Treasure Hunt: Find the hidden iPad!

I don't know how many times I walked by there yesterday morning while the people were setting up on the courtyard over...I even talked to a man about what I was doing. Haha....I was so tired tho (I work nights and went by after work).....ahhh well. Congrats to the winner!

When I was looking, I walked past it because I didn't see that tree in the back... fail on my part... Oh well, Congrats anyways and you definitely need to enjoy it more than I would have, or it would be a waste.

We can all commiserate and have a good laugh.

I had a great time and I wasn't as close as I thought I was , hope you enjoy it! I love mine bought it black Friday and have not put it down since.
Wish I would have taken a picture of the snake but all I wanted to do was get out of there, I did find some pretty cool places I never knew exsisted. Thanks for the fun. I might get back into goecaching.

Rich,

Excellent Job, and I know others searched where it was too.

Brick - Side walks
footfalls - sidewalks
voices, stopped where I was, sometimes for a long time - sitting on bench
competition for all ages - several times a year Sponsored 5 k runs start and finish in the park
Entanglement - bushes
gold balloon - actually, a piece of the palm tree next to it looked that way in the photo
Oikeuslaitos - legal - Peterson Meyers across the street
I had so many GREAT CLUES planned for this weekend - but good job Rich

Tuesday I was going to post a series of pictures of the spot, backing up progressively until you could identify the whole spot

I will post my summary of the clues ASAP, please come back if I can get a car hidden out there!

I was out there looking at that very spot last night with a flashlight, and again at 5 am this morning. Rats... SOOOOOOOO close. Congratulations! And a great big thanks to Dr. Padgett.

Congratulations Rich. And thanks to Padgett. I hope this site takes off and you make $millions$. I hope everyone had as much fun as I did. My wife and I have been laughing for days about the snake. I would have had a heart attack :)

I too had been to Central Park on more than on occassion. Actually quite early on in the hunt before we had all the clues, but my gut keep telling me it was there.

Oddly enough, i thought it would be found this weekend and I had plans to go out of town and wouldn't have any time to search. On our way out, I was able to convince my wife that we should check a couple places before we left. Fortunately she agreed!

So, as most of you probably figured out, it was a McCormick, black pepper bottle, clear with a red top. It was on Avenue A, if I'm reading map correctly, between 4tha and 5th, in the ferns (or plams - i was too excited to notice)) behind a park bench. I was within arms reach of the bench just under the branches. I had looked in that exact spot the first weekend after the hunt started.

Here's how the clues worked out in my mind - the brick was the side walks, the compettion (for all ages) was the Family Billards place, the green surrounding it's home was the plants. People stopping nearby were on the bench, footfalls were the paths and the Oikeuslaitos in my mind was the Sherrif's office, but I could have been wrong on that as there were several government office near by.

There were a couple of other clues to help me along, but I kept focused on the oak tree. There is only one near a park bench in the park - and for you wondering, I never saw a gold shapped balloon, but thought that would be some sort of a landmark too.

Here are some other places I searched;....the first place I searched was Live Oak Cemetary (oddly enough, there is a Padgett burried there - so forgive me Larry if trod on one of your relatives) , Simmers Youn Park, Rorary park, just outside Lake Region Yacht & Country Club (don't ask why) and a few other places, but they never quite fit the bill...

I'd like to hear where others had search - it was great fun, but probably more for me than some others!!!

No hard feelings,
Rich

I'm disappointed it's not me! D:

Great hunt though, I've seen a lot of Polk County that I would have otherwise not seen. I think we should discuss some of the clues too, you know, for closure. Haha.

I gotta say, I probably went to every park in Polk County looking for this thing, and Inman park in Winter Haven is my new favorite park.

When do we start the next tresure hunt? I'm ready to go.

Last Night the iPad was found in Central Park, Winter Haven by user riprc. I haven't seen the certificate, but believe it is the valid one, as he told me the location. I am hopeful he will post a contribution with the details.

Thank you so much for your help with the site. I hope that I can continue to provide you will a site we can be proud of from central Florida. I plan to approach some local businesses to sponsor other fun competitions and games for the winter. Hopefully, a hunt for the keys of a new car.

Thanks again, comments welcome, I'm sure we'll be in touch.

Merry Christmas and Happy holidays. I hope you had some enjoyable times with those you love on this crazy hunt!

Thanks. That is a terrible picture. Very small. I brightened it up in iPhoto and it does appear to be a tree. I also see the star shaped balloon now. Not my ideal clue, but it is part of that elusive tree.

Passed a road in his names sake on my way.

in clue #38 there was a picture of.. well, he said it was a tree.