Blackbeards Lost Treasure

"As the Delaware Bay served as the entry point to the ports of Philadelphia, heavily laden and slow moving ships would begin their long journeys into the channel. Pirates who had hidden their sloops and penances in the marshy reeds would wait for the appropriate moment to strike quickly at these vessels and plunder their goods."
 
"Another legendary group of bandits that roamed the shores of cape May were the "Mooncussers." These crafty rogues would form a line of horses along the beach and hang lanterns from the saddles. On dark and moonless nights, when navigation in the bay was difficult, vessels would see the row of lights upon the shore. Thinking it was another ship; they would attempt to come alongside to assist in navigation. Instead the vessels would run aground; at which the Mooncussers would launch small boats from the shore and row out to plunder the stranded vessels. They were so-called, as their crafty plan could not be successful on moonlit nights."
 
"There is evidence to support that Blackbeard, Captain Kidd and Stede Bonnet buried treasure in and around Cape May. One popular site believed to be the resting place of some of Blackbeard's treasure is Higby's Beach. However as the shoreline has suffered tremendous erosion, the area is now Federally protected and thus digging is not permitted."

"A sight believed to contain Captain Kidd's treasure is in the area of Del Haven. Recently discovered maps and documents point to a site directly under a commercial professional complex of buildings. The treasure, if there at all, would be located beneath the concrete foundations of the structures."

"Stede Bonnet's treasure is believed to be buried along the Delaware Bay, perhaps as some sources indicate, in the vicinity north of the Cape May - Lewes Ferry Terminal. Though sources indicate it was buried near the original settlement of Town Bank, it could very well lie beneath the waves now as the village has been flooded by natural erosion."

"From time to time coins wash up along the beach along with jewelry and occasionally a precious stone. Other items have been found as well that indicate a once strong pirate presence in the area. Cold Springs Village (located in Erma) offers a realistic view of life during these times."
excerpt above taken from http://www.jerseyshorepirates.com/lore.php

Pirate Adventure Story
Blackbeard’s Lost Treasure was recently found by a group of thieves but they cannot recover it for fear of getting caught.  Instead they moved the treasure and buried it on the beach in Cape May.  They left clues so that they would remember where they buried it.  We have good information that the key to unlocking the mystery lies in an old antique shop in Cape May.  Hidden behind an old painting in the Antique shop is supposedly some sort of map or directions on how to find this treasure.  Find that painting and you will be embarking on an epic journey to find Blackbeard’s lost treasure.

Puzzles
An old painting is planted in an Antique Shop. The secret agents are sent a letter telling them that there is good information that a clue to finding the buried treasure is hidden behind the painting and they are given a description of the painting and told in what shop to look.

When they find the painting and find the hidden map it will give them a clue to go and look for a book in the library

Library or Book store book Search for Treasure Island.

This will make the kids read or be read a book to figure out where to find the next clue and how to use it.  We can read the book to the boys on the beach or at night on the deck. Maybe look for an abridged version

Pirate Spyglass - The spyglass could have the next clue etched in the glass so that when you look through it you read the clue. Telling them to take the spyglass apart to find the hidden map inside

Hidden Map Inside - Handmade paper and hand drawn must be BIG (36”x24”) Handmade will make it look authentic. The map could have a “fake” trail and the real one in invisible ink. Or the real map could be inside the fake one. Something tricky.

Treasure Chest (reverse geocache box)  - Contains a compass and a clue telling them where to dig for the treasure

Hidden Treasure - A treasure chest filled with old gold dubloons and buried “20 paces South” this could be where the compass comes in (or something like that) from a notable landmark

A congratulatory Letter from the Junior Adventurer Society will be sent to the boys when they get home telling them of the fate of the thieves who stole the treasure and re-buried it and that for all of their hard work the treasure is theirs to keep.

Materials

1. Old Painting
2. Spyglass
3. Map
4. Reverse Geocache box
5. Compass
6. Treasure chest
7. Gold Doubloons

Everyone's Got a Library

I discussed this project with a good friend of mine and a fantastic artist, Kenny Delio.  You can see some of his ceramics and sculpture at kennydelio.com and on YouTube.

He had some great ideas about the project and said he would help me to fabricate anything that I needed for the puzzles.

He gave me some ideas on how to abstract the adventures so that they would work for any location.  The idea is that everyone's got a library...and a school, and a post office, and a hospital, bank, etc.

So the clues could be to go and check out book at the local library ( a book that would be in every library) to receive a message using words from specific, pages/paragraphs/sentences.

The parents could hide clues "under a bush" at the post office.

It's a great idea to make heavy use of the Library.  The first requirement of becoming a Junior Adventurer Society agent is that the agent get a Library card ad keep it safe as it will be a critical tool in completing their missions.

This will tie directly into the educational aspect of the Junior Adventurer Society.  The kids will learn about History and Biology and Mechanics and Science....this will be a huge selling point for parents I believe.

Kenny also had the idea of pitching it to schools and churches and other youth groups as an activity for the kids to do.  This has huge revenue potential.

Summer Vacations

This week i am traveling to colorado for work, and as i am sitting here on the plane at 30000 ft somewhere above Ohio, i'm thinking about a colorado ghost town adventure. Something that can be tailored for a family on a wild west camping/RV trip.
We are also planning a trip to Deer Isle, Maine this summer, for a bi-annual pilgramage with the Pickled Travellers that will certainly yield some great ideas.
In a few weeks we will be in Disney World and we could do something there as well, maybe involving Captain Hook and Peter Pan.
I have http://junioradventurersociety.com somewhat up. I now need to flush out some content.
What i envision is having the main page where kids can check out some sample mission logs and some of the characters of the stories and have a link to "Petition for Admission to the Society". although all applicant will be accepted, i want to give the allure of exclusivity.
There will be an area where parents can get information about the society, and how they will play a role in the adventures.
I'm toying with the idea of having some sort of token that the kids will "unlock" after completing an adventure. This will give them an incentive to progress further through the adventures.
I plan to use the website heavily as a component of the games. The member will logon to the website to do certain research or receive dossiers about some characters.
My biggest challenge is going to be abstracting the adventures enough so as to not require alot of tailoring for each member. The reason for this is two fold. One, it would require a lot of work on my end as the society grows, and two, I suspect parents would not be willing to provide a lot of personal info, such as maps of their houses/neighborhoods. First that would be time consuming for the parents and second, it would be a privacy concern.
So the login area for the agents would consist of a tab with their current mission, a dossier on each of the characters that they have unlocked, a place to purchase gear that they have unlocked, a page on instructions on how to use the gear that they have and a correspondence area.
I'd like the correspndance to be both online and thru snail mail...kids love getting stuff in the mail and i think that is an important component. I need to keep them on the hook.
I know i've been talking alot about "missions" lately but i need to get my terms correct.
I need to decide between missions and adventures. Missions infer a finish line whereas adventures are more about the discovery and journey of the game. Maybe some sorts of games lend themselves to the "missions" designation, while others belong as "adventures".
Also, i need to decide between calling the kids agents, special agents, secret agents, adventurers, or something else completely.
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Location:Colorado Springs, Colorado

A Mile in Their Shoes

In order to effectively develop a story for the boys, i think it will be a worthwhile exercise to put myself in a boy's place in life once again by picking up some of the books of my youth.

My mission this summer is to re-read some of my favorite books when I was a boy. Not only do i think it will be very helpful in understanding how kids work, but it will also be a special saunter down memory lane, and a great way to spend the summer.

The Hardy Boys	Three Investigators
Encyclopedia Brown	Famous Five

Top Secret Correspondence

MAKE: Magazine continues to be an incredible source of inspiration for this project.  Check out the video above for Top Secret instructions on how to convert our regular printer into an Invisible Ink Printer

The Great Outdoors

As camping season opens, I wanted to share another interest I've had for the past year or so. While I haven't had an opportunity to actually build one yet, the Teardrop Trailer is on my to do list. Check out the T&TTT Forums here for some great build photos and tricks of the trade.

A great weekend adventure on a camping trip could revolve around a Native American or Frontiersman Legend.


I would like each adventure to be like a real-life Hardy Boys or Three Investigator's novel. The Three Investigators series was an Alfred Hitchcock backed series of books that had three main characters, Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw, and Bob Andrews. Jupiter lived with his aunt and uncle who owned a junk yard. in the back corner of the junk yard, burried under piles and piles of junk was an old rundown motorhome that the boys excavated a tunnel to, to use as their club house. I thought that this was the most amazing concept as a young boy...perhaps I can use that somehow

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The Junior Adventurer Society

The Junior Adventurer Society is over 250 years old. Founded in 1749 by Benjamin Franklin's grandfather, Isaiah, it is home to some of the greatest minds in human history. Albert Einstein, Frederick Douglas, Mark Twain, George Washington...the list goes on and on.

When the time is right, Finn and Felix, will have invitations extended to them to join this super secret society, where they will be asked to explore, investigate and hunt down some of the greatest mysteries of all time.

They will receive a Top Secret letter in the mail saying that they have been selected to join the Junior Adventurer Society because of their good grades (hopefully!!) and adventurous spirit. I envision young George Bailey when he's telling Mary that he's been nominated for membership in the National Geographic Society

They will receive official membership badges and direction to await further instruction. Through the Junior Adventurer Society, i can introduce all of the various topics to them through the mail using some ficticious liason who is the Director of Ops at the Society.

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