Admitted to an Asylum
Well, not really admitted, we gladly entered the asylum escape room in St. Augustine.
This was my first, of what I hope will be many, escape room adventures. I love mind and logic puzzles. The idea of being fully immersed in a puzzle was enthralling to me! I was so excited to be attempting this escape with Michael and Alexandra.
I chose Escape U in St. Augustine because they try to incorporate the history of St. Augustine into the stories. Of course the asylum room didn’t have a historical perspective. The storyline was we are tourists who were knocked out, drugged, handcuffed, blindfolded and left in a padded room in an asylum. Obviously we wanted to escape!
We were on this adventure with two 7th grade girls, a high school senior and two college freshmen. They did give us a pill (skittle), handcuffed us (the real deal), and blindfolded us before moving us into the puzzle. We were separated between two different white padded rooms. Fortunately the puzzle master split the groups, so each group had someone in each room. In the Asylum not only was our brain challenged, so was our hearing, vision, and smell. I’m not going into the details, I don’t want to spoil the puzzle for others.
Three things I learned in an escape room:
- Communication is key! These puzzles are designed for groups of people. In order to do it together- you have to communicate. I don’t only mean the words used, you need to listen. Assuming others may know more than you, even if they are much younger or much older.
- Team work makes the escape possible. There is no “I” in team. You aren’t supposed to be able to complete it on your own. Trust your teammates. You all have a common goal of completing this in under an hour.
- The clock is ticking. Pay attention to the time and try to manage it if possible. This isn’t like a test where you know at the beginning how many puzzles you need to solve. You don’t realize you’re on the last puzzle until you’re on the last puzzle. Sixty minutes may seem like a long time sitting in traffic, in your not most favored class, or in a dentist chair; however, sixty minutes goes really quickly in an escape room.
We had a ball! Everyone worked together, considering we were three separate groups it was pretty amazing. Everyone made big contributions which enabled us to solve the puzzles.
In the end, we escaped with two minutes to spare! I can’t wait for my next escape! #9✔
If you're in the St. Augestine area you should check it out: https://www.escapeuflorida.com/the-asylum
