The Corvettes are coming! Clear your calendars and plan to bring your family downtown Tuesday, August 26, for an evening filled with colorful corvettes, festivities and fun!

The Corvette Caravan is a national event bringing Corvette owners from all 50 states, and even a few foreign countries, together to journey to Bowling Green, Ky, to the National Corvette Museum's 20th anniversary celebration. Cape Girardeau was chosen to be the last overnight stop on their journey, and we're extremely excited to host these travelers!

A parade of local corvettes kicks-off the event. Find a spot on Broadway to watch hundreds of local vette owners journey from Capaha Park to Main St at 5:30pm. National caravaners are alated to arrive downtown around 6:30pm. Both groups will showcase their vehicles on Main St and Water St throughout the evening. Music will be provided by Hot Rod Nights, the Cape Girardeau Police Department will have a Fatal Vision Goggles display, as will the Highway Patrol with their Seat Belt Convincer and a Nascar Simulator from Auto Tire & Parts. You don't want to miss this opportunity to see hundreds of corvettes and participate in the festivities in our own backyard. Check out this video to learn more.

If you're a local Corvette owner and wish to participate in the parade, plan to meet at Capaha Park at 5pm on the 26th to receive further instructions.

Close spectator parking may be an issue. Free parking is available at Isle Casino Cape Girardeau from 4 to 9pm. From there, a shuttle will be running to a pick-up/drop-off location at the intersection of Main St and Broadway.

For more information, head over to the Convention & Visitors Bureau's website. We hope you're as excited about the event as we are and look forward to seeing you on the 26th!

This past winter I was excited to find out we were getting an Irish pub. Living in cities for 15 years prior to moving to Cape, I found the “little neighborhood pub” was a staple of urban living. It was where you went to celebrate moments big and small, see your friends, gossip, talk sports, laugh, cry and just be part of the community. So opening night of Katy O’Ferrell’s, I was totally there!

Now I wouldn't say I’m a connoisseur of Irish pubs. I, however, have been to quite a few.  I’ve visited Irish pubs in Chicago, New Jersey, Dallas, Pittsburg, San Antonio, Milwaukee, Seattle, Birmingham (that’s England, not AL), Dublin (yep, as in Ireland) and many other places in between. So how does Katy O’s stack up? Pretty well, I do have to say.

The Food

One quirky thing about an Irish pub is that there is no requirement to serve Irish cuisine. Even in the pubs I’ve been to in Ireland and Great Britain, it is common to find curries, bangers and mash, burgers, etc on the menu. Katy O’Ferrell’s is no different. It's menu touts Irish favorites like boxty and shepherd’s pie alongside a burger, steaks and seafood. (BTW, the Irish dishes are even better than the ones my old Irish Granny used to make!) My favorite is the Reuben with a side of butters carrots. Yeah, I know it’s not Irish, but it still doesn’t make it any less tasty.

The Bar

The success of an Irish pub is its bar, or more appropriately its bar staff. Katy O’s warm and cheerful barkeepers provide excellent service with a smile. From pouring stouts to mixing a mean dirty martini, their drinks are always consistently delicious and served with pride.

Décor and Atmosphere

Let’s face it, Irish pubs in America look a certain way - lowly lit with a massive carved bar, with a random mix of 19th century art and quirky Irish memorabilia. Katy O’Ferrell’s hit a homerun in this department when it chose the old Petit New Orleans as its location. The outside just finished getting a new look with dark olive green and black paint.

Hopefully this little article will convenience you to come downtown and share in the Irish-American tradition of the public house. See you at Katy O's soon!