The Adventures of
ODDYSEUS
In Philadelphia
Day 1
On Thursday, August 5, 1999, there was an art exhibit at the Moore College of Art. A boy named James had some work in the show. Mike and MaryBeth went to see their friend James' work with the plan of going fishing afterwards. But they ended up visiting the Franklin Institute for a little while first. The three of them then headed off to get something to eat. On the way, they found a stick on the side of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. It was a rather large stick, so they picked it up and looked at it. James pulled a condom out of his pocket and put it on the end of the stick. Then he pulled out some Russian Jolly TimeTM microwave popcorn. Mike took out a camera and took this picture. Then James maneuvered the stick to take this picture. Then they carried it back accross the street to the Franklin Institute and leaned it up against a driveway while they went to get some food at a nearby pizza place. When they returned, they found the stick waiting patiently for them. So they carried it to the fountains accross the street from the Cathedral. They took three (1 2 3) pictures there. Then they took the stick to the Cathedral. And the flag of the Russian Federation located accross the street. On the way back to the fountain, James and Mike agreed to name the stick Oddyseus. With this new name, they carried ODDYSEUS to LOVE park. It was getting late and there wasn't too much more things to photograph in Center City, so they carried the stick onto the El platform and then onto the El itself. Arriving at 5th street station, they proceeded to historic Olde City to visit the Liberty Bell. The park rangers wouldn't allow Oddyseus inside the building, so he had to settle for an outdoor shot. They then proceeded to the statue of the signer of the declaration. Gerhard Schneibel had previously dubbed this statue "gawdy", but Oddyseus seemed to like it. It wasn't much farther to Mark Hurst's house, but he wasn't home so they went to South Street. The first stop was Condom Kingdom to pick up some supplies. The they carried Oddyseus to South Street Bridge. From there they went to Matt's house, where they spoke to Byron who had called Matt from the South Street Diner. Byron told Mike that Andy, who was with Byron, thought he saw him carrying a huge stick down South Street but wasn't sure if it was him. The three kids went back to South Street to visit with Byron and Andy for a while. Then they headed down 2nd Street to MaryBeth's house. On the way, they were stopped by an extremely friendly rastafarian on a bike who told them he had a stick just like it at home which he used to play traditional African music. What a cool guy.
Day 2
On Monday, August 9, they decided to take Oddyseus out again. The original plan was to go to the Mutter Museum and leave him locked outside. But the Mutter was closed. So they decided to go to the Japanese House and Garden instead. Mike, James, and Kate went to Community College at 17th and SpringGarden to pick up Nadine. Then they walked to 16th and SpringGarden to meet MaryBeth, Nik, and Oddyseus. Oddyseus had suffered an injury and developed a crack, so they repaired him with duct tape before heading off towards the Art Museum. They walked and walked until they reached the baseball fields of F.S.A. where Oddyseus slid headfirst into homeplate. At the corner, Kate persuaded a couple to pose with Oddyseus and James. Then it was off to Logan Circle where Oddyseus posed with two statues (1 2). He also posed with an alligator and a horse. The group then crossed the street to the Art Museum where Oddyseus posed with a friendly young tourist, who was more than a little skeptical as to whether Oddyseus really was a stick. They all climbed up the steps and Oddyseus even did the mandatory Rocky impersonation. Then it was time to start up Kelly Drive. They saw lots of statues(1 2 3 4). They walked and walked until they realized that the Japanese house was on the other side of the river. By that time, everyone was pretty mad at Mike. Poor Mike. Then they walked and walked until they got to Roxborough. Then Nadine went home and everyone else turned around and walked back to the gas station.
