Another weekend was upon us, and another opportunity to play hide and seek in the Twin Cities had blanketed the metro area. The weather hadn’t quite made up its mind on how it would like to proceed. The sun was forcing its rays through a thin layer of clouds while I walked to my hiding place of choice. Later, it would rain. You can’t be surprised at the antics of spring.
This week’s social hunting was accompanied by the largest prize to date. Unless Girl Scout cookies are really your thing. The prize this week was a $50 gift certificate to the Threadless online t-shirt store. If you have never been there, check them out. Be careful, as you may die from delight.
So what, you ask, was the hiding place for the weekend? None other than the Foshay Tower in downtown Minneapolis, of course!
More specifically, my hiding spot was Keys Cafe in the Foshay Tower. I would have hidden on the only observation deck in Minneapolis, but it was closed. And if it weren’t closed, it would have cost $4. No, thank you.
I ordered a cup of turkey and wild rice soup and a cup of coffee. It was slightly before noon, and I was getting anxious, so I sent out the first very basic clue.
West of the river.
That’s right. I wasn’t in St. Paul. That’ll be a fine enough start for people who need a general idea of where to look. Or, rather, where not to look.
Noon came, and it was time for my first real clue.
It has a MySpace page.
That’s right. The Foshay Tower has a MySpace page. Unfortunately, it doesn’t blog. We’ll never hear it say things like “I wish I had an umbrella” or “I can resist winds up to 400 mph.”
Fifteen minutes pass, and my soup is gone. All signs point to the need for another clue.
Home to only Norwegian consulate in the midwest.
This, apparently, was a dead give away. Five minutes after the clue was given, I got a few text messages stating that I was at the Foshay Tower. D’oh. I Googled that clue before and came up with nothing! Oh well.
And, as of one and a half months ago, the Norwegian consulate was no longer located in the Foshay Tower. It was actually in the AT&T Tower across the street. Damn you, Wikipedia. I’m glad I wasn’t writing a report for school.
Since people were already on my scent, I ordered some Huevos Rancheros and a Bloody Mary. I had never consumed a Bloody Mary before, and found that I was, indeed, missing out on a tasty way to consume vegetables and alcohol and spices.
With my food ordered from the fantastically polite waitress, it was time for another clue. I had plenty of clues, and wanted to get the witty ones out before I was found.
Can only beg your pardon from a tru man.
President Truman pardoned Wilbur Foshay, who was sent to Levenworth Penitentiary for mail fraud three years after the Foshay Tower opened. Wilbur Foshay spent three years in Levenworth, before his sentence was commuted by FDR. But it was Truman who did the actual pardoning a couple years later.
