Urban Dare: BECAUSE WE CAN

Melanie and I do a lot of things just because we can. So we decided to do the Urban Dare, and when we couldn’t think of anything clever for our team name, we decided to be BECAUSE WE CAN. Well, because we can. If you’ll recall, the Urban Dare is a mini Amazing Race with clues taking you all over a city. What is about to unfold is our journey around the district doing weird and cool things, because we can. I’ll give you the clue and answer and show you the picture we had to take.

1) Start – The Ellipse (White House) for the Guinness World Record attempt 3-legged race. Mel and I bound our legs together and practiced a strategy. It worked pretty well because we were one of the top ten teams to cross the finish line. And then the dare started.

We got our sheet of clues and called up two buddies for Google help. Shout out to the SB and Trey for mad googling skillz. I was able to answer a few of the questions, but would have no idea where to find them in the district. So we answered all the questions and located them on our handy dandy map and set out on our way.

I would just like to say that there were some pro looking teams that were in pretty good shape. I hadn’t played soccer since January so I had lost a bit of speed and my crap ankle was giving me problems. Mel and I agreed to just do our best and try to finish under three hours.

2) Get your picture with five different statues of persons known as the liberator.
I don’t remember their names, but they were all along Constitution Ave from 18th-25th streets. Most of them were up on a horse. We ran a lot. Also talked to a few people who were wondering what we were up to.

Did I mention we ran a lot? Plus it was a bit warm. And I kinda had to use the restroom. So we stopped at this gas station to grab some Gatorade – gotta replenish those electrolytes – made a quick pit stop, and had a dude take our picture of refueling at the gas tank (do you get that pun?).

3) He was first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen. Go to his circle for your spellbound dare.
So it’s Washington Circle. I got that it was Washington, but had no idea where it was. When we got there, we had to find the corresponding numbers to the letters that spelled out CONFIDENTIAL. It took us awhile to find one of the letters, and when I heard someone shout out “10 for T” I ran back to Mel and we submitted our number.

4) When Pinochet took power in Chile, Orlando Letelier went into exile in the US. Pinochet’s henchmen killed him here in DC with a car bomb. Get your picture with the memorial to this incident.
There’s a little plaque at Sheridan Circle on Embassy Row, Massachusetts and 23rd NW.

On the way to our next clue, we saw a statue of Ghandi. Some other Urban Dare-ites were getting their picture taken, and I told Mel we should to. You never know when we’d be back up in this neck of the woods, so might as well get a snap shot with Ghandi while you can. Plus, we ended up getting five minutes taken off our time with this pic. Don’t ask me how, but Mel finagled it out of the judge.

5) Remember a famous duo singing I Got You Babe? Get your picture with the plaque honoring the part of the duo who died in a skiing accident. That’s too easy – Sonny Bono of Sonny and Cher fame. The plaque was located in Dupont on New Hampshire and 20th street. A little tidbit for all you readers: did you know that Sonny was a US Congressman representing the Palm Spring, CA area? And his wife, Mary Bono know holds his seat since he died in the skiing accident? See, I know some stuff.

6) Across from the District of Columbia Courthouse, get your picture with the woman who is clearly gilty.
We didn’t really have an answer for a specific statue and just assumed we’d head over to the courthouse and look for the “gilty woman.” We metro’ed over from Dupont and had time to contemplate the clue. Obviously “gilty” is spelled wrong, and right as we approached the statue, I exclaimed, “she’s gonna be gold.” Sure enough she was.

I wanted to get really close, so Mel and I hopped into the empty fountain.

7) Go to the outdoor rotunda that lies on sovereign territory of our neighbor to the north. Let out a yell and check out the amazing acoustics, and take your picture to show you were there.
It’s the Canadian Embassy (forget the cross streets, but I can see it from the Capitol). We didn’t give a shout out – just took the picture.

Don't know what this is except for us being awesome???8) He is the only person to serve as the US president and as Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court. Go there for the next dare.
It’s Taft, and although I knew there was a president who became a chief justice after leaving the White House, I could not, for the life of me, think of his name. Anyways, once we got to his statue, we had to answer three trivial pursuit questions. They weren’t too hard, but it was definitely an outdated version.

Tired Still going strong


9) Do the words Pass and Stow ring a bell? Get your picture with a replica of a famous American icon with these words.
Ummm, yes they ring a bell! Thank you National Treasure. Pass and Stow – the Liberty Bell! I totally got that one. So we ran over to the replica that’s outside of Union Station.

10) When Andrew Jackson tried to fire this Secretary of War, he barricaded himself in his office and Congress began impeachment proceedings against the president. Go to this Secretary’s park for your next dare.
So it turned out to be John Henry Eaton and it was at Cleveland Park. Mel was a human wheelbarrow. After running all over the district, it’s hard to do a proper rendition of one, so we kinda struggled with this. Sadly, there is no video or photo documentation of this ridiculous stunt.

11) Go to the avenue where Barack and Hillary are currently doing battle and the intersection of the avenue where John Edwards is from for your connect four dare.
Mel got to this question before me and answered Pennsylvania and South Carolina. I thought about it for a second, and said, “that ain’t right.” John Edwards is not from SC. He’s from the same state as Elizabeth Dole and I always thought it was cool that Sam was represented by Dole in the Senate and Sam lived in NC. So we needed to head to Penn and NC. Where Mel played two games of connect four before moving on to the last clue.

Finish – There is only one amendment to the US Constitution that has been repealed. Go there for the finish and give thanks for the repeal.
Seriously??? Too easy!! The 18th Amendment established Prohibition of alcohol. It was later repealed. There’s a bar named the 18th Amendment and I knew exactly where it was. On Penn Ave near Eastern Market. We made a mad dash to the 18th. I turned on the turbo jets and kept my mind on that celebratory beer awaiting me.

Victory Face, which I guess is the same as tired and exhausted face. And the I really need a beer face.We made it in and our official time (with time bonuses) was 2:26:04 and we were 17th place out of 120+ teams. Ah-flippin-MAZING!!! I chugged a glass of water and threw back a glass of beer in no time. Then I hit the chips and salsa and two more cups of water and fell back into the couch in the corner of the bar. I was spent, but totally rocked the Urban Dare.

Oh man! Because we can, for sure! Sometimes I can't get over how cool I am and all the cool stuff Mel and I do. We're totally awesome. Next year, we're totally going balls to the wall and taking first place. Just you watch...