Between the parades, restaurant specials, and pub crawls in our St. Patrick’s Day Roundup, it might be hard to come out the other end of this weekend without feeling a bit green. If you want to avoid the shamrock-clad crowds, check out these alternative events happening around town.

EAT

March 16: Drag Me To Brunch

El Bufalo Tequila Bar & Kitchen, 2921 O’Donnell St. 11 a.m.-3 p.m. $20

We can’t think of a better way to start the St. Patrick’s Day weekend shenanigans than with a good ol’ fashioned drag brunch. After noshing on Tex-Mex brunch dishes like spicy chorizo omelets and breakfast tacos, dance along with local queens like Sarah ‘Nade, Virya Shavasana, and Victoria Bohmore as they sashay around El Bufalo Tequila Bar & Kitchen. With bottomless mimosas, tequila sunrises, and Bloody Marys flowing throughout the show, you’re guaranteed to be dragging your feet once it’s time to go back out to the Canton Square.

DRINK

March 16: Unicorn Farts Release Party

DuClaw Brewing Company, 8901 Yellow Bright Rd. 2-3 p.m. Free.

This weekend marks the release of DuClaw Brewing’s unicorn-themed beer in support of the city’s LGBTQ community, and their team of brewers is kicking off the celebration (literally) with an ode to Baltimore Pride’s annual high-heel race. Venture out to Rosedale to participate in a one-of-a-kind 20-meter dash to honor the brand-new glittery ale, Sour Me Unicorn Farts, and then spend the rest afternoon enjoying live music and eats from local food trucks. Show the crowd of onlookers what stilettos are made for and trade in your sweat for 16 ounces of shimmer at the finish line.

SEE

March 16-April 13: Louie’s Cafe Bookstore Exhibition

Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Ave. 6-8 p.m. Free.

Before Station North’s worker-owned Red Emma’s Bookstore Coffeehouse, there was Louie’s, a beloved bookstore cafe which was the first of its kind when it opened in 1981. This Charles Street staple served as a hub for Baltimore’s artist community, and now, 20 years after its closing, 25 of Louie’s previously featured artists are hanging their masterpieces on the walls of the Creative Alliance to revive the glory of this cultural epicenter. Whether you’re a former patron or just want to revel in this piece of local history, experience its opening on Saturday night and stick around for eats by James Beard Award-winning chef Spike Gjerde and tunes by Ava Oelke with Swing Theory.

HEAR

March 15: Haint Blue

Metro Gallery, 1700 N. Charles St. 8 p.m. $10.

Heavy thunderstorms are in Friday’s forecast, but don’t let that stop you from jamming out with this righteous Baltimore-based septet during the release party for their first full-length album, Overgrown. Pack the Metro Gallery to hear bold anthems and vulnerable ballads from this rising Americana-folk group as well as sets by local artists Caleb Stine and Cora Sone that will have you rockin’ no matter how loudly the thunder rolls.

DO

March 8: Baltimore Oyster Gardening

Downtown Sailing Center, 1425 Key Hwy. 9-11 a.m. Free.

Who knew mollusks needed gardening? This Saturday, head down to Lighthouse Point to help ensure that the 250,000 oysters planted around the Inner Harbor are living their best lives. Show your appreciation for these Chesapeake Bay VIPs by cleaning out their cages and learning about how important they are to the ecosystem. And though you’re bound to get dirty (RIP to your T-shirt), the day’s work will leave you feeling happy as a clam.

It’s impossible to overstate how important Louie’s Bookstore Café was to your life if you lived in Baltimore City during the ’80s and ’90s. This was before Donna’s. Before Starbucks. Hell, before Amazon. Louie’s was a place to have a drink, have a meal, look at some local art on the walls, listen to some Peabody students gigging in the corner, and, yes, buy a book. Beyond that, it seemed to be the center of everything: first dates, breakups, celebrity sightings. Restaurants come and go in Baltimore at a rapid pace, but Louie’s will never be forgotten.

And now the restaurant that closed more than 20 years ago is having a reunion.

The popular dining spot, which was open on Charles Street from 1981 to 1998, is the subject of a pair of art exhibits at the Creative Alliance that will run from March 16 to April 13, providing former patrons and employees an opportunity to get together again.

The first one, in the main gallery downstairs, will be “Jimmy Rouse: The Past Ten Years.” It’s a collection of paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures by Rouse, who owned and operated Louie’s while also working as a visual artist. Rouse named the restaurant after his first son. The second show, upstairs in the Amalie Rothschild Gallery, is “Louie’s Bookstore and Café: Back on the Wall” and will contain work by 25 artists who were featured over the years at Louie’s, one of the first restaurants locally to exhibit art for sale on a rotating basis.

Put them together and it’s a perfect excuse to gather patrons of the food and books and art—or all three. The opening reception on March 16 is shaping up to be an especially big night for reminiscing, with James Beard Award-winning chef Spike Gjerde providing the food and Ava Oelke singing with Swing Theory in the Marquee Lounge.

“Please come, let’s have a Louie’s reunion,” Rouse wrote on his Facebook page to announce the opening. Now 73, he spends much of his time making art from studios in Bolton Hill and Woodberry.

The idea for the companion shows came from Creative Alliance executive director Gina Caruso and former exhibitions and programs manager Jeremy Sterns. According to Caruso, Creative Alliance was planning a show of works by Rouse, who had exhibited there before, and they wanted to use that as an opportunity to celebrate many of the artists Rouse helped promote at Louie’s.

Opened one year after Harborplace did, Louie’s was an alternative to the Inner Harbor pavilions, a place where locals could feel comfortable. The old building gave the space a lot of character, and the high ceilings provided plenty of wall space to hang paintings. Practically from the start, it was a gathering place for Baltimore’s arts community. All kinds of people stopped by. It had such a strong following that there is even today a Facebook page devoted to it and its alums, Louie’s Bookstore and Café Goes Global.

Caruso said she remembers Louie’s from when she first moved to Baltimore in 1989 to work at the nearby Walters Art Gallery, now the Walters Art Museum. She said the response from the arts community was strong in large part because many of the employees were emerging artists, waiting tables or tending bar at Louie’s to support themselves while building careers—and Rouse, an artist himself, encouraged that.

“When I came to Baltimore in 1989, Louie’s was the place to go—and the place to get a decent cup of coffee,” Caruso recalls. “And he was showing artists at the time, many of whom worked for him at the restaurant. We would come to the bookstore and then eat there. I became friends with many of [the patrons] because they were poets and writers and artists. There weren’t a lot of galleries that were showing emerging artists at the time.”

Caruso said there were other places to find local art during the period when Louie’s was open, including Margaret’s Café in Fells Point (run by Creative Alliance co-founder Margaret Footner) and Linda Richardson’s Café Montage in Mt. Vernon. She also notes that there are many more restaurants that show and sell original art now. But Louie’s paved the way in many respects, she said.

“It was an oasis, really,” she said. “It wasn’t just the art on the walls. It was the people who worked there. [Rouse] was a very kind person and he was very supportive of his artists. It was a very special place.”

Artists who are confirmed for the show, curated by Thomas James, include Ruth Channing, Ruth Pettus, Christy Bergland, Greg Fletcher, Nieves Saah, Steve Parlato, Mary Opasik, Jim Opasik and Richard Soper. Others are being added. Rouse, a son of legendary developer James W. Rouse, helped Creative Alliance track down the artists. He said the exhibits at Louie’s lasted six weeks, and he figures more than 100 artists showed their work there over the years.

Rouse plans to present a range of his own oil paintings, including still life images, landscapes, portraits, and figures, as well as narrative and allegorical paintings. He’ll also show free-standing clay figures, portrait heads and bas-reliefs, which he paints.

With less than a week to go before the shows open at Creative Alliance, Rouse said he’s looking forward to seeing everyone again—and letting everyone see what he’s been working on. He’s giving an artist’s talk at Creative Alliance at 3:30 p.m. on April 13 and will speak about the two exhibits and “the esthetics of beauty” as part of a panel discussion with Tom Hall on WYPR Radio at noon on March 15.

“I think people will be blown away by the quality of work upstairs,” Rouse said.