Seattle on the Fringe by Stacey Merrick : Offbeat and Unusual Entertainment, Activities, Events, Attractions in Seattle, WA.

I attended Mess Man's Messquerade, and, despite the very cold temperatures, I had a blast!  I arrived at the meeting spot in Capitol Hill where over 100 costumed bicyclists were already gathered, and I was warmly greeted by The Mess Man himself, "Hi, welcome to my party!  Did you get some beer?  Here, grab a beer."  I didn't have a team for the bicycle scavenger hunt, so I needed to find a team.  I joined team Oz.  Team Oz consisted of Dorothy (of course), pumpkin head guy, a vampire pirate, a Storm Trooper, and me as future girl with rocket pack.  Some teams had coordinated themes:  Team Alice in Wonderland, Team Cowboy, Team Awesome. 

The scavenger hunt took us through Capitol Hill, Denny regrade, Downtown, Pioneer Square, and the end point was a party at a bar by Home Depot in Sodo.  We were required to go trick-or-treating and solve riddles at various houses and businesses, sometimes involving confused residents who seemed like they were unaware of their role in the scavenger hunt.  There was bicycle trivia (what is the newest bike shop in town?  what is in the window at Reload?) and there was Seattle history trivia. 

My team was one of the last teams to arrive at the finish point because we took a couple whiskey breaks at bars along the way.  It was a cold night and we needed a warm-up.  The best part of the scavenger hunt was riding bikes through Seattle in costume.  People on the streets cheered and hollered when they saw us bicycling through the streets.

The party at the end of the race was packed wall-to-wall with people.  Outside, there were a couple of people pacing along the fence next to the bar looking at all of the bicycles parked outside.  "It's bicycle porn," on of them said.  Inside, there was live music, and then the announcement of the winners.  Team Cowboy won the scavenger hunt.  Best group costume went to Zombie Unicorns on a Cloud, a couple on a tandem bike.  My teammate won best individual costume after suffering through wearing a heavy pumpkin on his head all night.  I got a guppy light and a bicycle pump in the extra prize free-for-all at the end of the awards announcements.

I was bad about taking pictures at this event, but, fortunately, there is flickr.

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