Travel plans have been scuttled for many by COVID-19, as the American passport has become as useful in leaving the country as a receipt from the airport food court. There’s still some adventure to be had staying away from large groups of people in hiking, heading to the beach and exploring forgotten places nearby, but what America really needs in these trying times is a kayak-fueled million-dollar Michigan treasure hunt.
Which perhaps is why a retiring jeweler has apparently dug holes all over America’s Great Lakes Glove to bury treasure for a statewide gold and gem hunt. According to Fox 2 Detroit, a retiring jeweler named Johnny Perri decided to close up J&M Jewelers for good in Michigan’s Macomb County. But instead of liquidating his stock, he and his wife Amy hid it all over the greater Detroit and Upper Peninsula area and soon he intends to hand out clues about where everything might be found.
“I said Amy, we can take everything out and retire or we can bury it across the state of Michigan,” said according to Fox 2. Though he hasn’t revealed where all the treasure is, he said the project started out of boredom and dropped some hints about where to look and what tools they’ll need to hunt. Namely, a kayak.
“We went through waterfalls, streams, we kayaked everywhere,” he said.
“As soon as I release the clues the race is on,” he said.
It won’t be a free-for-all, though. The retiree is selling tickets for $49 for the first hunt, the prizes of which he estimated are worth about $4,000. And there’s a GPS in the prize itself — two 100-ounce bars of pure .999 silver hidden somewhere in Oakland County — so he’ll know if it gets moved.
“You follow the riddle, you got a little wit, a little adventure in you, you’ll find it quick,” Perri said. “I don’t expect it to go more than a week.”
It’s certainly a fun distraction if you live in the Michigan area, and the first hunt is set to kick off on August 1. Just be mindful about getting too close to others as you try to strike it rich in Michigan.
[via Fox 2 Detroit]