Stella's Guide to Living: If you're lucky enough to be Irish....you're lucky enough!

In case you weren't paying attention, St. Patrick's Day fell on a Saturday this year. Yeah! Way more fun. I have never been much of a corned beef and cabbage gal, but this year decided it was time to step out. Helena has a great little Irish community, and we knew they would be out in full force. Rumor has it that Helena also has a great little parade, so why not go and see what that is all about? Also, I had a photo assignment, so why not go take pictures of the parade and fun to follow?

It was a rainy, warm day -- or so it looked out the window of the house. It was definitely raining but not so warm. Most of the people at the parade seemed to have assumed what I did, it looked warm, so why take a coat? Wrong.

Good news! We were standing on the street corner next to Riley's Irish Pub. The 10-minute parade went off without a hitch, fun people and floats wending their way through downtown Helena. When the last old car rounded the corner ... my brilliant idea! A mad dash for an empty stool in the pub. (My husband takes exception to this and thinks it was HIS idea - not so.) I think we were the first through the door. What fun, no matter who came up with the idea. The beer was green and flowing. The food menu was strictly Irish food. I actually think the pub would be better served to can the rest of the menu and stick to something that seems appropriate for an Irish pub; good Irish food. Sadly, it is not always so good. Maybe because they have a million non-Irish things on the menu in an attempt to make everyone in the world happy, which, as we all know, will never happen in a million years. It is an Irish pub, for God's sake; what do people expect? But anyway, on Saturday, March 17, 2012, St. Patrick's Day, the food was great! We had walleye fish & chips and cream of reuben soup. Both were fantastic. I had never had that soup before. I would definitely order it again. Cheers to a great day!