Armchair Treasure Hunt Anniversary Spotlight:
Breakfast Tea & Bourbon’s $50,000 Found Treasure Story
Article Written by
Dustin White
It’s a Thursday evening at 5:00 pm on a Facebook live stream with Pete Bissonnette, Paul Scheele and the staff of Learning Strategies in Minnetonka, Minnesota. They’re counting down to the launch of the Breakfast Tea and Bourbon Treasure Hunt. The mission was simple to understand yet very complex to execute: use the clues woven through the pages of Breakfast Tea and Bourbon, find a beautiful one of a kind hand-crafted flute and win $50,000 and $5,000 to a charity of the winners choosing.
When Paul asked him about coming up with the idea for the novel and treasure hunt Pete replied:
“What is it that have we been doing at Learning Strategies for these last four decades? It’s helping people find their inner treasures.”
Breakfast Tea and Bourbon continued this legacy, inspiring countless new and veteran treasure hunters alike to travel across the country searching for something that could change their lives. Only one could find the treasure worth the $50,000 prize but every searcher found the inner treasures that Pete has been helping people to discover for many years.
A couple minutes before the launch Pete gives this tantalizing hint, “My word of advice? Figure out first where the area is. Where the city is and then follow in the city exactly what they’re doing in the book and you’ll find the treasure.” And he added, “It’ll be found by the first of September, I have no doubt about it.”
He was exactly right.
“5…4…3…2…1!”
It was February 9th, 2017 5:08 pm Central Time Zone (a clue to the whereabouts of the treasure).
The hunt was on.
Fast forward to July 2017. Coy and Amy Lothrop of Kilgore, Texas, traveled for the second time to the place they believe Pete Bissonnette hid his treasure: Hot Springs, Arkansas. They had figured out the clue of Central Time Zone from the launch of the hunt meant that the journey to the prize was likely hidden in states in the Central Time Zone and they were correct. Their route from start to finish was New Orleans, Louisiana to Hot Springs, Arkansas. On their first trip, they brought their children Bailey and Aiden with them for the adventure to Hot Springs but came home empty-handed. However, on this second trip, Coy and Amy had an ace up their sleeve. They had discovered the final piece of the puzzle needed to recover the treasure.
“We were very confident in Hot Springs National Park as the location and we knew, without a doubt, that the flute was somewhere at the at the end of the Sunset Trail”, says Coy.
“The second trip, I felt certain that we knew the correct answer,” said Amy.
The critical piece of information they found was in chapter 13: Do you have a compass? It’s where the main character in Breakfast Tea and Bourbon, Nelson Ware, has a flashback from 15 years prior and he remembers telling his nephews Mit and Timmy about a dream he had that would lead to a treasure.
After asking them to go get their compass, Nelson instructed them to, “Follow the trail in the back until you come to a huge rock ledge. Gaze off in the distance where your compass says 210 degrees and be careful not to fall…Then go sixty-eight feet as the mockingbird flies…There will be a big rock. Look at the base of its backside. That’s it. Dig around with your hands.”
“We believed, that returning with the Mit and Timmy information, we would bring it home,” says Coy, “so confident that we gambled and charged the entire second trip to a credit card… I awoke on the morning of the day we found it and ‘knew’, like the Law of Attraction knew (a concept introduced in chapter 20), that I would uncover the flute. I believed it and it happened, and it was totally surreal.”
They followed the more obvious clues that led them, and a handful of other treasure hunters, toward a large and popular rock formation at Hot Springs National Park, called Balanced Rock (alluded to in the first chapter). Following what seems to be the last set of clues takes them to a spot about seventy-five feet from the landmark. The next instructions are to turn left and in front of them, they’d see the big beautiful rock formation. This is where most hunters that reached this spot went wrong. Instead of making that left turn they instead moved forward toward the other “big beautiful rock formation”, Balanced Rock. If you turned left and followed the rest of the instructions, you’d go under some low-hanging branches and arrive on the ledge mentioned at the end of the book. This is where Coy and Amy put the treasure hunt from the flashback into play and followed those instructions.
“Everything we were looking for from the book was there, so our confidence was really high, we only need the Mit and Timmy information to finish the hunt,” Amy says. “On the second trip, it only took us a couple minutes to find the flute. With the correct information, we walked straight to it.”
“We took the 210 bearing on an iPhone and looked out sixty-eight feet to a boulder down the slope,” Coy says. “Amy and I looked at each other and said, “There it is.” Climbing down, we moved behind the boulder and swiped at the bed of leaves with a garden trawl… It clinked! I swept the leaves away with my hands and there was this beautiful piece of Jasper, non-indigenous, and a small sliver of plastic baggie sticking out from under it. I lifted the Jasper and there was a waterlogged letter in a zip-lock bag and beneath that a long package of dense plastic.”
“The first thing we saw was a letter in an envelope… It turned out to be instructions to anyone that was not a treasure hunter, but found the flute, to put it back as to not spoil the hunt,” Amy said.
“I pulled a few layers of the plastic off and saw the flute,” said Coy. “We laughed, kissed and then I photo-documented the scene while Amy called the kids.”
Amy adds, “It was all very exciting!”
The Lothrop family had become the winners of the first Breakfast Tea and Bourbon Treasure Hunt!
Coy first became aware of the novel Breakfast Tea and Bourbon via a YouTube channel, called Cowlazars, dedicated to treasure hunts around the world hosted by Mike Cowling. Coy stumbled onto the channel while researching another treasure hunt, The Thrill of the Chase by Forrest Fenn and the Oak Island mystery.
“I had remembered Oak Island in a Readers Digest when I was a child and being intrigued by the story,” says Coy. “I was looking to get an update on the hidden treasure. That led us to The Thrill of the Chase which naturally led to watching Cowlazars on YouTube who researches Forrest Fenn’s hunt extensively and shares his theories with his growing fan base. I had sent Mike an email, thanking him for his channel and to “Keep up the good work.” He responded with a “Thank you” and a tip to get involved with Breakfast Tea and Bourbon.”
Within two weeks of receiving their copy of Breakfast Tea and Bourbon on Cowlazars recommendation, the Lothrop family had recovered the flute, contacted Pete Bissonnette and awaited to collect their reward.
“Nearly every day I received an email with “Found it!“ in the subject line,” Bissonette says. “My heart stopped with every email for the first few weeks. Then my attitude became, “I wonder what bit of interestingness would I see today?” These two sentences come from the book’s introduction: “When you uncover the treasure, you will clearly know you have found the treasure because of its connection to the story. The treasure is a handcrafted object.” When I received Coy’s email, with the usual subject line (Found it!), my first response was, “How did he get a photo of the flute?” It looked just like some photos we took of the flute before I headed out to Hot Springs. Then it dawned on me, “He did find it!””
The following day an email went out to everyone that signed up on BreakfastTeaandBourbon.com for updates that the treasure had been found! It was revealed that we’d get an announcement on August 14th regarding who the winners were and what the elusive solution to the puzzle really was. The winners and location of the treasure were to remain a secret until that announcement.
There were theories and speculation that the flute was found in New Orleans, Chicago, Southern California, New York City as well as the area where the flute was actually found: Hot Springs, Arkansas.
When asked if he was surprised that people searched all over the country for the treasure Pete replies, “Not at all. I knew folks would take road trips, which is one of the reasons for the storyline. I knew there would be a few places that would rise to the top of lists. I was surprised at how a few locations I hadn’t even considered became popular. But I had said many times that it would be possible to solve the treasure hunt with complete certainty before leaving home.”
Doing just that and recovering the flute, the Lothrop family drove to Minneapolis, Minnesota to meet with Pete, turn in the flute and receive their prize on live TV.
“The day Pete announced the winner live on a television news program,” says Mike Cowling “a lot of us searchers were in suspense to see who it was and when they came back from commercial I couldn’t believe it was Coy standing there with his family. I said to myself “wait a minute, I know that guy!” I was delighted that someone had solved the hunt that learned of it from my YouTube channel.”
Pete presented the Lothrop family a $49,000 check and $1,000 in one dollar coins and a $5,000 check to a charity of their choice. They chose the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children.
“The extra money was fantastic, especially since we could give back to Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital for helping our daughter,” Amy says. “They have done so much for our family, it was a given the money was going to them as a ‘thank you’.”
Their daughter, Bailey, had some medical procedures done at the hospital and she was ecstatic about the donation they were able to give as part of their winnings.
“For me, donating $5,000 to Scottish Rite Hospital was one of the best parts,” says Bailey. “They have done so much for me over the years and being able to give back to them made me very happy.”
The whirlwind that was this day was far from over. They did some sightseeing with Pete, a trip to the Learning Strategies offices, two additional TV interviews, at least three radio interviews and an interview with Cowlazars on Facebook Live.
“From the moment we arrived on Pete’s doorstep to hand over the flute, the trip took a magical turn,” recalled Coy. “The media tour was busy and hectic, but we got used to it. We’re not ones for the spotlight but we made it through fine. It was fun being ‘Winners’ in the city and getting noticed and applauded when we walked through the Minnesota Arboretum or while having dinner at a restaurant in the Mall of America. He was an outstanding host, accommodating us with meals he cooked, fine drinks and spirits of his concoction, and tours of the Frogyrinth (a whimsical labyrinth on Pete Bissonette’s property) and the city of Minneapolis proper. He was there with us every step, sharing wisdom and wit, and taking us to the best places throughout the city. Pete’s a fast friend.”
Amy adds, “We want to go back without the busy media schedule. Pete was such a great host and he took care of us every step of the way playing local guide, chef, and spiritual consultant.”
Bailey had this to say about the puzzle master, “I also loved meeting Pete Bissonette. He’s such a kind person. Our trip to Minneapolis made me fall in love with Minnesota! Pete treated us like very close friends and made us feel very comfortable the entire time even though we were a little nervous to be on television. The entire experience was one that will stick with me forever. My friends thought it was crazy! They were actually following along with us over social media as we tried to find it.”
Aiden also really enjoyed his time in Minnesota. “I thought it was amazing, I’ve never been in a place like Minneapolis, so it was a cool experience. I really enjoyed hanging out with Pete. He was really kind and funny, and he has a super cool car that he drove me around the city in.”
What do you do with a $50,000 prize?
“I got a car with part of the winnings,” Bailey mentions. “I was so grateful.”
“As a family, we’ve been on many trips to many places thanks to the prize money”, adds Aiden. “Some of my friends came up to me and said, “Is this true?” or “YOU’RE RICH!” after winning. I thought it was pretty cool that people knew about it. We still get stopped by people when we are out and get congratulated.”
And finally, Pete was asked what he thought of and liked about his “Super Hunters” and he replied; “Everything. They were so cooperative, friendly, open, engaging, and filled with light. I loved having them in Minneapolis, at our offices, in my home, and playing in the frogs. And it was cool how many people recognized and applauded them when we were at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. It was nice to see them spontaneously appreciated for their creativity, ingenuity, and resourcefulness.”
“I could not think of a more deserving family to win the $50,000,” says Mike Cowling.
What’s next for the family of four from Kilgore, Texas? Are there any treasure hunts they’re working on now?
“We are currently deep into Murray Bailey’s Map of the Dead,” says Coy. “It’s proven to be quite a challenge to finish the final step, a sentiment I’m sure the armchair treasure hunting community will agree with me on. There’s an army of us out there ‘seeking’ as hard as we can.”
Regarding Map of the Dead Aiden adds, “We feel like we are really close to solving it.”
“We took a little getaway with the kids to the Broken Bow and Hochatown area of Oklahoma and had a few discussions on making some attempts on the Forrest Fenn Thrill of the Chase cache next summer,” says Amy. “We love puzzles and brainteasers, and as a family, we love to hike and canoe. Breakfast Tea and Bourbon was the best of both worlds. I enjoy trying to figure out clues and I am an avid book reader. Armchair treasure hunts are a great marriage of these interests, and if we can wrap a family vacation or experience around a hunt, it makes it something exciting that we can all enjoy together.”
Coy adds, “I look forward with great enthusiasm for the day Pete locks in his sponsors and we can all get to work on Pete’s next hunt. I don’t think there isn’t one among us who does not dream of Breakfast Tea and Bourbon launching the next chapters and stages of the hunt. However, things like that take time and I am very patient. The experience Pete Bissonette crafted for us was fantastic and I appreciated it and his efforts every step of the way.”
We all eagerly await that day.
Thank you to Pete, Coy, Amy, Bailey, Aiden and Mike for reliving this outstanding and successful treasure hunt with all of us.
An interview with Pete Bissonette follows:
Q/A’s with Pete Bissonette:
Q: Breakfast Tea and Bourbon was an awesome story and a very fun treasure hunt. What inspired you to create it?
A: Thank you, thank you! I thoroughly enjoyed creating it and hearing from everyone on the hunt, especially Coy and his family.
What inspired me? I belong to the Transformational Leadership Council. We get together twice a year to learn from each other, support each other and have a blast. Eight of us were sitting together for lunch in La Jolla during July 2013, and everyone was talking about their recent books or ones they are working on. Someone asked, “Pete, when are you going to write a book?” I said, “Hey. You guys already write the best books on transformation. I’m going to stay on the business side.” Then I turned to a friend on my left. She was talking to me. I just watched her mouth move, not hearing a word, saying to myself, “I’ll write a novel. It will be a treasure hunt.”
Q: Are the characters in your book inspired by people in your life?
A: The Butterscotch Five represent different aspects of me with embellishments coming from other people I’ve known through the years.
Q: What did you like most about writing the book?
A: Two things. First the characters came so alive for me that I dreamed about them. And I kept thinking of the excitement of the winner uncovering the treasure—exactly what Coy and Amy experienced. Loved it to no end.
Q: Have you ever participated in an armchair treasure hunt?
A: Not seriously.
Q: How are preparations going for the “secret chapter” and the “missing chapter” for Breakfast Tea and Bourbon and the treasure hunts that’ll begin alongside them?
A: It all depends on sponsorship. I’d like a sponsor who could put up the prize, but more importantly get the book into the hands of hundreds of thousands. I’d love if they would make ebooks available for free. It could be a wild few months until the treasure is solved.
Q: Hiding a treasure map right on the cover of the book was incredibly clever, what inspired that decision?
A: Someone from the office asked me if I wanted something embossed on the cover. I initially said no, but then I remembered a cool embossment on a cover of another book, and I immediately knew what I wanted.
Q: Has anybody come close to figuring out the Breakfast Tea and Bourbon Riddle that was announced the morning you presented the Lothrop family with their check for finding the Magic Suling? Personally, I’ve collaborated with many participants and we’re stumped.
A: Okay…I’m surprised someone hasn’t solved it after I posted the last clue. Go look it up. Listening to the Finding Treasure Paraliminal, although there is not a clue in its script. A case of Buffalo Trace bourbon awaits someone! By the way, this summer Buffalo Trace immortalized me at their distillery. The first person who finds it and emails me with a photo will receive my new bourbon cocktail recipe I call the “Orange Buffalo Old Fashioned”–it’s my current favorite.
Q: You intended to release a video of you hiding the treasure shortly after Breakfast Tea and Bourbon was released. How frustrated were you when you discovered that there was something in the video of you hiding the treasure that made the hiding spot too identifiable and prevented you from sharing the video until after the treasure was found?
A: I knew that seeing the video would confirm Hot Springs for everyone who was there in the first few weeks. The treasure probably would have been found within days. Honestly, I should have known that before writing it into the introduction of the book. I didn’t feel frustrated as much as I knew I let some folks down for not releasing it.
Q: How early was someone close to the treasure that may have just missed it by feet that you’re aware of?
A: Within the first week. They were at Balanced Rock. Take a moment to re-read the 27th sentence in the book’s introduction.
Q: There were a lot of “The Wizard of Oz” references in Breakfast Tea and Bourbon. You must be a big fan! Did “The Wizard of Oz” factor into any clues that led to the treasure?
A: Of course. Of course. “Because, because, because, because, because. Because of the wonderful things he does.”
Q: We’re there any clues in the book that were missed by searchers? Could you discuss them?
A: Yes, and no. The type of clues that were missed may show up in the future. I am vibrating to share a few now, but it will be more fun to repurpose them.
Q: The Lothrop family found the Magic Suling under a beautiful piece of polished Jasper. Were there any clues in the book that made reference to the Jasper that was missed by hunters?
A: Nope. I had wrapped and sealed the suling in plastic, and I knew I would have to put something heavy on it, so the bundle wouldn’t rise up and float away in a big rain. I looked for a stone on my property, but I couldn’t find something the right size. The moment I saw the Jasper in my home, I knew it would be both perfect in size and perfect in looking like it could not have been indigenous to the Hot Springs area.
Q: Is there a sequel to Breakfast Tea and Bourbon in the works? Many readers would love to know what happens next for Nelson and Quarry Girl.
A: You’ll find out in the missing chapter. Or was it the secret chapter?
Q: Do you have anything else you’d like to tell everyone?
A: Hats off to Coy, Amy, Bailey, Aiden and full-on gratefulness to everyone who played Breakfast Tea and Bourbon.
Article Written by Dustin White
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