Whether your group consists of Junior League shopaholics, corporate management dynamos, church members or civic organizations, many people are discovering the joys of the treasure hunting.
Jennifer Swisher, of Austin, Texas, had this to say about a recent hunt, “By the end of the day, all who participated were buzzing with excitement. Our employees are still passing photos and exchanging jokes and memories. Most important, it turned a room full of strangers into fond acquaintances.”
Luxury retailer Neiman Marcus recently hosted a Big Night Out event that included a virtual scavenger hunt, using mobile phone app SCVNGR, according to San Antonio Business Journal writer, Donna J. Tuttle. The app is a location-based, mobile gaming platform designed to combine merchant marketing with customer loyalty and fun. Participants must open up the SCVNGR app, check in by tapping “Places” and find the series of challenges. The app sends you to different parts of the store to solve puzzles and try activities.
There are several companies that offer corporate team-building programs in San Antonio, including Scaventures and Scavenger Hunt Anywhere. For those who want to minimize their planning-time requirements, this may be a good option. One company spokesperson said, “Once you have booked with us, we need less than 30 minutes of your time. All we need to know is the date, time and location.”
The most common location for San Antonio treasure hunts is downtown because participants can walk and gather treasures fairly easily. Planning companies offer a variety of themes, including Old West, Mission Impossible, Pub Crawl and X Marks the Spot.
For a do-it-yourself treasure hunt, try the new southern extension of the San Antonio River Walk, known as Mission Reach. It is one of my favorite places and gets prettier every day. The nature walk is home to a plethora of birds, wildflowers and other sights. Roosevelt Park is the northern end of the eight-mile trail that, when completed, will end at Mission Espada. Hunters could travel on foot, rent bicycles from the various rental sites in the area, including one at Blue Star Art Complex, or travel by car to snap pictures on their phones or digital cameras of as many species as possible. An alternate scenario could start the group at the southernmost point and finish at the cafe at Blue Star Art Complex for lunch or dinner.
The northern extension of the San Antonio River Walk is called Museum Reach. This urban nature trail flows past the San Antonio Museum of Art and completes its turn at the former Pearl Brewery, now a multiuse complex. The walk itself includes 11 works of public art. I particularly love the big head with water coming out its mouth and the giant floating florescent fish. A treasure hunt could give clues about the individual pieces of art inside the museum and on the river. Contestants might have to solve a word puzzle, based on their treasures, that spells out a hidden message when completed.
There is literally no end to the fun you can have doing treasure hunts in downtown San Antonio. I think they would make a great activity for spouses attending conferences; Eagle Scouts; sales teams; or people taking history or nature classes.
If your group does one, I’d love to hear about it.