Fiveaversary Scavenger Hunt Answers

It was quite a ride through the month of May, and there was certainly a lot of interest shown in the "fiveaversary" scavenger hunt. As promised, this post wraps up the month with the revelation of the answers to the twenty-three questions. (Was that too many?)

Congratulations to Rachel Durs, who won the $25 Amazon gift card! Rachel was the only one to submit correct answers to every single question, including the bonuses. Here are the answers, along with links to the post (or posts) where you could find each answer.

Executive Mansion, Harrisburg, Dauphin County

Happy #143Day, Pennsylvania! This annual observance was inspired by one of my personal heroes, Mr. Rogers, whose personal favorite number was 143 - because it represents the number of letters in "I love you." So every year on the 143rd day of the year, Pennsylvanians are urged to commit acts of kindness in his memory, and share them on social media. Read all about it here.

The scavenger hunt ends tonight! 11:59 Eastern time, to be precise, so one minute before midnight at my local time. (However, if you're a couple minutes late, I won't know because I'll probably be asleep. So go ahead and submit anyway.) I can tell, based on the hit count on the posts containing the correct answers, that a lot of people have been trying to answer the questions, which is very exciting for me - thank you for the enthusiasm! Remember, you don't have to get all the answers right to win a prize, but the more right answers you have, the better your chances are. Don't forget to check the Facebook page to see all the clues I've been providing all month, and here's one last one: The answer to bonus question #2 is found in no less than three different blog posts, and if you're really stuck, you might find it helpful to go back to the beginning. Next week's post will reveal the answers and the winners!

Meanwhile, on to today's post. I really thought this would be the week where I'd have to finally repeat a county for the first time all year. But this past Saturday was the quarterly meeting of the White Rose Irregulars of York, and after discussing all things Sherlockian, my stepdad Ravi very generously took a detour through Harrisburg on the way home to help me collect some markers there. I came away with twelve thanks to his driving and my bff Andrea's talent for spotting them, so I'm doing a Dauphin County post for the first time in quite a while.

Old Forge, Lackawanna County

Only one week remaining to get your answers in for the scavenger hunt! I'm starting to worry I made it too difficult, but I really just wanted everyone to have fun trying to find the answers. Here's a fresh clue for my readers: The Fulton Opera House is not the answer to any of the questions, but it's mentioned in the blog posts about the men who are the answers to questions #6 and #10. Remember, answers must be submitted by midnight next Wednesday! Even if you don't have them all, you can still enter, because the winners will be determined by who has the most correct answers. Feel free to guess if you get stumped!

This past weekend I made a trip to Bethlehem for their fine arts festival, with one particular goal in mind - I wanted to meet up with Jim Cheney, the owner of the marvelous Uncovering PA website. We had a very nice chat; not only are we familiar with and admirers of one another's work, but we also have a mutual acquaintance in one of the members of my Sherlock Holmes club. I also got a signed copy of his wonderful book, Waterfalls of Pennsylvania, which I heartily recommend to nature lovers and hiking enthusiasts. Thanks again, Jim, it was great to meet you!

By complete coincidence (no, really), Jim is one of my sources for today's blog post, which is the first one ever for Lackawanna County. My bff Andrea and I took advantage of a mutual day off and went up to the southernmost corner to collect a few markers; I was a little torn about which one to cover today, to inaugurate the county, but here's the one I chose.

Doylestown Agricultural Works, Doylestown, Bucks County

It looks like a lot of people are taking interest in the "fiveaversary" scavenger hunt, and I'm excited about it! I've shared a few clues on the blog's social media outlets already, so if you're not already following the Facebook or Twitter, definitely hop over there to read those. Meanwhile, here's a clue for everyone: The answers to questions #7 and #15 have the same first name, and that's pretty much the only thing they have in common. You've got just two more weeks to submit your answers - good luck!

As for the quest, I said last week that it was the final week of not repeating a county this year. I was wrong! I was recently able to take a couple of unexpected side quests and add a bit more to my list of captured markers. This past Sunday, the plans that I had with my youngest sister Liza were upended, and she surprised me by proposing we go and collect some markers instead. We had an excellent day in Doylestown, where we toured the Mercer Museum and she delighted the docent with her exclamation of "Wow!" upon seeing the central room. After that we visited Peace Valley Lavender Farm, which was new to us both; her whole car smelled like lavender for the rest of the day from everything we bought. Following lunch, we had some delicious ice cream at Evolution Candy on State Street. Before heading home, we went to Le Macaron Doylestown, on Oakland Avenue, and treated ourselves to gourmet cookies. (Hi Steve! Thanks for the Facebook follow!) I definitely recommend all of these places for the next time you're in the area, and I particularly recommend the lemon macarons, which were divine.

And I managed to get five markers, which means I've got almost all of the Doylestown markers now, and today we're going to look at one of them.

New Goshenhoppen Reformed Church, East Greenville, Montgomery County

We're kicking off the fifth month of the year, and thus far I've managed to do a marker from a different county every week. This is the last week I'll be able to say that, but it's still kind of exciting!

Speaking of exciting, if you haven't already heard, the big news I promised last week has been unveiled on social media and in the monthly newsletter. This month marks the blog's fifth birthday! To celebrate the "fiveaversary," as I've dubbed it, I've launched a virtual scavenger hunt. You don't have to go anywhere or hunt down any physical objects; you just have to go through the blog and find the answers to questions about the people featured on markers or in the stories behind them. There's some silliness and some shameless self-promotion and some great prizes too! Head over to this page to read all the guidelines and find out how to get started. Good luck!

Meanwhile, for today's quest, my bff Andrea and I took a drive down to Montgomery County last week to grab a couple of markers, since I hadn't done anything there in quite a while. We found this beautiful church tucked out of the way in East Greenville, and if I'd been alone I probably would have spent an hour or two looking through their old churchyard at the 18th century headstones.