“The Story of Tulsa” and the 918 Day Scavenger Hunt

I blogged about this last year, when Joss and I participated in our first 918 Day Scavenger Hunt, along with blogger Kristi Roe Owen and her son Arthur. However, since this year’s hunt took us to different places – and I have a ton of photos on my phone – I’m doing it again!

Least year, the hunt revolved around honoring first responders. Clues took us to various fire stations and police-oriented locations, primarily. This year, the theme was more broad, which made the clues a lot easier to interpret! It’s easier to suss out the meaning of a clue guiding you to the Golden Driller than to one of our many fire stations. But I did love learning so much about them last year.

The “Story of Tulsa” theme led us to some iconic Tulsa locations. Many of which we love to visit routinely anyway – like Buck Atom’s. Others, that could lead to important conversations, like Vernon AME Church in the Greenwood District. (Learn more at savingplaces.org/stories/vernon-ame-church-continues-its-mission-100-years-after-the-tulsa-race-massacre.)

Official T-shirts printed by Mythic City

The hunt lasted about 3 hours, so of course Joss was ready to call it a day before then. It started at Owen Park and ended at Mother Road Market. I kept him going just a bit longer with promises of sushi. All in all, we had a wonderful experience and visited 16 places altogether, I think. (Although unfortunately we never found the scavenger hunt sign at Utica Square!)

Here are some of the places we visited. How many have you been to?

Philtower Building, which I now know has been known as “The Queen of the Tulsa Skyline”

The Church Studio

Council Oak Tree

Visitors Center at The Shops at Mother Road Market

Next Year’s 918 Day Scavenger Hunt

If you missed this year’s hunt, feel free to take inspiration from these photos to make your own mini tour of Tulsa. Or, follow the City of Tulsa on Facebook so you don’t miss details about next year’s scavenger hunt. You do have to sign up in advance (up to four people per team), so keep an eye out for that information leading up to Sept. 18.

The clues can take you all over town. This year, I wasn’t feeling up to a morning of long driving, so we stuck to clues located near downtown and Mother Road Market. So I know we didn’t win, but it was still fun. Hopefully we’ll be back in 2024!