Also this issue: Endless Summer CP’s calendar of arts events will keep you busy for the next three months. -Art by Robin Rice, Theater by David Anthony Fox and Dance by Denise Kasrel The Noise of Summer Circle the shows you want to go to. -Jazz by Kyle Parker, Folk/World by Mary Armstrong, Rock/Pop by Patrick Rapa and Classical by Peter Burwasser Make Way For Ducklings The newest, oddest way to tour Philly. -Debra Auspitz Small Ball A whole new meaning to fantasy baseball. -Howard Altman Painting Al Fresco A summer crash course in watercolors. -Lori Hill Connecting Flight A five-hour journey ends a century of separation. -Frank Lewis Salon Selective Comfort hair, perfect tans and other lessons learned during a day of summer beauty. -Debra Auspitz Swim Fan An underwater wonderland and fearsome creatures of the deep collide in a scuba-diving adventure at the aquarium. -Helen i-lin Hwang

June 12-18, 2003

cover story

Ultimate Summer Fun

Photo By: Michael T. Regan

Swimming with Sharks (and other summertime fantasies) Or: How to spend your summer vacation

Philly’s summer, so far, has been anything but fantastic. It’s cold. It’s rainy. The sun, except for a few cameo appearances, seems to have forsaken us. So what’s a staff of bitter, mostly pasty, winter-shocked newspaper writers to do when faced with producing a sunny summer issue? Fantasize. From small diversions from the daily gloom, like taking a tour on the city’s new amphibious "duck" vehicle, to harder-to-finagle feats like diving in the tanks at the N.J. Aquarium or taking a little league team to learn from Phillies coaches at the Vet, we dreamt up a list of fantasies that could take our minds, and hopefully yours, off of a summer that’s hit the ground limping. With our guide, you can learn where to go in Philly to live out certain summer dreams, whether you love the idea of painting a landscape in a sunny field or having someone else paint a fake tan all over your body. Some of our fantasies took us out of the city, finding family roots in Ireland or taking kayaking trips down the shore and in Belize, Guatemala and Honduras.

In the end, we’re still all a little bitter, and a little less pasty (thanks to the tan). But at least we can offer you the (sometimes bizarre) experiences we had living out a few summertime fantasies, and perhaps entice you to try out a few of your own.

—Debra Auspitz