Space Museums, including the Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles Airport
The Haunted Washington Scavenger Hunt
The National Zoo
The Museum of American History
The Citywide Washington Hunt
...And Beyond, including Baltimore and Annapolis

Print Out Our Washington Brochure
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Learn About Public Hunts in Our Newsletter

The Race to the White House Scavenger Hunt

The historic buildings, galleries and stores near the White House make for great hunt territory. Hunters will track history and discover surprising sights in such locations as Lafayette Park, Freedom Plaza, Ford’s Theater, the Old Post Office, the Octagon House, the FBI building, and of course the White House itself. Highlights include Lincoln’s champagne bill, a piece of the Berlin Wall, Jackie O’s White House view, and someone inadvisably taking sword lessons wearing only a fig leaf. You don’t need to know the area or its history, but you’ll come away with a fascinated familiarity with both. You’ll discover the answers to such questions as...

• Why does Ike’s place make you think of a bad hairstyle? Answer: Mullett was the architect of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, as explained by a sign outside.

• In Lafayette Park, face the White House and take a seat where you can seek inspiration. It’s supposed to be a spot for peaceful contemplation, but what might make you uneasy any time you sit here? A nearby canon is aimed at the Inspiration Bench.

Please note that we haven’t included here the directions and other clues that lead you to the answers. We offer 90-minute and two-hours versions of the hunt, and if you like we can add Team Photo Questions. Contact us for more information about the hunt.

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The National Museum of Natural History:
The Museum of Natural Hysteria Scavenger Hunt

Hunt for dinosaurs, stuffed tigers and giraffes, a camping vampire, a flossing bison, live insects, the Hope Diamond and other jewels, mummies, and a charred-bone from a real murder mystery, all in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. On a whirlwind tour, you’ll travel to China, Africa, South America, the Ice Age, a mine, ancient oceans, and beyond. You’ll search for answers to such questions as...

• Find something that will help you fly first class to Heaven. What, apparently, was a bird’s favorite liquor? Beside a jet-shaped coffin is a photo of a bird coffin, with people pouring schnapps on it.

• What hopeful woman apparently thought, when storing her jewels, “Sofa, so good!”? Evalyn Walsh McLean, who hid the Hope Diamond in her sofa.

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 versions of this hunt. Adults have gotten a kick out of this surreal hunt, but kids have enjoyed our special edition for them, too. You can also add Team Photo Questions for additional challenges and fun—and souvenirs of the hunt. For more information about the museum, visit www.mnh.si.edu. Contact us for more information about the hunt.

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The National Gallery of Art:
The National Gallery Gallop Scavenger Hunt, The Murder at the National Gallery Hunt, and the Naked at the National Gallery Scavenger Hunt

You’ll discover art in an entirely new way on this hunt, our whirlwind tour of the best of the National Gallery of Art. You won’t need to know anything about art or the museum, but we bet you’ll come away with a list of works you want to see again. Highlights include an eye-popping saint, Rip Van Winkle, the remarkable Stow Memorial, America’s only painting by Leonardo da Vinci, and a shark attack against a guy named Watson (no relation, we hope). Your team will grapple with such tricky questions as...

• What does a “gremlin” use to tempt a man into looking the wrong way during his last deal? Answer: A bag of money, in Death and the Miser by Bosch.

• Whose gesture seems to say “Leaf me alone”? Answer: Daphne starts turning into a tree to escape Apollo.

• Who probably regrets saying “You can kiss my ---!” to an MGM star? Answer: A lion bites Milo in the butt.

Please note that we haven’t included here the directions and other clues that lead you to the answers. Two-hour and 90-minute editions of the hunt are available.

We also offer the popular Naked at the National Gallery Scavenger Hunt, which takes an unblushing look at nudity in art.

If you’re looking for something more challenging, try the Murder at the National Gallery Hunt, a hunt and a mystery rolled together. A murdered curator has left behind a cryptic trail of clues connected with secrets in works of art. As your team gathers answers about the art, you begin to piece together a sordid tale about greed, lust, pride, revenge and treachery, all revolving around the museum’s planned multi-million dollar purchase of a Rembrandt. The murder victim knew too much—and now it’s your turn to learn what he knew and discover what drove one of four suspects to commit murder. To find out, you’ll have to crack a secret code left in the victim’s appointment calendar. Can you figure out who dunnit?

For more information about the museum, visit www.nga.gov. Contact us for more information about the hunts.

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The Secrets of Georgetown Scavenger Hunt

See the best of Georgetown while uncovering amazing tales and nooks (but not crannies). This whirlwind tour features historic homes of posh celebs, cool shops, trendy eateries where you can grab a tasty morsel or two, memorable movie locations, and much more. One of the best things about this hunt is its variety, covering parts of the neighborhood with three distinct personalities. Highlights include a 19th-century canal (and maybe a mule or two), chic shops in historic buildings on M Street, JFK’s first Washington home and the neighbor honored by reporters for providing coffee in the cold, the birthplace of the computer, a former prison that Lincoln visited, movie locations such as the infamous “Exorcist steps,” the Old Stone House and its tranquil garden, “sunken” houses, magnificent mansions, hidden alleys, a tavern where Founding Fathers tippled, and a bar that was the birthplace of a famous cheesy song. You’ll grapple with such questions as (and keep in mind, we’ve left out some of the clues that help you zero in on the answer)...

• In the movie Dick, Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams run over a bridge spanning the C&O Canal, and then along the path you’ll soon walk. First, seek info about the canal. People say these are stubborn, but 2 of 9 seen here won’t budge—they won’t do any work at all. Which one now follows in a president’s footsteps? Answer: Outside the canal visitor’s center, a photo of nine mules includes two that are “retired”; the one named Frances now lives on Jimmy Carter’s boyhood farm.

• Find a house that is being reclaimed by Nature. If the occupants ran for help knocked on their neighbors’ doors, which house would most immediately lend them a hand…so to speak? Answer: The one with the hand door knocker.

Georgetown has lots of great options for places to drink and dine after the hunt, of course, which makes it a particularly great location for a post-hunt party. We offer two-hour and 90-minute editions, and you can also add Team Photo Questions to heighten the fun and have souvenirs to take with you. Contact us for more information.

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New! The Wax Attacks Scavenger Hunt at Madame Tussauds

Never has waxy build-up been so much fun! Watson Adventures now offers private hunts at the wild, surreal and fun museum of celebrities through history, Madame Tussauds, in downtown DC at the corner of F and 10th Streets. Hunters will tackle our usual array of tricky questions plus each team will get a camera to create and pose for unusual photo ops with George Clooney, President Reagan, JLo and dozens of other celebs. You’ll mingle with actors and musicians at a Hollywood party, meet presidents, artists, and other historic greats in a hall of fame, and time travel from the Roaring Twenties to the present as you search among such figures as Brad Pitt, Bill Clinton, Tiger Woods, Winston Churchill, Beyonce, F.D.R., Will Smith, Katie Couric and J. Edgar Hoover.

In addition to our usual tricky questions that reveal the best of the exhibits, this hunt includes Team Photo Challenges: We give each team a digital camera and a series of unusual photo ops they must create with the famous figures on display. The museum is small, so the hunt here last one hour, plus about a half hour for set up time and post-hunt scoring. The museum has facilities for parties, so it’s a great option for inclement-weather. For more information about Madame Tussauds, see www.madametussaudsdc.com. Contact us to learn more about the hunt.

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The American All-Stars Hunt:
The American Art Museum & The National Portrait Gallery

These two amazing Smithsonian museums—the American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery—occupy one landmark building. If you are looking for an after-work venue that is impervious to weather, you’ll find that these museums stay open until 7 p.m. every night of the week. Our whirlwind tour reveals the secrets of eye-popping artwork and a parade of famous Americans, from George Washington to Andy Warhol. Highlights of the hunt include strange and humorous folk art, famous inventions, startling presidential trivia, views into conservation studios, Civil War scenes, and startling contemporary works (beware of floating heads). You’ll answer such questions as...

• What “Irish rock band” seems to have crashed near President Kennedy? Answer: A piece of a famous U-2 plane, shot down over the Soviet Union, is on display in an exhibit about presidents and the Cold War.

• According to Lucille Ball, who made “cooked spaghetti look tense”? Dean Martin, seen in a photo.

• What did the Gipper or Dutch say when he saw his portrait, now on display? “Yep, that’s the old buckaroo,” said President Reagan.

We’ve uncovered the best, the most extraordinary, the most bizarre, the most head-turning and mind-boggling objects and sights in these two collections and turned them into one amazing hunt. Two-hour and 90-minute hunts are available. The museums open at 11:30 a.m. and remain open until 7 p.m., so together they make a great location for after-work hunts—plus there are lots of great restaurants nearby for post-hunt celebrations. Contact us for more information.

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The Air and Space Race at the Air and Space Museums

Two Editions: The National Mall Building and the Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles Airport

Few museums are as jaw-dropping as the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, packed with real life propeller planes, jet planes, bombers and bombs, missiles and rockets—just about everything associated with the history of flight and space exploration. Highlights include the Wright brothers’ first-flight plane; Lindbergh’s famous Spirit of St. Louis; the X-1 rocket in which Chuck Yeager became the first to break the sound barrier; the Lockheed Vega piloted by Amelia Earhardt on the first solo transatlantic flight by a woman; a touchable moon rock; and American and Soviet nuclear missiles (please don’t sneeze next to them). You’ll go in search of answers to such questions as...

• Find devices 007 has used. While flying one of these devices, why should he get nervous when his head starts uncontrollably shaking? Answer: The jet pack shakes the pilot’s head when it’s low on fuel.

• Find a fraulein in a German machine shop. If she’s wearing a wig, what motor part will probably benefit? Answer: Rubber was in short supply in Germany during WWI, so women were urged to contribute their hair, which was used for drive belts.

• Find a bird trap. When two scientists discovered the background hiss caused by the Big Bang, what did they originally think caused it? Answer: Pigeon droppings on their antenna

If you’re near Dulles Airport, you can opt for our scavenger hunt at the new Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. This museum is just as spectacular as the one on the Mall. In two giant hangars, the collection includes more than 200 planes, helicopters, gliders, and space vehicles, including a full-size Concorde, a full-size Space Shuttle, a Boeing-707, a scary-cool Blackbird jet (like something out of a Batman movie), and the Enola Gay, which dropped the first A-bomb on Hiroshima. But even if you aren’t an aviation fan, you’ll discover plenty of objects to amuse and fascinate you, such as an airman’s wacky “party suit,” the original spaceship from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, kitschy Lindbergh and space memorabilia, a true-to-life scene of peasants attacking a balloon (they thought it was a monster), and an ingenious CIA transmitter designed to resemble dog poop.

The museums make great locations for two-hour or 90-minute hunts. Team Photo Challenges can be added to spur additional creativity and enhance the fun. For more information about both museums, visit www.nasm.si.edu. Contact us for more information about the hunts.

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The Haunted Washington Scavenger Hunt

BOO! Sorry to startle you, but you better get used to it if you're joining this hunt. You'll visit ghost-plagued buildings around and near Lafayette Park and the White House while learning the stories of the restless souls you might disturb. Possible cameos by the spirits of Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Dolley Madison, Abigail Adams, Andrew Jackson, the (allegedly) suicidal Mrs. Henry Adams, and losing duelist Stephen Decatur. This hunt is a bit slower-paced because the questions are longer, to fill you in on the eerie events that transpired at each location. For example...

• At Pennsylvania Ave. and 17th St., visit Ike’s place. Is it haunted? Even the White House Web site says yes. There, Lonnie Hovey, director of preservation, architecture, and conservation for this building, writes, “I believe the EEOB is the most haunted office building in Washington due to many stories that I have gathered on strange, curious, and unexplained activities.” That includes two suicides and 15 other deaths in the building. Famed author Christopher Buckley used to work here, and he notes that the building’s architect worked 17 years on it but ended up suing the government, to no avail—so he shot himself. “His ghost is supposed to wander the two miles of corridors,” says Buckley. It wouldn’t cheer the architect to know that today he’s associated with a horrible cut. What is it? Answer: In front of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, a plaque says the architect was named Mullett.

The hunt is a bit spooky, a bit macabre, a bit goofy, and a lot of fun. We recommend that you allot two hours for this hunt, although it can be shortened to 90 minutes. Contact us for more information about the hunt.

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The National Zoo: The Wild, Wildlife Scavenger Hunt

If you can talk to the animals, it’ll be cheating, on this hunt that takes you in search of amazing animals and weird wildlife facts. Seeing the zoo in the context of a game gives the experience an exciting new spin, like a tiger springing from lounging to lunging. You don’t have to be a zoologist, but you do have to use your wits to solve our crafty questions. Highlights include the new Asia Trail, the Great Ape House, the orangutans in the “Think Tank,” the Bat Cave, the Elephant House, lions, tigers, and, of course, the famed Giant Panda Habitat. The zoo is open 364 days a year, and the many indoor exhibits can make even chilly weather hunts comfortable. We offer 90-minute and two-hour hunts at the zoo. If you add Team Photo Challenges, we’ll give each team a digital or Polaroid camera to “capture” animals and moments on the hunt, and you have souvenirs of the outing. To learn more about the zoo, visit nationalzoo.si.edu. Contact us for more information about the hunt.

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The National Treasures Hunt at the Museum of American History

The museum is currently closed for renovation until summer 2008. Our popular hunt there will resume at that time.

The Conquer Washington Hunt

Our citywide tour of the best of Washington takes you to such places and sights as Lafayette Park and the White House, Georgetown’s “Exorcist steps,” the Library of Congress, the moving Vietnam Memorial, Chinatown, the FDR Memorial, the Hirschorn Sculpture Garden, and Seinfeld’s puffy shirt in the Smithsonian. You can take on the city by limo or mass transit. You’ll search for the answers to such questions as....

• In the Hirschorn sculpture garden, find a guy who truly has washboard abs. Why might you think he would have a particular advantage in pumping iron? Answer: A sculpture of a man who seems to be walking through a slatted door He has 3 arms (a third is seen behind the sculpture). Please note that the questions are designed so that you can answer them only when standing in the right place, looking at the right thing.

• At the Old Post Office, go to the 10th floor. Find something that, in 1983, would have made you remark, “The name Alexandra rings a bell.” Look high and listen low. What comes after Wisdom and before Love? When you climb the tower (and see a great panoramic view of the city), you’ll see the word “Courage” written on the largest bell, between Wisdom and Love. You’ll also discover there that the bell was a gift from Princess Alexandra.

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. You can also 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 the Washington area’s variety. Other possible hunt locations include the Corcoran Gallery (which stays open until 9 p.m. on Thursdays). You might also consider the great options in Baltimore, including Fell’s Point, the National Aquarium, and the Walters Art Museum. You can also enjoy our classic Grab ’n’ Go Hunt, both of which we’ve staged in a wide variety of cities, parks, resorts, neighborhoods, even homes. Contact us to find out what we can create for you!

PRINT OUT OUR WASHINGTON BROCHURE

Of 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 Washington brochure.

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ON YOUR MARK, GET SET...

If you’re ready to book a hunt, or have questions, use our handy e-mail contact form or call us at 877-9-GO HUNT (877-946-4868), extension 11. Or The hunt’s afoot!

LEARN ABOUT PUBLIC HUNTS IN OUR NEWSLETTER

Watson Adventures offers monthly hunts in Washington that are open to the public for a low promotional price. To see the latest schedule, see the Washington edition of The Culture Vulture. It also includes amazing 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 “Washington, D.C., Area”: