Breaking the Bubble

With an opening in my busy Saturday schedule, after an exhausting morning of lying in bed, my two roommates and I hopped in the car and drove downtown with a pocketful of dreams and an important story to cover. We were on a mission to discover the locations of nine tiny bronze mice. Armed with nothing more than a sheet of paper bearing clues meant to lead us to the mice, we set out on our journey, but first we needed food.

After the meal, we headed down Main Street to the fountain outside the Hyatt Hotel. On the edge of the fountain was a plaque that explained a little bit about our job as mice hunters. We would be participating in a search that was the idea of Jimmy Ryan.

When Ryan was a senior at Christ Church Episcopal School in Greenville, he presented the idea of the mice as his senior project. Based on the children's book Goodnight Moon, a series of tiny mice, created by sculptor Zan Wells, hide from pedestrians along Main Street between the Hyatt and the Westin Poinsett. It was our job to find them.

So with our mission clearly stated, we embarked on a journey we would not soon forget. We followed our first clue to find a tiny mouse named Minnie with very little trouble. My companion had already seen the second mouse sculpture on another trip downtown, so it was hard to miss. The third proved little challenge as well, but the fourth was cleverly hidden.

We looked on the street level where we'd found the others hiding, but his time the mouse named Miss Minney was well above our heads. The next was another easy snag, so with some good experience under our belts and some pep in our step we set out to find the sixth. This would become the low point of our search and nearly cause us to throw it in the towel. After searching feverishly for a good few minutes there was no mouse to be found.

I had heard a rumor that one of the mice had been stolen for mouse number six. Or perhaps the mouse was simply too well hidden. At any rate, we continued our search with little fanfare, found the last two mice and headed to the park to relax. It was good to know we had found the mice and that the mice had served their purpose of giving us a good time.

The Mice on Main sculptures are only one of many exciting little gems in downtown Greenville, who knows what I'll find next. If you are interested in searching on your own, you can find the clues at [http://www.greatergreenville.com/visitors/mice.asp] http://www.greatergreenville.com/visitors/mice.asp.
Happy Hunting!