Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Explore the possibilities
Treasure hunts offer fun and prizes.
Attention, eagle-eyed scavengers: Get ready for a $1,000 Miami treasure hunt.
McDonald’s is sponsoring the outdoor cash grab, which will kick off at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at the entrance to the Burger Beast Museum at Magic City Casino. The hunt is free, and if you find the treasure, you keep it, no questions asked.
This modern-day quest for riches is called Florida Treasure Hunts, founded by Bo Griswold, a Durango, Colo., general contractor who started the cash hunts in his hometown to encourage outdoor exercise for children and families. This is the first South Florida hunt.
“It’s morphed into this big thing,” says Griswold, 34, who says adults enjoy treasure-hunting as much as children. “We’re trying to get people away from playing video games all day and have a sense of adventure.”
To participate in the hunt, like the Florida Treasure Hunts Facebook group, which will post photographs and “scrolls,” or handwritten riddles, that hint at the location of the hidden clues. The group’s followers, which number more than 24,000, can decipher the clues and scour Miami landmarks, bays, parks and parking lots for the next scroll.
“The secret to being a great hunter is just knowing your way around Miami landmarks,” Griswold says. “That’s it. And having a positive attitude.”
There will be 10 clue stops, the first of which can be found at the Burger Beast Museum. The entire hunt should last an hour, Griswold says, so late arrivals may be shut out.
Along with $1,000, the winning treasure seeker will receive free McDonald’s breakfast for a year, says Angele Busch, a spokeswoman for the 185 McDonald’s locations in Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties that are providing the cash.
When the first Colorado hunts started 18 months ago, Griswold says he and his employees helped to finance the grassroots contests. But when the hunts surged in popularity, local businesses and corporations began reaching out to foot the prizes.
Can’t make it to Miami? A second Florida Treasure Hunt will begin at noon Saturday at the One 2 Escape Room in Davie. This one isn’t free: Participants who pay the escape room’s $47 admission can participate in the hunt, which begins inside a bank-vault-themed room.
Participants must solve clues inside the escape room and around Broward County, One 2 Escape Room owner Ben Becker says. The prize will come from a percentage of the pool of escape-room admissions collected between Aug. 5 and Aug. 12, with the final treasure hunt taking place on Aug. 12.
“We don’t know what the total prize will be, but we estimate it will be at least $2,000,” Becker says. “No matter what, there will be at least $500 up for grabs, because we plan to contribute our own money to the pot.” The $1,000 Florida Treasure Hunt will begin at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, at Magic City Casino, 450 NW 37th Ave., Miami. Admission is free. Go to FloridaTreasureHunts.com.