Zuri Bennett and her mom Nancy lived off Doritos and jellybeans for two days (well, it felt like it), but on the other side of those sugar-fueled 48 hours, they emerged champions. The Alibi’s third annual Scavenger Hunt asked contestants to find 79 items in our city over the course of a weekend. More than 90 teams signed up, and many came close to the target. But 20-year-old Bennett (escorted around town and photographed by her fellow brainstormer) finished with a considerable lead. Among the hard-to-find items Team Bennett spotted were an opened fire hydrant, a recumbent bicyclist (an outdoor one; not someone at the gym), a pre-1980 Balloon Fiesta T-shirt, a scary clown (challenging because Bennett is petrified of clowns), folk artist Steve White in his Pez jacket (and now matching Pez pants and crown; they even stayed awhile to play putt-putt in his backyard), a real rainbow, and a hand-crafted double rainbow made from glasses of water and sunlight (this partial-pointer was inspired from episodes of "Bill Nye the Science Guy").What was the hardest thing to find? "Probably the McCain sign. We drove everywhere, and we could only find that one. Tons of Obama signs, but only one McCain."Bennett says they didn’t have a strategy. "We didn’t really know where to go; we were just wandering around."That was partially the point. Two years ago, we here at the Alibi thought about the meaning of our annual Survival Guide. The reasoning behind this issue is to help people get to know their city, whether they just moved here or were born in its backyard. Some of that can be done through advice and providing important contacts and resources, articles about which are strewn throughout this issue (look for the flashy "Survival Guide" button peppering pages). But the most helpful thing, we thought, would be to get people looking around their city in ways they hadn’t done before. Where would you go to find a caged chicken? A candidate for Congress? A pay phone? And our annual Scavenger Hunt was born. We hope those of you who participated had a blast, and we hope those of you who didn’t do it have a blast looking at their exploits.For their admirable accomplishments, Team Bennett will receive two free passes to the Guild Cinema, $30 in gift certificates to Taj Palace Indian Restaurant, a $20 gift certificate to Tucanos Brazilian Grill, $20 in gift certificates to Hinkle Family Fun Center, a $25 gift certificate to JC’s New York Pizza Department, $40 in gift certificates to the Calico Café, $30 in gift certificates to the Central Park Hair Studio and a $70 gift certificate to the 8 th Street House of Natural Therapeutics, a prize package worth more than $240.Congratulations, Team Bennett. Now on with the show.
The List
Sunflower (10) Alibi box (10)Abandoned or lost hubcap (15)VW bus (15)Hybrid vehicle (15)The Rail Runner (15)Gertrude Zachary’s castle (15)Antique doll (15)Kachina doll (15)Piñata (15)Yard sign for Obama (15)Yard sign for McCain (15)"No loitering" sign (15)Local band flyer (15)Someone playing Guitar Hero (15)Taco cart (20)Indian taco (20)Pupusa (20)Menudo (20)You with a runner (20)You with a cyclist (20)You in line to get into a concert (20)You grilling at a barbecue (20)You climbing a tree at a park (20)Tire swing (20)Yard sign for Ralph Nader (20)Pay phone (with the phonebook still attached) (25)A durian (25)Single adobe brick (25)Jackrabbit (25)Toad (25)Roadrunner (25)Airplane with a propeller (25)A bucket of Mexican beers (25)Pinball machine (30)Postal worker in shorts (30)Someone with penciled-on eyebrows (30)Someone with penciled-on facial hair (30)Recumbent cyclist (30)Someone smoking a cigar (30)Tanoan security guard (30)Hidden Park (35)Frohawk (35)Caged chickens (35)South Sandia Peak (35)Flea market in Albuquerque (35)You standing on a green at North Campus Golf Course (35)Something ironic (35)A burnt section of the Bosque (40)The DNC NM building (40)The RNC NM building (40)Consulate of Mexico (40)Italian Vice Consulate (40)Awesome graffiti (40)You bouncing on a fun jump (also known as a jumpy castle) (40)Film/television crew in action (40)Opened fire hydrant (45)Billboard referencing UFOs or aliens (45)Local organic farmer (50)Scary clown (a human, in person) (50)You with a busker (50)You with a local band (50)You with a local actor (50)You reading a banned book at the library (50)Another unrelated team taking photos for the Scavenger Hunt (50)Rainbow (50)Waterfall in the Sandias (60)Society for Creative Anachronism jousters or swordfighters (60)Inside the gondola of a hot air balloon (60)Pre-1980 Balloon Fiesta T-shirt (60)With Orbit the Isotopes’ mascot (60)You with Dick Knipfing (70)You with folk artist Steve White in his Pez jacket (70)You with a set of triplets (male or female—must be human) (70)You with The Don (Schrader) (70)You with Marty’s Dog, Duke (80)You with a famous actor (80)You with a candidate for Congress (80)Double rainbow (100)
