NIN Google Earth Treasure Hunt Part 2

The Nine Inch Nails treasure hunt adventure continued this week with more ?'s popping up on the NIN Google Earth tour map. After my brother and I found the second pass hidden in the drain pipe in Griffith Park a couple weeks ago, I wondered if the band would keep the hunt going for more tickets to the private dress rehearsal concert on July 19.

They did. The following Saturday, a third ? led fans to a parking lot at the Campsite of Anza for another pass. Then a few days went by with no new action.

Thursday night I checked the Google Earth map and found another ? hidden in a cemetery. WTF?! Two tickets to a NIN concert were hidden in a graveyard in Inglewood after dark?! Luckily I already had tickets so I didn't really have to put any thought into going there myself, but I knew my friends would have done just about anything to get into this private show.

The first friend I called couldn't believe what I was telling him. The idea of climbing over a gate and trespassing in a cemetery in the hood at night is not what anyone would call safe. He said he'd call me back. A couple minutes later: "Tell me where I need to go."

He and his friend (maybe the most courageous girl ever!) left the bar in Hollywood and raced down to the Inglewood Park Cemetery at 11 PM. Reading the message boards, I saw that two or three other groups of fans were already there checking the entrances, but nobody reported actually getting inside yet. When my friends got close, I told them to park at the corner of Grace and Prairie. It looked like a straight shot to the prize.

Armed with a laptop and speakerphone, I guided them to the south sidewalk of Grace Ave. and east across Prairie to the cemetery. After a few cars drove by, they climbed over the gates and landed among tombstones. Crazy! I told them to run straight ahead (from left to right on my map) until they reached the first road. A few graves past that, they started looking for the ? envelope. No dice. They passed it and reached the second wider road (on the right). Hmmm... The only clue on the NIN map was one word: "Enter."

Could it be at an entrance to the cemetery? In a mausoleum? We sent a text message with a picture of the map to their cell phone. They looked everywhere around the spot on the map. Nothing. They kept searching regardless of seeing red and blue flashing lights and hearing ambulence and police sirens outside the gates. Even with the full moon, it was hard for them to see anything without a flashlight. They ventured off and "entered" several memorial gardens. Still nothing.

They went back to the ? spot and got on the ground, rummaging through the grass, leaves and debris, looking everywhere for the prize. Nothing. After an hour of searching, they left and figured someone else must have beaten them to it. Utter disappointment.

The prize was still there! Someone else got to the ? location after they left. They went to the exact spot on the map, discovered a large tombstone with the name "Enter" and found a wet ? envelope covered in dirt and grass.

Read on... Part 3...

Or go back to the beginning... Part 1...