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12.05.2013

TEN DATES // 04 A SCAVENGER HUNT IN THE VILLAGE


on saturday afternoon a few weekends back, brandon and i snuck away for a scavenger hunt date in the west village. it was such a great time.

we booked the date through HowAboutWe for Couples, our sponsor for the year, who plan curated dates for couples and are helping us celebrate our tenth year of marriage by sending us on ten of their tailored date nights, or in this case, date afternoons. and this was actually one of the free dates they offer to their members once a month. just because they're free doesn't mean they're any less fun or special. we had so much fun on this one, though admittedly i'm a US history nerd a self-proclaimed master of list checker-offing, so stuff like this really gets me going anyway.

the scavenger hunt is an app made by stray boots, a company that sets up walking tours of major US cities (and 3 UK cities) as scavenger hunts. basically you download the app to your smartphone, pick a city, pick an area of your city (there are 14 tours in NYC alone, and i seriously want to take them all!), and then they give you a starting point and a question, you get points for answering correctly (exciting), you get to wander all over the place, and you get to learn things about your city you probably never knew. for example... did you know that 20,000 bodies are buried under washington square park? i didn't. it used to be a public burial ground. i know. it's rad.

and really, i think dates on a saturday afternoon are where it's at. both satur-daytime dates we've been on have been my favorites, i think because it feels so very special and out of the ordinary to go out in the middle of the day, while the sun is up and you're full of pep. going out at night when you've been working hard all day... sometimes it's hard to rally, you know? on a saturday afternoon i feel like brandon gets the best of me and i get the best of him, and it's just so much fun to explore the city with him like we did in the old days. 

and now, highlights from our scavenger hunt, via pop quiz (and a fun giveaway too for our A students!). get your number two pencils sharpened!

QUESTION 01 // which famous building can you see between the arches at washington square? (you guys, it was really sunny out.) (this one's a freebie.)
QUESTION 02 // what do nyu students throw at the garibaldi statue at the start of each new school year? and how handsome is my husband mimicking garibaldi's at-the-ready stance? (extra credit, you don't have to answer that one.)
QUESTION 03 // which member of the beatles once lived on bank street?
QUESTION 04 // this is the northern dispensary, where which famous writer was treated for a head cold? 

we found this tiny little hidden garden on hudson street, with a single solitary rose blooming like crazy in the middle of all the dying foliage. it was really sweet.

QUESTION 05 // how long has mcnulty's been in business? (this one was fairly easy to figure out...)
QUESTION 06 // how many buildings are in this ultra private, gated cul de sac?
BONUS GIVEAWAY QUESTION: grove court is one of the quaintest and most expensive apartment complexes in manhattan. in 2011, a one-bedroom home sold for what record-setting price? (five lucky commenters with correct answers will win free 6-month memberships to HowAboutWe! check the bottom of this post for details.)
no question for this one, it was just the most amazing marionette show i've ever seen.
aaaaand a chair in a tree.

the afternoon was so much fun. along the way we stopped for our favorite snacks--a slice of pizza at joe's and a falafel at mamoun's--and it was just a really great afternoon of learning nerdy stuff about our city's history and being goofy all over the west village. i'm really excited too that we have something fun and new to do with my family when they come for a visit and don't feel like seeing all the same old stuff we always see. and it turns out, this scavenger hunt date was part of a family friendly collection of dates thoughtfully curated by HowAboutWe with new and expecting parents in mind. so there you go! we'd gotten a sitter for the afternoon, but brandon pointed out halfway through that huck would have really enjoyed tagging along with us, and we'd have enjoyed the afternoon just the same. family dates! i'm telling you. that's genius. 

this post was sponsored by HowAboutWe. right now you can get $50 off your first date by clicking HERE! we highly recommend that you do. we are having a blast.

p.s.
ANSWERS
01 // the empire state building! hello.
02 // pennies!
03 // lennon (he moved to the dakota after his place was robbed)
04 // edgar allen poe
05 // um, 1895
06 // six

leave a comment with your best guess at the bonus giveaway question. five winners will be chosen from the pool of correct answers on sunday night and contacted privately. good luck and happy commenting!

83 comments:

  1. 4.2 million! But oh, how charming!

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  2. Murray's Cheesebar is amazing.

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  3. WOAH! I would love to sneak in Grove Court! ...too creepy? Was it $3,900,000??
    Lisa | c/oMKE

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  4. $4,250,000 :-)

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  5. 1800000? Crazy expensive! I know that! :)

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  6. 4.2 million! this is so fun!

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  7. I love nerdy stuff like this too! I did a Watson Adventures scavenger hunt once in Boston and had such a good time.

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  8. 5 Grove Court sold for $4.2 million!

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  9. $4.2 million. i would LOVE to win!

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  10. those marionettes were on humans of new york! did you ever catch the story? http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/puppeteer-once-silent-activist-form-friendship-marionettes-article-1.1484244 i mean BE STILL MY HEART.

    also i'm totally making my friends do this scavenger hunt with me next time i visit them in the city. thanks for the tip! friend dates are important too :)

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  11. $4,250,000 and your hair looks rad!

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  12. $4.2 million (which, OMG insane!)

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  13. i'm gonna go with $4.25 million. these are such fun dates!

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  14. 4 and a quarter mil...damn, gina.

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  15. Lots of great culture and history in New York...

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  16. 4.2 million... wouldn't it be nice

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  17. That puppet guy creeps me out every time I walk through the park to the subway! AH!

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  18. $3.9 million

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  19. I'm going with $4.2 million, too. (And oh boy would I love to win these dates!!)

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  20. 4.2 Mill!!

    (Trivia: My bf's mom and dad carved their name into Joe's table when they were 25, at the same age as they were, my BF and I did it too!)

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  21. how adorable! my dad grew up on bank street! i recently went to visit his childhood home. swoon. that village gets ya. :)

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  22. Hey (Nataliejean)!
    I dug a bit, and I'm going with 3.9 million! ldjuhasz at gmail dot com

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  23. I'm also going with 3.9 million. This trivia was really fun! I've been loving these posts for creative dates around the city.
    kelseycole11@gmail.com

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  24. Oh man, this is pushing aaaaaaaall of my nerd buttons. Isn't Grove Court where Julianne Moore's stunna of a town-home is? The one with the amazing garden that she tried to sell for like, twelve million dollars? I could be totally wrong. Either way, I will go with a bonus round answer of 4.2 million, and then I will chuckle, because I once heard those homes were originally built for poor tradespeople. Hello, inflation!

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  25. I live in Boston and am always shocked at the house prices. I was going to guess four or five million. But I looked it up and I wasent far off from the 4.2 million! I mean, what's $17,000 a month ;) I would love to do dates like this in Boston! ashleywalch@gmail.com

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  26. $4.25 Mill Baby! And is How About We in SLC? Cause, Holla, you could come do a double date with us when you're here! YAY!

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  27. 4.2 million. So, a small chunk of change. Nothing crazy. (AHHH 4.2 million?!?! Oh this crazy city we live in.)

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  28. 4.25 million dollars!!

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  29. I'm gonna go with 4.25 million! Good luck everyone!

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  30. 4.25 million. What a fun date!

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  31. 3 million!!? That's my guess.

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  32. 3 million!!? That's my guess.

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  33. 4.2 million? (And I didn't look at everyone else's answer before I guessed that! Ha!) I would flip my lid to win this. My husband and I are moving to NYC in January and this would be a perfect way to kick off our new adventure in NYC, especially with the family friendly dates. (No finding a babysitter!)

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  34. 4.2 mill? Whatever it is, it must be a huge chunk of change!

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  35. I love these How About We posts! And I love that you get a chance to hang with your boo while you're doing your job. :) Also, when we lived in NYC I always used to love walking by Grove Court and daydream about what life was like in there! (Looked it up -- 4.25 million big ones. Zoinks.)

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  36. Looks like it was listed for $4.2 million, so we'll go with that. Yikes. What a great idea for a date outing, though! Thanks for the great giveaway.

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  37. $4.2M
    I'll take it!

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  38. Those puppeteers were on Humans of New York! Their story is so cute!
    http://www.humansofnewyork.com/post/63873232032/this-is-such-a-cool-story-about-a-month-ago-i

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  39. curated dates sound like a lot of fun and make it easy & stress free! I would love to do this in Boston. My answer is 4.25 million.

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  40. $4.2 M! I would love to go on some of these fun dates!

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  41. $3,500,000 -maybe a bit less. Hope I get it right.

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  42. 4.25 million, but I think it's worth every penny!

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  43. $4,250,000 - I wrote out all the 0's, I should win, haha! These dates sound so fun! xo

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  44. $4.25 million! Grove Court's halloween pumpkin display is always so great. There are similar style gated culs-de-sac nearby too.. Milligan place is right next to the Think Pink salon on 6th and 10th and Patchin Place around the corner on 10th. love them

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  45. one billllllion dollarsss

    or 5mil

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  46. 4.2 million dollars...how beautiful are they, though!?

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  47. $4.2 million! When I was an NYU student I used to love looking at these, they looked just a little more comfortable than my dorm room! Would love to wind date for me. And my fiancé!

    Xokatrinamariexo@yahoo.com

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  48. 3.4 million dollars!? Lucky (and rich!) folks!

    Abbyhansen2006@gmail.com

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  49. An easy 4.2 mill ;) gorgeous place! I hope how about we comes to boston soon! We wouldn't mind hopping over to NYC for dates though :)

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  50. 4.2 million! holy moly macaroni...but seriously. I'm sure it's worth it to have that quaint quiet little bubble of greatness and history. Luckyyyy.

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  51. I better go with 4.2 million as well!

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  52. Oh man. I'm on a weekend away but had to comment before this ends! I love googling things, so you bet I'll be snuggling up when I get home to learn more about this place!! Anywho- I'm seeing a sale price of 3,900,000!?!(Cause thank goodness the buyers got a deal off asking of 4.2! ;) I'd love to try out HowAbout We in our neck of the woods!

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  53. 4.2 million! That's nuts!

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  54. what editor do you use to edit your pictures? I just got a new camera and was an iphone only person --double shame I know--and now I want my camera pictures to look like my iphone ones, that look like yours now! haha! Did that make sense?

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  55. Sold for $3.9 December 2011. What a charming little cottage! And fun date!

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  56. Kinda creepy... you can find ANYTHING on google... :) It sold for $4.25 million, and it is BEAUTIFUL... but WAY above my pay grade. :) Looks like a super fun afternoon!

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  57. 4.2 million is insaaaane. You two are precious!

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