SHU travels on Gateway Clipper Fleet for annual Mystery Trip

Seton Hill University students rode on the Gateway Clipper as a part of the annual Mystery Trip on April 20. The clues were revealed on Twitter until one student was able to correctly guess the location. Photo by O.Schultz/Setonian.

This year Seton Hill University’s Mystery Trip was revealed to be a voyage on the Gateway Clipper Fleet in Pittsburgh for a night of dinner and dancing on April 20. Like previous years there were clues that were tweeted out from SHU’s Student Life account. Unlike other years, the mystery destination was announced ahead of time. The first clue was “If you like riddles, this is right in your wheelhouse.”

The second clue for the mystery trip was “If you’re so inclined, find the point of our riddles.” The last clue was “If you go on the trip, you’ll have a good time mon!”

After all of the clues were given, the Student Life Twitter account asked students to tweet any guesses they had on where the mystery trip would be, and Megan Carnahan guessed correctly! Her reasoning for guessing the Gateway Clipper was that ships have a wheelhouse; the Gateway Clipper is by the Incline and the Point. The last clue was a play on the Monongahela River, better known as the “Mon” river.

“I always look forward to the annual mystery trip because of the clues that are given up until we leave for the trip,” said Meliniqua Francis, SHU senior hospitality and tourism major. “This year’s selection was unique, and you got to see the Setonian spirit alive among those who went on the trip, plus getting to sightsee Pittsburgh was great.”

“I thought the trip was amazing because I got to see the Pittsburgh Skyline while on a boat,” said Melissa Carden, senior psychology major at SHU.

Judy Underwood, an administrative assistant with student engagement, said that the mystery trips started before she came to SHU, which was around 2008. “Students are interested in the adventure of the mystery trip and it gives them a much-needed break from all of the year end academic assignments,” Underwood said.

Underwood also gave examples of past mystery trip destinations, which included Inner Harbor in Maryland, Philadelphia, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Football Hall of Fame and the Pittsburgh Zoo.

“I had never been on the mystery trip before, let alone to Pittsburgh many times, so it was great to experience the city,” said Jessica Minneci, junior creative writing major at SHU. “I plan on attending the trip my senior year and I think a great place to go on the mystery trip would be Cedar Point.”

As a senior here at SHU myself I have been on three different mystery trips. The first one I went on was in 2014 and was to both the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Afterwards you could either visit a science museum or the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. The next trip I went on was in 2016 to the Pittsburgh Zoo and we got to go behind the scenes and meet some animals including a giraffe that the students got to pet. I looked forward to the mystery trip every year even if I didn’t get to take part because it was such a fun time trying to guess the answers to the clues. Even though this was my last mystery trip, the adventures at SHU will continue with future trips and I look forward to keeping up with social media to see where they are!

Published By: Stephen Dumnich

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