The Art Of Scavenging

Meetings & Conventions: Short Cuts September 1999 Current Issue
September 1999
Short Cuts:
The Art Of Scavenging

What headless Southeast Asian man looks like he has gone too far with the Slim-Fast? It's a simple enough question, at least for determined participants in a museum scavenger hunt arranged by New York City-based Watson Adventures (212-726-1529). (The answer: Siddhartha, depicted mid-fast in a damaged statue at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.)

For the typical hunt, the concept's creator, Bret Watson, equips groups in teams of four to six with quirky clues, which they use to navigate their way through a museum (or park or zoo) and answer some offbeat questions.

"No knowledge of the museum is required whatsoever. In fact, it's probably a hindrance," says Watson. What is needed: "teamwork, creative thinking, a sense of humor and comfortable shoes." When the allotted time (generally two hours) is up, teams share their adventures and collect prizes at a post-hunt party.

Watson, who is not affiliated with the museums, leads groups of up to 160 for scavenger hunts at the Met. Other sites in the New York area include the American Museum of Natural History and the Brooklyn Museum of Art, both accommodating groups of up to 80. Outdoor hunts can be held at the Central Park Zoo.

LOREN G. EDELSTEIN

Move over, Mall of America.

Now another behemoth has its own ZIP code. Royal Caribbean's 3,114-passenger Voyager of the Seas is so massive that not only does it have its own post office, it also offers such amenities as an ice-skating rink and a rock-climbing wall.

A.D.T.