I haven't posted in a while. The first couple of clues I thought the clue writer was referring to the present pandemic, or maybe an historical reference to the Spanish flu of 1918/1919. So, I tried to connect parks history with 1918.I started to veer toward Harriet Island, hoping that Harriet Tubman was a math ('figure') teacher. She was a public school teacher, not necessarily math. I thought 'old sport' line could be referring to a dog owner talking to their dog ( a dog park nearby), or 'old sport' might literally mean a very old sport like the Hmong Tuj Lub, which has a field in Phalen-Keller Regional Park, referenced in a previous Treasure Hunt. But then, I googled 'old sport' and got a line from The Great Gatsby, by the St. Paul born F. Scott Fitzgerald. I looked where he was born and found a nondescript park near his birth home in St. Paul. Then, other clues led me back to the river area (shifting sands, etc.) so I read up on F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby and found a connection to boating. Aha!, I thought. The Minnesota Boat Club, on Raspberry Island is close to Harriet Island. And F. Scott and Zelda used to stay at/frequent the White Bear Yacht Club in White Bear Lake. There is the St. Paul Yacht Club at Harriet Island, if the Fitzgerald link is just to imply a St. Paul park. Then a clue about 'shifting sands' again told me a park on the Mississippi River, the clue about not 'punting' (a punt is a type of flat-bottomed boat) means going for it, or full steam ahead, which led me to think of the steamboats/riverboats at Harriet Island. When you are on the river you want to avoid the 'shifting sand bars' or you'll run aground. Then clue 5 came out and I thought maybe the clue writer(s) were harking back to the time(s) they had egg on their faces in 2004 (putting the medallion in a real donut, only to have some animal transport it to a different hiding place, not referred to in the clues) or 2007, when it was found at Hidden Falls Park after only 3 clues because the hider forgot about their footprints in the snow being discovered leading to the hiding spot. so, I looked up the clues to these hunts of 2004 and 2007. I found out that the word 'level' led to the Cleveland Street name that led the finders to the medallion. So, I looked on google maps for Hidden Falls Park and I find a Kenneth Street down from Cleveland (ave/st) leading to Hidden Falls. The 'beyond our ken' clue made me think it was at Hidden Falls, beyond/down from Kenneth St. So, the river was still in play. The 'it'll be a ball' clue was a reference again to the red balls on the power lines that cross the river near Hidden Falls. There's a dog park in Minnehaha Park across from Hidden Falls. Then, Clue 6 comes out and, to me, it screams COMO Park. So, I searched some more on google for history, and I couldn't connect everything in the clue(s) to Como. The 'life as slow as molasses' still made me think of a Mark Twain quote or something about life on the Mississippi River, something maybe Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn would have said. So, I searched some more on Mark Twin, and in his book 'Life On the Mississippi', there is a chapter on White Bear Lake (talking about the legend of how the name came about form Indian ( Native American) lore. Then I looked up history of White Bear Lake and found that some of the gangsters of the '30's would hide out here and how there are some drug/alcohol rehabilitation centers here ('a place to cover and recover'), how the Native Americans had/made maple sugar ( the 'slow as molasses' maybe referring to the 1919 Boston Molasses Flood disaster) in the area, and how it was a summer resort for people escaping the life of the cities, etc. So, now, I think, White Bear Lake park is the spot, as long as it's in Ramsey County.
we were out earlier and had seen some action at Central Park, more so on the east end. Im finding it hard to nail down a single park. Out at night? follow the light has been in my head for a bit
clue 5 is giving me a swede hollow vibe - life was old fashioned (hence the childhood game reference) but then it went all to hell when the city came and destroyed the houses.
I was looking back at clue 3 which mentions schemes maybe rhyming schemes, you could change the "follow the light" to fort to rhyme with cavort. probably a stretch.
Matoska Park has a gazebo and its used for weddings it might fit the "no time for cold feet", across the lake from dellwood where fitz hung out. small park though and I believe others have scoped out or even dug it up.
I didn't even think about what county Birchwood was in. I guess that explains why I never heard of the park near there. As for Central, certainly "rosey" would make you think of that. If you believe the clues are making references to 2007, that might also put you at Central. There's probably more but I haven't looked at it that much.
That is also possible, and I remember from the last WBL hunt that Ma Barker and her gang hid up there. So I wouldn't rule WBL out. I think there is a Jay (Gatsby) street in Birchwood on the south side of the lake.
Could this possibly refer to Fort Snelling even though it is across the river? Hmmm Fort Snelling was never attacked so life there would have been pretty slow.
On the one hand this clue could be talking about a shady place with BBQ grills and picnic tables. A place to take cover could mean a picnic shelter. But two things bother me in this clue. One is a place to recover. What does that mean? That's not something you would normally do in a park. Maybe if you had been playing something you might need to recover, but is there something special there that helps you with that? Or does it mean there is a hospital or some such thing nearby?
The other thing that bothers me is when it says life *was* slow as molasses. That suggests that it isn't now, and some aspect of this place is about its past.
The Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt is part of the St. Paul Winter Carnival every year. While the prize can only go to one winner, The Allison Wonderland is dedicated to the community spirit of treasure hunting. Here, not only will you find out about the Pre-Dig Gig, the Rehash Bash, and various other social events, but we also discuss the clues here in a team effort to decipher them (albeit not always successfully). This is a place to discuss ideas respectfully, report on what's happening "on the ground", and provide each other with useful information. This is a public group so expect that anything posted will be seen by everyone.