Before you dive into the Santa Ynez Chamber of Commerce’s 12 Days of Christmas Scavenger Hunt, take a hint from me: Listen to the lyrics from “The Twelve Days of Christmas” until the song is stuck in your head and you’ve memorized every single “gift.”
Sing it with me!
“On the first day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
A partridge in a pear tree.
On the second day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.
On the third day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.”
Alright, now you’re on your own.
The chamber’s inaugural 12 Days of Christmas Scavenger Hunt launched Nov. 30 and runs through Jan. 5.
The hunt is free for all ages and will easily fill an entire afternoon if you’re itching to get out and stretch your legs, have a glass of wine, sample local olive oils and savor Santa Ynez’s various unique shops.
Here’s the lowdown: Twelve businesses — all of them chamber members — each have one gift item from the holiday classic song hidden somewhere inside their doors. Some items are hiding in plain sight, and others require a bit of searching. Hint: Look up.
To start, click here and read each clue. (Note the hours of varying businesses; not all are open daily.)
For example, the first online clue is a “partridge in a pear tree” and reads: “At the beginning of this magnificent trek is a place ‘Caliterranean’ and organic since ’88, where there’s more than a bushel and a peck, and all the delicious goodies sure do taste great.”
The five-week holiday hunt is the brainchild of Heather Bedford, a chamber director and the owner of Inklings Printing in Solvang and Lompoc.
Reading each clever clue on our phones, Bedford and I walked around town, greeting merchants and looking for the various “gifts” that match Bedford’s very clever clues.
Bedford said she hopes the scavenger hunt will turn into a tradition and help boost holiday sales at the local businesses within the township of Santa Ynez.
“Small businesses are the backbone of every small town,” she said.