I Triple Dog Dare Ya

As I mentioned yesterday, I was a researcher for Randal and his wife's entry into Urban Dare: Philadelphia. The Urban Dare is similar to The Amazing Race, where teams must walk/run from checkpoint to checkpoint and solve puzzles or do random tasks. When a team reaches a checkpoint, they must take their photo in front of it. I'll let Randal explain how the event started:

Start Question: They had a field divided into 4 quadrants: A, B, C, D. The guy asked a multi-choice question and if you got it right, you could start; if not, you had to wait for the next question.

The question was: On July 4th, 1776 the Declaration of Independence was signed by how many people: A: 9 B: 2 C: 13 D: 60-something

No one choose A. We and 2 other teams chose B. Everyone else chose C or D. B was right, bitches! So we got to start 1st. Of course, I screamed "Boo-ya" real loud when we got it right. Right after that we sent you the clues.

Here is the photo of the clues Randal sent me. Immediately after receiving them, I went to work.

Question #1: Get your picture with the Tree-Man Mural.

I looked Tree-Man Mural up in Google, and found that the mural was located at the corner of 16th & South Streets. The team was off and running.

As they were enroute, I looked up the next few questions.

Question#2: Go to Louis Kahn Park for your spellbound dare. Your word is Universe.

I found the park at 11th & Pine Streets. When they got there, they had to find the letters in the word UNIVERSE to complete their challenge.

Question #3: Go to the coffee shop across the store with the magical name and purpose. Go out back to complete your dare.

I found the Hocus Pocus magic shop at 523 S. 4th Street. When the team arrived there, they had to go out and make a two-story house of cards. Mrs. Graves did so here:


Question #4: Get your picture with the Indian standing on a turtle.

I looked up the key words online and found the Tamanend Statue at Front & Market Streets. When the team arrived, they took their photo here:


Question #5: Get your picture with the World War I Memorial to those who served from the 6th, 11th, & 12th Wards of Philadelphia.

This one kicked my ass. I looked the key words up every which way on every internet server. Finally, Captain America - whose fire station is in the area - suggested the statue at 2nd & Spring Garden. Success!!! Classic Randal line: "Tell him we appreciate it, even though he's a Right-Wing, gun-toting thug!" Nice. The team took their photo here, but my ineptitude cost them precious time.


Question #6: Go to wrolbonth (two-word jumble) where you must knock them all down on this dare.

Randal and I found the North Bowl bowling alley at 909 N. 2nd Street. When the team arrived they had to bowl a strike. Randal did so in the fastest time (one throw) of the day. When the team took the photo of the dog, they received a 5-minute time bonus, which jumped them into third place.

Question #7: Think James Joyce's final novel. Go to the place with almost the same name for your trivia dare.

The easiest question of the day. Finnegan's Wake is a bar in Northern Liberties which sponsors the Police Survivor's Benefit every year. I'll let Randal tell y'all what happened when they got there:

CP#7 Finnegan's Wake - answer 3 trivia questions from Trivial Pursuit, 80's Edition. I got the first 4-5 sports questions wrong, but them knocked out the 3 pretty quickly. (oh, and on your suggestion, we did this before CP#6, which probably saved us a couple of minutes, which decided 3rd place)

Question #8: Go to the Square named for Poor Richard. Get your picture with a brick near the fountain. The brick will say "In Memory of Rose and Nathan Rubinson."

Franklin Square was also a pretty simple clue, since Police Headquarters is across the street from the Square. Once there, they took this photo:


Question #9: Get your picture with the mural at the House of Dragon.

Another easy one. Why? Because the mural is in front of Captain America's fire station. Here's the photo:


Question #10: Get your photo with a giant Monopoly game piece. They had to get it in front of the wheelbarrow.

This one was a bear, but I found it eventually. It was in the plaza at the Municipal Services Building, at Broad & JFK (across from City Hall).

Question #11: Get your picture with the memorial to the Polish astronomer who theorized that the Earth and other planets revolved around the sun.

It was tricky, but I eventually found the Copernicus Memorial at 18th and Ben Franklin Parkway.

Finish: Go to the Irish Pub (2007 Walnut Street) for your most puzzling dare.

I'll let Mrs. Randal describe the finale:

When we got to the Irish pub, we had to put together a 60 piece jigsaw puzzle before checking in.

And Randal can finish up the event:

Total number of Teams: 35
Distance Traveled: 8.57 miles (all on foot)
Total Time (before time bonus): 2 hours, 13 minutes
Total Time (after time bonus): 2 hours, 8 minutes
Place: 3rd
4th place time: 2 hours 9 minutes.
Without the time bonus, we wouldn't have taken 3rd.

And here is a photo of their route:


And a final photo of their prize. They took 3rd Place, but I can't help thinking that if I didn't frak up the WWI Memorial, they may have won the event. Sorry, guys.