Last night we had a Summer in the City event for RI at Liam Flynn's Ale House. It was bittersweet. We knew Ultra Faux, Michael Harris, Sami Arefin and Eddie Hrybyk of Ultrafaux, the group that leads the free Gypsy Jazz sessions, would be leaving for California for a few weeks. But we didn't realize the pub would be closing in July 17th. 
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"Sad news — Word has come that Liam Flynn’s Ale House on North Avenue will be closing, due to an increase in the rent. Liam Flynn’s has been hosting the traditional jazz jam on Sunday afternoons, the gypsy jazz jam session on Monday nights (as featured in the March 2016 BJA newsletter) and the straight-ahead jazz jam on Thursday nights (as featured in the July/August 2016 BJA newsletter), as well as the Appalachian Old-Time jam on Tuesdays and the Celtic/Irish traditional Jam on Wednesdays. So the loss of this venue is a big loss for the Baltimore music community. A farewell party for Hot Club of Baltimore and Ultrafaux, hosts of the Monday night gypsy jazz jam, was held at Liam Flynn’s on Monday night, followed by a lively gypsy jazz jam session. 
A GoFundMe campaign has been mounted to help Liam Flynn’s retain its staff of 15 while searching for a new location in Central Baltimore."  Baltimore Jazz.com

Mycala suggested we enter Zippy in the Visionary Arts Museum Pet Parade. It was last minute so we scampered to find an outfit and settled on a star spangled America's Sweetheart lollipop T-shirt. To complete the look we found a hat and adorned it with red, white and blue lollipops. He smiled most of the day, loving the attention, prancing happily in the parade and having his few minutes of fame on stage for the talent show. He fell asleep at one point and was too tired to participate in Musical Chairs, but all in all it was a wonderful day.
There were dogs of every shape and size, one cat, a bunny, two iguanas and a snake. The costumes were phenomenal and included baby carriages decorated as floats, with owners dressed to match their dogs costumes. We were threatened a few times with lightning and potential storms but they magically help off.
Next year we'll start earlier and create a costume worthy of the occasion!