Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Our Urban Dare

Barbara: They say “a change is as good as a rest”. After my most recent adventure, I would have to agree.

My friend Charlotte and I have started to give each other experiential birthday presents instead of “stuff” (ie, we go places/do things). I wrote here before about this—it’s how I celebrate my nieces and nephew for their birthdays, and it’s the same theme that got me kayaking last year—and I just have to share with you my latest amazing experience.

For my birthday this year, Charlotte discovered the “Urban Dare” tour. It’s a fundraiser for breast cancer research and happens in cities all across North America. Without me knowing anything but the date, Charlotte registered us as a team in the July 21st Toronto Dare.
Pre game!
Charlotte picked me up on Saturday morning and took me for a big pre-challenge brunch and then, properly stuffed and caffeinated, we went to the downtown meeting spot to get our official garb—the Urban Dare t-shirt with number—and our official clues.

As I am such a game-lover at heart, when I found out what we were doing, I got very very excited. Many people “accuse” me of being competitive—I think it’s because I revel in game-playing so much—but the truth is, as much as I like to win, I don’t care about it. I can honestly say, it’s the act of playing that gives me that adrenalin high. What I discovered I like about it is that really primal feeling that courses through me when I play: I must have every synapse on alert, I must reason and plan, I must be aware of my surroundings, I must be quick and physical, I must survive. I am alive! Not that anything I do (or want to do) involves the threat of imminent death (like a primitive ancestor on the hunt), but it’s invigorating to reenact that kind of fundamental experience.

Okay, so the basic scoop on the Dare is that you all get your clues at (more or less) the same time. There are 10 clues that, once solved, direct you to various locations around the city (they say the parameter is about 7 miles). You and your team member must figure out where you need to go and then either take a picture of yourselves at the site or complete a “dare” designed by the tour. In our case, these were a 3-legged course (my first!), a wheelbarrow course (also my first!), a candid photo of a random couple recreating the famous Eisenstadt photo (of the WW11 soldier kissing the nurse), and a number/word challenge that Char and I were shocked to fumble our way through (strike out for cocky over-confidence. Um, yeah, that would be me…).

You aren’t allowed to use cars, bikes, or taxis, but you can hop on the bus or subway. We ended up walking most of the course. Or speed-walking. My hips have never been so sore! And the first team back with all the correct answers, photos, and courses wins the dare. Charlotte and I were surprised to find ourselves pretty much twice the age of the average competitor (hats off to those enterprising and benevolent young people who came in droves!), and in the end, we finished a respectable (to us) 60th out of 192 teams. That said, we also committed 3 very costly mistakes (again, thanks to over-confidence when it came to our supposed destinations) that probably added a good ½ hour to our race.

It was an absolutely wonderful day! It was beautiful and sunny out—we sweated buckets—but that concerted 2 ½ hours of running, laughing, problem-solving, and discovering our city was absolutely an invigorating and wonderful rest from the everyday.
After game!
Deb: This is what I am talking about! These are the adventures that make us love life and love living! Charlotte, you rock in the gift department and you picked the right gal to bestow this gift upon. So happy for you guys and the fun you had! Barb, I cannot wait to meet you on the three-legged and wheelbarrow course. I am all over that. I am the wheelbarrow race, my friend! Yes, the challenge has been declared!

40 comments:

  1. HA! OMG...Sounds like SO MUCH FUN!!! Charlotte, YOU ARE MY HERO!!!!!!! Aww This is awesome. Wonderful Gift!!!
    And Me too! I love winning but I dont really care, its the game I love. THE ADRENALINE!!!

    HA! And I get all melodramatic in games. All of a sudden I start saying stuff like "We must conquer this game....the other players are clever. WE MUST DEFEAT THEM", "I AM VICTORIOUS" and well "NO...I TRUSTED YOU...FIGHT BACK, YOU COWARD FIGHT BACK... *wands out* SECTUMSEMPRA" , "DIE....DIE....DIE!!! WHY DO YOU LIVE HARRY POTTER"---- NO NO Those two are from Harry Potter! I just shout "DIE". Thats helps me release some tension ya know.

    Aww And I LOVE THIS IDEA!! And I LOVE you for posting this. My birthdays coming up in 20 days. I gotta plan something like this. I always wanted to donate blood. Ahhh maybe I can do that too!!!!! (Please let my hemoglobin be enough to do that!)

    P.S. You loved her gift so much..HAD SO MUCH FUN....that the pictures are showing your "GIFT OF HAPPINESS" hat so clearly!!. Is the universe lining stuff up or what?

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    1. Hilarious! Oh and you know what? I totally forgot I was wearing that hat. Pretty apropos, huh???

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    2. Argh, sorry, guys, that was me (points up)

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    3. Really? My birthday's coming up in 19 days! Almost twins!!! :D

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  2. That would be so my game! And that birthday gift idea is awesome!! Sounds as if you had a lot of fun. You really should try geocaching. ;) it has everything you described. Puzzles, picture taking and collecting clues and interesting places. :D

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    1. Yes! I actually meant to mention your geocaching in my post, Becki. I am sure I would love it.

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  3. WOW! I would totally be interested in doing something like that. Sounds awesome! 60th is your number! Good for you guys :D

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    1. I think everyone really had fun. And you could be as serious or not as you wanted, so it was really stress free (and therefore stress-relieving)

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  4. Wow! What a blast! How did Charlotte ever find out about it? What a good idea for birthday presents, to do something "live" and challenging and to have fun. That is really a celebration of life! Thanks for sharing that.

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    1. I think she found it by accident through Groupon. she was as excited and intrigued as I was. And we have an ongoing joke about us being Nancy Drew and her best friend George, so the adventure played right into that!

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  5. Yay! I love experiential gifting! That is one great adventure you ladies had. I'm glad you shared it because it is really inspirational...let's do more together (maybe even support a good cause), and not buy more stuff!

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  6. I love these types of games and all for a great cause. Scavenger hunts used to be my favorite but haven't been on a good one for about 55 years or so.

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    1. I recommend keeping an eye out. They really do make you feel like a big kid. And get the blood flowing.

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  7. Aaahhh!!! That is SO COOL!!! Charlotte is a fabulous gift chooser! Once again, I am jealous of you Toronto folks and all you get to do in your city! (Except for y'all's mayor. I don't like y'all's asshat mayor.)

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    1. I would say that too... But I'm MOVING there next year....TEEHEEEE!!!!

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    2. Yeah, not a big fan of our mayor either.

      Isn't this a great idea?? I do think this dare is happening in many great cities around NA. That said, it's always easier to find cool and different stuff in a big city than a smaller one...

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    3. The fact that he's tearing out the bike lanes made the news down here! WHO TEARS OUT BIKE LANES? Short sighted, closed minded moron Ford! So ignorant! When's y'all's next election? Time to mobilize & oust him! Just goes to show, you've gotta good ole boy Bubbas even in urban Canada! I read CBC news daily, & Ford always makes my teeth grind. He is more loathsome than a troll's fart. Lower than a slug's anus. Anyway...

      I am jealous of your Nuit Blanche & other adventurous opportunities. Even the fundraisers y'all've talked about are so cool & worth the ticket money!

      When I lived in San Diego (when Eddie was a wee thing in a snuggly on my chest or in his stroller), we had a membership to the zoo. My favorites were the polar bears, but Eddie had a special bond with one of the giraffes. Really! Whenever we were there, this one particular giraffe would walk over to the fence & lean his long neck over to look down at Eddie in his stroller for the longest time. And, Eddie would squeal and laugh and reach for the giraffe. They had their visit every single time! It was definitely worth the money to get the membership as we were there 2 or 3 times a month. We also took advantage of the monthly free activities at Balboa Park (e.g. UNICEF Village, International Cottage Sundays, Sunday pipe organ concerts in the amphitheatre, etc.), discount days at the museums, & all sorts of free/affordable group activities through our church.

      I miss the pick up sessions of the informal Celtic jam band at Ireland House in Balboa Park. *happy sigh*

      At 7 weeks, Eddie was in a snuggly on my chest at the M. C. Escher exhibit at the San Diego Museum of Art. Had to start the kid off right! :) A bunch of us from his dad's ship went together the day after Christmas.

      When I lived in Charlotte, NC, in my early 20's, I, like most of my friends, were doing the not-much-money-but-so-much-fun single time in the city. There was The Stomp through the art gallery district. You could always Surf the Train on the old wooden bridge down in Waxhaw (near where my friend Charlotte & some other MK's rented a house on the Wycliff base). $5 got me a ticket to Legally Dead Parrots comedy troupe every weekend in a funky, rundown theatre called The Perch upstairs from the punk store Superior Feet. $5 also got me a ticket to midnight laser Floyd in the planetarium at Discovery Place. Most Sunday nights after evening church service, Erica and I would spend about $3.50 each @ Ben & Jerry's. And, some months, I'd save back money so I could see an alt film at the local arthouse movie theatre.

      I miss those days! :) I miss opportunities & adventures at my fingertips. Now, I have to drive & drive for such stuff. Gas money is prohibitive.

      I'm such a sucker for museums & galleries, esp. small, obscure ones. The next time we're down in Memphis, I'm taking Eddie to the Memphis Fire Museum at one of the Midtown fire stations. Back in June, I made a day of driving up to Piggot to go through the Karl and Matilda Pfeiffer Museum (including stopping in Kennett to grocery shop at Aldi and pick up produce from a mom & pop stand). It's donation at will for entry. $5 gift got me 2 hours of bliss!

      I've already been, & tomorrow, when we are in Jonesboro (hopefully), I plan to take Eddie to the Arkansas history museum on the ASU campus. Again, donation at will for entry. I usually do $5. Everything from real mastodon bones to the history of button making on the Black River to the earthquakes.

      Omigosh, this just reminded me of my favorite place when we lived in Virginia. The Virginia Living Museum in Newport News. http://www.thevlm.org/ <3 <3 <3 !!! The flying squirrel was my favorite little buddy! When we were newlyweds, my ex-husband and I would go on romantic afternoon dates there.

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    4. Aww, the story of Eddie and the giraffe is sooo sweet! You are the queen of finding opportunity wherever there is one -- I love that about you! And I am really mostly new to the whole adventure thing. I was so lazy or uncommitted or lazy about it in my 30s. Now I understand how important these "dates" with myself are. Even when they include other people. Eyes now open!!

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  8. That sounds like such fun! I am so glad you had such a wonderful time of it!

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  9. I might be a wee bit jealous of the day you had! Too bad we don't have anything like that over here. Well I don't count the students bar hopping as such... That is just so wonderful! (your day not bar hopping)

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    1. Ha! You know, I will say though that there are way more things going on than I even realize -- which is probably true of many places around the world. Stuff happens that we might not hear about ... unless we have great friends with open ears/eyes.

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    2. The restaurant day is the only thing that I can think of that would be as interesting as the Urban Dare. Luckily that is very well advertized in social media, so I am quite in on that. Not really taken part yet, as I have had other things to take care while they have been on. Social media is quite good with these kind of things :)

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  10. What a wonderful idea! And it sounds like so much fun... I wish I still had the energy to do something like that. Presents really do start getting difficult as we get older, right? My birthday's coming up in a few weeks, and I honestly have no clue what to suggest to people. Hopefully I won't end up with endless pairs of socks.

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    1. I do think energy (and hips, feet, eyes and stamina) suffer when we get older. But there is always the choice of doing stuff at our own pace. I couldn't believe how much untested energy Char and I mustered last Sat!

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    2. Unfortunately I have next to no energy at all [curses CFS], but I could do it in my wheelchair as long as I had someone very fit to push me!

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    3. Argh, yeah, no energy sucks. But would you consider doing the wheelchair thing with a partner (or two)? In the Urban Dare, for instance, the minimum team was 2, but you could be more per team. I would totally have considered doing this with a wheelchair-bound friend. Your job could be the all-critical map handling and clue reading; skills Char and I often let go as we speed-walked through the city! As for the "dare" courses, they had alternate options for anyone with physical issues. Not certain about the parameters of your sitch -- would even that be too much?

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    4. Oh, definitely! I'm not sure how much I'd be able to manage, but I'd love to have a go. I'll have to see whether they do anything like that over here. :)

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    5. That's the beauty -- there is no harm in not being able to do it, or finish, or win. But a lot of beauty (at least for me) in playing and trying. Please let us know what happens for you! xoxo

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    6. I've been investigating this afternoon and, unfortunately, I can't find anything similar over here. :( I'll keep an eye out, though. Maybe the idea will cross the Atlantic at some point.

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  11. Wow!! How cool is this? it looked like a ton of fun and if it were me doing it I would take note of the much needed exercise too! : )
    It makes it even cooler that it was your birthday present ...how unique? Love it!!!

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  12. Sounds fantastic! I love the idea of giving each other an experience intstead of an object. Might have to steal that idea to use with my best friend next birthdays!

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    1. Oh, I definitely recommend it. We've done a lot of different things so far: plays, musicals, the kayaking, a comedy event, restaurants. And now the dare!

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  14. well done . 60th place is no mean feat . the urban dare sounds really interesting and for a good cause too . I think it would work well over here in Dublin. compared to American cities yes Dublin is small ( hell compared to anything in america Ireland is really small :-) ) but because Dublin has a lot of historical and famous places , both in the centre of the city and the suburbs , the idea of urban dare might work out well here .

    by the way i just wanted to thank steph , shalaka and of course deb and barbara for your kind responses to my last post here a couple of days ago as a comment to debs blog post called nothing . life took another sharp left turn and i couldn't get in here again until today . i was hoping you wouldn't think i have no manners !

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    1. First of all, we would never think you have no manners -- you are so full of good manners here! That said, I am so so sorry that you are getting more sharp left turns -- please know that we are all thinking of you and sending LOVE!!

      As for the dare in Dublin, I think it would be a GREAT city for it. In fact, in a large city like TO, they need to confine it to a walkable parameter. It's far, but it's do-able. I would think a smaller city would feel more intimate and no less exciting.

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  15. What a wonderful present! Glad you had so much fun, Barb!

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  16. how wonderful is this!!! And of course, you look darling in the photos. Do you take a crappy picture? (either one of you, really <3)

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