Sherlock Exhibit

January 3, 2015 – Today most of my family and I met up with friends at the International Exhibit of Sherlock Holmes. While I was woefully negligent in taking photos, thankfully my Mom and I did snap a few for me to share.
My family and I are pretty big Sherlock Holmes fans.  We’ve listened to several of the books together and have watched several versions made for television.  So, it was great to get together with some other fans of Sherlock at the exhibit and solve a mystery together.

The game is afoot.

- “The Adventure of the Abbey Grange” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

A map of London in the 19th century

These are the actual props from the BBC Sherlock television series with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman.

Bomb vest from “The Great Game,” 

tour sign from “The Hounds of Baskerville,”

and the pink suitcase from “A Study in Pink.”

So, after learning about the history of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, crime detectives, forensic science, 19th century technology, and the origin of Sherlock Holmes, it was time to solve a mystery!

Visiting 221B Baker Street

 

We learn the facts of the case:

We broke up into teams and then searched the crime scene for clues that would help us solve the mystery.

The crime scene

There were 4 clues to find, and then you had to test various theories on how and why the clues were there.  Most of the clues were very inconclusive and after completing the assigned exhibit tasks, there was still a lot of mystery surrounding the case.

Examining the crime scene

A police report...

...and Sherlock's opinion.

Discussion at the crime scene

Talking with one of the reenactors/guides

After finding the clues, you’re supposed to read the solution which will solve the case...

...but what fun is that?

Time for some serious deducing!

We all collaborated to do some brainstorming and try to formulate a satisfactory theory that would explain the clues from the crime scene and the disappearance of the man’s wife and child.

Micaiah reviews his notes

Some ENTP “mind palace” action…:)

With some helpful guidance from those who had already read the solution, we were able to formulate an explanation that satisfactorily solved the case. 

So, in the end, we all read the solution - which filled in some of the details and told the elaborate back story behind the characters.

All in all, I had a great time. 

There were some holes in the case that we solved, but when you get together with good friends and do some sleuthing, there's no mystery as to why I had fun.  Case solved.

Interested in how Sherlock Holmes solved his cases? 

He primarily relied upon the process of deductive reasoning and his acute powers of observation.

We’re back home…

…from the “Mystery” vacation in Michigan!

 

Well, most of us made it home, but maybe not all of us. (See Video) 

Looking forward to posting day-by-day videos and photos showing our adventurous week.

Mystery Vacation Part III

 

Michigan’s Adventure Amusement Park

   We’ve taken a look on their website and the rides look like a lot of fun.  They have also have a pretty extensive waterpark, so if it’s warm enough and not too busy we may try out a few of the water slides.

 

Silver Lakes Sand Dunes

The Silver Lake area is known for their sand dunes-the only place in the US with dunes like these are in Oregon.

We’ll be renting two dune buggies and we’ll also try sand-surfing.

Pontoon Rental

  We’ll rent a pontoon for 8 hours of fishing, swimming and best of all-tubing!  Even Lydia will get to go (as long as she wears h

Mystery Vacation Part II

 

Bygone Basics

   Bygone Basics is a local store that offers lessons that teach you the good ole’ skills from canning vegetables to churning butter, etc.  We’ll get to pick what we want to learn.

 

Hart-Montague Bike Trail

  This trail is 22 miles and passes through a few small towns, so we’ll probably stop for lunch sometime along the way. 

 

 

 

Canoe Float Trip

  We’ll be bringing our canoe and we’ll also rent another one so that we can all fit.  For my brothers and I this will be our first time taking a float trip down a river.

Mystery Vacation Part 1

Riding Horses at Rainbow Ranch

   We’ll get to ride through some beautiful scenery on the back of a fiery steed…or something like that.  It sounds like we will be crossing a river…on the horses.

 

Dairy Farm Tour

   A dairy farm nearby takes tours of people through their place…it looks like they may take you on a tractor ride as well.

 

Little Sable Point Lighthouse

   Really looking forward to seeing the view from the top of the lighthouse.

Kate Spills the Beans!

   Ever since last our Florida trip last November Kate has been telling us that we’d be going on a mystery vacation…she’s great at surprises.  While in Florida we wrote down a list of activities (i.e. swimming, going to a museum, horseback riding, parachuting, etc.) and then each person rated each activity on a scale from 1 to 5.  Then, we totaled up the ratings on each activity to find the things that we all liked.  Kate took this list and found a place that offered the highest scoring activities.

   For months now she’s been working on planning this vacation and keeps on telling us that we’re going to have a blast and that she’s planned for us to be at a spa every single day for facials, massages and pedicures.

    Well, when Kate does a surprise she creates a puzzle that has to be solved before the surprise has been revealed.   One night she set out these cards on the table and my brothers and I had to play a game of flipping them over and matching two of them together.

 

Noah got two sets, I only got one and Benjamin took home all of the rest.

   The back of each card corresponded with one of the activities we were going to do on the trip.  So once the entire puzzle was solved, the three of us separated.   For each set of cards we had Kate had a card showing what activity the picture represented.  Then the three of us had to tell everyone what activity we had discovered.

   In this process we learned that we were going to Montague, MI which is along Lake Michigan and we learned WHEN we’d be leaving as well. 

   The trip will certainly be a lot of fun and we all can’t wait!

A Message in a Bottle

  

As I was digging holes for my “Vineyard” I unearthed a glass bottle with a message inside.  We opened the bottle and though the paper was wet we were able to read the writing.

   About 3 years ago some missionaries were on furlough and were our neighbors for a few months.  One of their sons and Noah became very good friends and nearly inseparable during the summer.  The message just said that Noah was his friend and gave the date and his signature.