Golden Horse Hunt of 2026
Clue #1
Charles is getting ready for his 3rd Annual Golden Hide in honor of Lunar New Year!
He’s busy getting his Golden Fire Horse ready to hide somewhere here in Tacoma – the person who finds it will receive a basket of treasures that every year includes an official Monkeyshine Candle Cup!
We create clues that can be puzzles or poems or images or stories…and its up to you to figure out what AND where we are talking about. We LOVE sharing the history of Tacoma thru these clues…so hopefully you learn something fun about our city over the course of the searching. These clues are released thru the newsletter, our text notifications (see below if you aren’t signed up) and our social media.
And I will tell you what I tell everyone each year…I truly have no idea as I’m working on the clues where Charles is going to hide the Golden Fire Horse. He gives me a broad area to come up with the clues…but if you message me asking for a hint I guarantee you probably already know more about where it could be hidden than me, lol!
The only thing I know is to watch for clues between now and April 5th…that’s all I’ve been told so far. And I wish all of you HUGE luck & success for the New Year and this hunt!
Clue #2
It’s that time again…
Charles has been preparing for his 3rd Annual Golden Hide in honor of Lunar New Year, and somewhere in Tacoma, a Golden Fire Horse is waiting to be found.
The one who discovers it will receive a basket of treasures, always including an official Monkeyshine Candle Cup, along with a few other magical surprises.
Now, about the clues…
They might come as puzzles, poems, images, or stories. Sometimes clear, sometimes… not so much (and hint, this year not so much!). It’s up to you to figure out what they mean and where they’re leading. Along the way, we love weaving in interesting details of Tacoma’s history, so you might just learn something new while you search.
Clues will appear in our newsletter, through text notifications and across our social media. Clue #1 already went up last week. Clue #2 is in this newsletter. AND, you can keep up to date with all the clues at our website: https://manicmermaid.com/monkeyshines-and-monkeyshining/
And I’ll tell you what I tell everyone every year… I truly have no idea where the Golden Fire Horse will be/is hidden. While I’m working on the clues, Charles gives me a general area, but that’s it. So if you message me asking for hints, chances are you already know more than I do 😄
The only thing I have been told is to keep watch for clues between now and April 5th…
So keep your eyes open, your mind curious, and your sense of adventure ready.
Good luck, happy searching, and may a little magic find you this New Year!
Clue #3
Couple reminders:
All current clues can be found on our website: https://manicmermaid.com/monkeyshines-and-monkeyshining
Additionally, clues will be posted via newsletter and/or socials and/or texting (text JOIN to 833-462-2310)
Feel free to share with friends (sometimes two heads are better than one!)
BTW – Charles just added to the already full winner’s basket (including a Monkeyshine Candle Cup) an additional item worth $1000!!
Here is today’s clue…
The Golden Fire Horse – Third Annual Hunt
Twice before the trail was laid,
And now a third begins to wade,
With careful eyes and patient mind,
You’ve shown us what you’re able to find.
Each year you’ve risen to the test,
Seeing more, and guessing best,
Turning whispers into sight,
And chasing clues both day and night.
So now the game will grow with you
With paths that ask a deeper view,
The steps are longer, the turns more wide,
And truth won’t rush, but walk beside.
For this year’s prize is not alone,
Not just the Fire Horse waiting, known,
But something more for those who see
What waits beyond… what’s meant to be.
Move intentionally now, let patience guide,
The Fire Horse waits where mares did abide.
“The Golden Fire Horse – Whispers of the Past”
Where iron lines once carved their way,
Carrying night into the day,
With cargo, stories, lives in tow,
They shaped the paths you walk below.
Built where the working hands once stood,
Where effort shaped what now is good,
From labor laid in years before,
Still living in each street and door.
Where the shape of the city started to form,
Where the work of the past still lingers, yet worn,
Old walls stand steady, though time has moved on,
Holding the stories of how it was drawn.
It rose with purpose, bold and clear,
Then quieted through passing year,
Yet not undone, just rearranged
And through that change, became unchanged.
Paths made for wandering, steady and near,
Where footsteps return year after year,
Windows of wonder and doors open wide,
Where makers and merchants still gather inside.
Built from the past but alive in today,
Where purpose and history never drift away,
And not far from waters that carried the start,
Still shaping the rhythm and pulse of its heart.
Look closely, move slowly, let patience take course
For truth marks the path to the Golden Horse.
Clue #4
Golden Horse Hunt (I am SO cheering you on!!!)
Clue #4 has dropped (right below here. YES! Really!) And you are going to need a cipher. Not optional. Not “maybe I can wing it.” No. A proper decoder situation.
Your decoder ring will take the form of a tome from Tacoma’s favorite “secret” author.
Check your bookshelf, your local library…or, conveniently, right here at The Mermaid.
All ‘bold’ entries are where you need to use our man about town’s endless intellect specializing in all things Tacoma and the PNW.
Couple reminders before I lose my train of thought again:
• You are looking for the Golden Fire Horse in this picture…if you find it, there are instructions waiting for you to claim the rest of your treasures
• All current clues live here and party like it’s 1899:
https://manicmermaid.com/monkeyshines-and-monkeyshining
• Clues also show up via newsletter, socials, and texting
(text JOIN to 833-462-2310 if you like surprises and mild chaos)
• I do not know where Charles hides these golden animals.
He gives me a general area of Tacoma and says “have fun,” and then I spiral into historical research and here we are
• Feel free to team up, two heads are often better than one (especially when one of them has had more coffee than I have)
• And because Charles has absolutely no chill, he just added another item worth $1000 to the already stacked winner’s basket (yes, the Monkeyshine Candle Cup is still in there)
Have fun, be safe, and I cannot wait to see what you all come up with.
Clue #4 – Golden Horse Hunt (Will this be the final clue?! Will someone find the Golden Horse?! Will you get to see the rest of my mad wanderings disguised as games?!!) Good luck everyone!!
And just like that…the Golden Fire Horse has been found. 
We hope you had fun, stretched your brains in new ways, and discovered a few new stories about Tacoma’s rich and fascinating history along the way.
If you would like a bit of hints about the clues from this year, check out details below – we don’t give away everything, but enough to maybe fill in a few of the question marks! And I’ve included Clue #5 below as well since he never made it to the main show.
1. So the first picture was an AI image of Charles’s Fire Horse, in front of the bricks from the historic Pacific Brewing & Malting Co. The green isn’t moss, but hops.
2. Image #2 looked identical, but if you blew it up you would find the following letters: E…L…O…G…H…T…A Move them around a bit and they spelled Holgate – the street where the famous brewery sits.
3. The poem each year always sends you in at least 2 directions this year (which is hard to do on my part, lol…because I have to come up with facts that are true for both places)…but this year I decided to do THREE. I chose Old Town, UW area and the real target, the Brewery District. Ironically when I showed Charles the clue he guessed Freighthouse Square and yet he’s the one who CHOSE the Brewery District, lol. So for those of you who I unintentionally led down the Freighthouse path, my apologies. Many of you, tho, were on to me and were circling the Prairie Line Trail (which is ALL sorts of amazing and incredible – if you haven’t already, head down there and check out their park filled with art & history). So I began Clue #4 alluding to heading past the Prairie Line Trail.
4. How about if I just give you the answers that were in BOLD…although the most important one to get was the word German – the German Immigrants were THE backbone of why we even had a brewery district.
This incredible photo was posted by local historian Rob Riley a couple weeks ago on Facebook. Here is what he said: This remarkable photograph, captured around 1888, offers a sweeping view of a young Tacoma standing on the edge of transformation. In the foreground, the land still bears the marks of its past, scattered with fallen trees and stubborn stumps, as if the forest itself had only just stepped aside to make way for a growing city.
To the far right, Pacific Avenue begins to take shape, already lined with buildings that hint at the promise of commerce and community. Along the edge of the deep ravine known as Galliher’s Gulch, a handful of structures cling to the land, overlooking a landscape that would soon be forever changed.
Near the center of the image rises the multi storied malt house of the Pacific Brewing & Malting Company, a cornerstone of what would become Tacoma’s bustling brewery district. With the support of the Northern Pacific Railroad, which ran a spur line from the waterfront to this very area, industry and opportunity flowed steadily into the heart of the city.
Within just a decade of this moment in time, Pacific Brewing & Malting would proudly call itself one of the most complete brewing and malting operations on the Pacific Coast, a testament to how quickly Tacoma was rising.
More than a photograph It is a glimpse into a city finding its footing, where raw earth and ambition met, and where the foundations of modern Tacoma were quietly being laid.
Take a moment. Look closely. This is Tacoma, on the cusp of becoming.
And then finally…Clue #5
