Saturday’s Parades Followed With Partying Die-Hards Out On Sunday
Green beer, parades, Irish bars and Erin Go Bragh.
It’s St. Patrick’s Day and the Irish luck is smiling on all of us this year because we get not one, but two days to celebrate.
St. Patrick’s Day in on a Sunday, and that’s actually a bonus day. The parades in major places – Boston, Chicago, New York and my personal St. Paddy’s favorite, Savannah, Ga. – are all on a Saturday. And that’s the biggest party day.
Those out Sunday are the true die-hard party fans.
Me? I’m out both days. After all, St. Paddy’s is one of my favorite party days of the year. And if I have the opportunity to celebrate it twice, on back-to-back days, then I’m going to celebrate twice on back-to-back days.
My love for St. Patrick’s Day began in Savannah, Ga. I was a sportswriter at the newspaper and in February the dominant conversation in town was about St. Paddy’s. I didn’t understand initially but it didn’t take long to learn why everyone was so excited. The city has a population of about 350,000 and about that many visitors come to town for it.
There’s a parade but the real scene is afterward on River Street, where it’s shoulder-to-shoulder crowded. It’s wild, it’s fun and I admit some pretty crazy things have happened to me down on ‘ol River Street on St. Patrick’s Day (like the time a girl we called “Fru Fru” kidnapped my friend and myself and took us on a memorable journey with her girlfriend).
Perhaps that’s why I always smile when I think of St. Patrick’s Day.
I’ll be at a parade this year, but it and the ensuing party is nothing like Savannah. Still, the tiny-by-comparison parade in Southern California’s Hermosa Beach has a certain charm to it.
And as long as the bars on the Pier don’t charge to get in like they have the past couple of years – click here for my thoughts on that – then the parade will be the perfect warm-up to a fun-filled day.
And then, I get to do it all again the next day!
Erin Go Bragh, indeed.
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