Murder Mystery Tour

I went to the Stone Lion Inn last night. I had been intending to do it for some time. The dinner costs just over $55 and you play a character in the mystery. If you register early enough, you can also stay in the "haunted" bed & breakfast.

When you first arrive (it is important that you get there early to get your character assignment and read the plot and characters), you get your own little booklet that tells you one the clues that you will read later as part of the "play" that will reveal some of the clues necessary to solve the crime. I arrived at 7:00pm, and even that was a little late with all of the information that needed to be taken in.

You start the night seated in the living room eating finger food and getting introduced to some of the other characters (others who, like yourself, play one of the characters in the mystery).

The host then takes you to a graveyard in Guthrie, Oklahoma, where a true-to-life bungling outlaw was buried. She will go through the true story of Elmer McCurdy. At first I thought it was just a joke and part of the play. But no, this part of the story was really true. He even has his own Urban Legends page.

From there, true Oklahoma yarn takes over. The play that you participate in revolves around the fictitious descendants of Elmer McCurdy meeting to try to claim their share of the inheritance of $1.2 million in mysterious loot buried at the Stone Lion Inn. One of the potential descendants is "murdered" during the evening. Your job is to interact with the other characters during the dinner that follows to try to figure out who the murderer is. But beware, one of you is the "murderer." In order to solve the murder, you must piece together all of the clues given during the evening from the time you arrive back from the gravesite to late in the evening.

It was a fun time to spend a weekend evening in Oklahoma. After the mystery is solved, the host will go around the room and have each guest introduce themselves. Be ready for a late night though; the show, combined with the follow-up introductions and discussions, lasted until almost 1am. It is no wonder many choose to stay overnight at the Stone Lion Inn. Even if it is "haunted."