Avdi got home, and behold–the house was clean!  The “lake” that was the yard was still flooded, but it was receding.

Best of all, Avdi and I got to go out to Soulard, a gay STL neighborhood where the country’s second largest Mardis Gras is held each year, and checked out pubs.  The first was Venice Café, where I couldn’t stop taking photos!  That’s the only way to describe the place, it was such a kaleidoscope of color and eccentricity.  We had drinks and checked out the crazy array of sensory sights.  I was in hippie heaven.

Then we went to McGurk’s Irish Pub, where I had their own excellent stout, and we listened to a couple of musicians playing traditional Irish music, which I loved.  The evening was almost like a mini-vacation for me, getting to do stuff with Avdi.