St. Patrick's Day

It's one of my favorite holidays!  Despite that, I didn't really have any particular plans for this Saturday.  I would like to go to Chicago some year and see the river turn green.  So make yourself a Shamrock Shake, and let's talk about how utterly fantastic the weather has been this March.

This is the lake on the 14th.  It was about 70 degrees out, but the lake was still frozen over.  The fog was crazy.

On the 17th, my parents wanted to go out to Golden Rule Farms to pick up some summer gardening supplies (as well as some hoophouse materials).  Golden Rule supplies to a restaurant up in Traverse, so we decided to head up there for lunch.  Trattoria Stella at The Commons - you might recall that Kyle and I went to The Commons for Valentine's.  And as it turns out, we were just in time to see the parade.

I think it goes without saying that my favorite float was the one that supplied the crowd with Irish flags!

It was about 80 degrees out - more than just a balmy March day in Northern Michigan!  So we walked on down to the bay to stick our toes in the water.  Here's Mom, right after she lost feeling in her ankles...

Pick your favorite shade of blue-green, Traverse has them all.

And after enjoying the sun, we headed up to the Jolly Pumpkin for some beers.  The centerpiece on our table was a shamrock plant - I'd never seen one before.  The manager didn't know where they had gotten it, so I offered to buy it...but he said I could just take it!

Free Irish flags and shamrocks?  Does life get any better than that?

Yes, it does.  When we got home, the lake had nearly melted.  In fact, it was one of the first great sunsets of the year.  And on Sunday, the rest of the ice disappeared.  Happy St. Pat's, everyone!