OVERVIEW

Ernest Hemingway sent a package along an underground mail delivery system. 
The package traveled for decades only to end up here in Key West. 
We believe that Ernest wanted to convey a message to the World.
Is it still here? Let’s find out! Maybe you will be the genius to solve the mystery!!

OUTDOOR QUEST Key West is a self-guided, outdoor walking escape challenge. Group of up to ten (10) people use their cell phones to solve puzzles along their mile-long adventure through the Old Town district of Key West. BRAIN RACE can be played during daylight hours according to the schedule listed on the website. 

Ernest Hemingway, Nobel Laureate in literature and one of the brightest minds of his generation. He wrote tons of books that are now considered classics. He won the Pulitzer prize for fiction in 1953. He created the “Iceberg theory” that is now used by writers and journalists around the globe. And yet, despite all of that success, Ernest was never able to be truly happy. He was a fidgety man, constantly scared of whatever would come next. He was convinced that everyone was after him, that danger lurked in every corner and every shadow. Something must have happened to him along his many travels, something that affected his mind and made him as paranoid as he became. Many believe that he even hid a bunch of his manuscripts, convinced that someone would steal his stories, or worse, destroy them.

In the year of 1961, tragedy struck. It was in the city of Ketchum, in Idaho, that Ernest Hemingway was found dead on the floor of his foyer. In his hand, he held the gun that ended his life. In his last few days on Earth, things had taken a turn for the worse. He would spend weeks locked in his bedroom, scribbling away and keeping both friends and family far away. No one ever learned what he was working on.

Does any of this ring a bell? It might, as this is the official story that we know… but it’s not the whole picture. Before his untimely death, Ernest sent a package along an underground and secure mail delivery system. The package traveled for decades, from hand to hand, all around the globe, only to end up here: the first ever place he stayed in when he first came to Key West. This, right here, used to be a hotel. We believe that Ernest wanted to contact the trusty concierge and tell him everything, the whole truth: the location of his hidden manuscript. 

Unfortunately, his package arrived way too late. He spent years of his life living in Key West. He loved this place! Who knows, maybe his manuscript could be hidden here! But it would take a genius encryptor to figure it out. Maybe… it could be you?

Once you sign up, a code will be emailed to you and when your group is ready, share the code with each player and off you go!