St Patrick's Day Celebration In Newport, RI

Saturday, Eric and I made our way (in a downpour) to Newport, RI. Our friends invited us to watch a St Patrick's Day parade and hang out for the day. The rain was coming down harder the closer we got, so we weren't sure if they'd even have the parade. But it was a rain or shine event and the 9 of us walked downtown (1 - 1.5 miles) to check it out. (I didn't bring the camera because the weather was so bad.) One of our friends' umbrellas fell victim to the storm after only 5 minutes outside, and we were all completely soaked by the time we got to the parade route. We watched the parade for about 5 minutes before deciding it was idiotic to stand around getting wetter, and we headed to a bar.

It was my first time at a St Patrick's Day celebration of any sort, and as soon as we walked in I whispered to Eric that I was out of my element. I did have a good time, and it was funny to watch everybody. There was green everywhere I looked and the type of dancing that usually happens only under the cover of darkness (it was about noon). We stayed at the bar for about 3 hours and then risked the elements again for the trek back to our friends' apartment and tons of delicious food.

Eric and I actually ended up staying the night, which was great. Sunday morning the rain stopped momentarily and I took these pictures as we headed back to Boston. It was sooooo windy I could barely hold the camera steady (the weird focus in the picture below is evidence). It started up again almost as soon as we hopped back in the car, and it got worse the longer we drove! This rain is just unbelievable (yes, it's still going).

Last night we discovered water leaking into our apartment around the window frames in our bedroom. There's a water stain on the ceiling above the windows and the towel we put on the windowsill is completely saturated. This morning I realized the same thing's happening in our kitchen, and we've got some bowls catching the drips in there. The landlord said 1) he's been living in Boston for 44 years and he's never seen rain like this and 2) they're replacing the entire back wall of our building soon so this problem will be taken care of. I'm not sure how that's going to work!

How was your weekend? Soaking wet, like ours?