Hidden Treasure in Lewis Park

There's treasure to be found!  Grab a notepad and a couple of markers follow these directions:

1.  Go to .  From the sidewalk at the corner of Yale and Delmar, walk about 30 paces due west.

2.  As you pass the sign for the park, look for a set of stairs.  Walk down sixteen steps, admiring the fish on a bicycle as you descend.

3.  Look to your left for an object that rhymes with "thump."

4.  Make sure no one is watching, then poke around in there with a stick.  Grab the container and open it.  Apply your markers to the contents and use it to decorate your notepad.  Sign or initial the log book inside.

5.  Be sure to return the box to its spot so that other people can find it, too.

Congratulations!  You just found your first letterbox!

Letterboxing is a hobby that originated over 150 years ago in England.  Clues were originally passed hand-to-hand, and it remained a little-known pursuit for a very long time.  However, the Internet has made the hobby accessible to anyone. 

www.atlasquest.com has listings of clues to letterboxes located all over the St. Louis metropolitan area.  The clues range from silly to poetic. While some sets of clues are very clear like the above, there are others that are cryptic enough to make Dan Brown proud.  The handmade stamps inside the boxes can display any degree of artistry - from that of a nine-year-old child, to one that has required hours of carving by skilled hands.

The refreshing thing that I and my family have enjoyed about this hobby is that it is free and uncommercialized.  We get an opportunity to interact together, in an outdoor environment, and we can spend an hour or a day at it and have fun regardless, all without paying someone to be entertained.  It gives us a chance to be "secret agents" or "pirates," and allows both we as adults and our child to experience a little bit of the natural wonder inherent in life itself.