St. Patricks Parade and Festival.

St. Patty's day has finally arrived! I think this year is the most exciting St. Patty's because in a couple of weeks, we will actually be going to Ireland for the first time. (YAY!) So we are really into the spirit of the holiday. We get up bright and early and catch the train into downtown. Boo is decked out in a green fleece and a green baseball cap. I don't own a stitch in anything green, so I'm in jeans and blue fleece. We find a good spot just in time for the parade to start. As far as parades go, it was just OK. I mean, not all the floats, bands, etc... were St. Patrick'ed out. And is Ronald McDonald and his gang really Irish? I get McDonald is an Irish name, but really? There were a ton of Miss/little Miss/tiny/baby beauty queens, I mean an overload of pageant winners that it was quite ridiculous. Or maybe there just wasn't enough St. Patty's themed floats to keep me satisfied. Like they had a few high school "step-dancing" clubs that had nothing green on, and nothing indicating it was St. Patty's. Oh... and the Renaissance festival characters where all dressed up and walking in the parade. There was even a float full of a bunch of college students marketing their college! From a different State! I suppose my town was hurting for some St. Patrick parade participants. Either way, it was entertaining in a lame sort of way. That's what I get for expecting too much. haha! The best part was the local fire department. They have their own bagpipe/drum/kilt wearing band and they were really good. And I can't forget about the local tween Celtic dancers with their bouncy curly hair pieces flouncing in the air as they did the Irish Jig down the parade route.

After the parade, the Irish Festival began. It was actually pretty fun. It had your traditional fair food like hot dogs, kettle corn, funnel cakes, deep fried everything etc... (but we didn't eat a thing b/c we were off to a local Irish Pub for an early dinner and pints.) The entertainment was pretty interesting, traditional Irish musicians, Celtic dancers, etc... The booths were pretty interesting too. We stopped by the family crest booth and checked out Boo's family shield (now my surname), and what part of Ireland they came from. I saw a real four-leaf clover fossilized in a pendant for $7 and decided I liked it. After I purchased it, I asked the lady to tell me where they find the clovers to put inside the pendant. Eagerly hoping for some intriguing story about how they only grow in the most remote part of Ireland for only one week out of the year. Nope...... She deflated my bubble so fast. My shit was grown in Mexico. Yup, my Irish clover pendant was from Mexico. Oh well. I still like it, I'll just pretend I never heard that story. :)

We finally leave around 3pm to go grab an early dinner at an Irish Pub. Boo has never been to this pub before so he's pretty excited. We decide we can't wait for Ireland to test out the beer theory so I get the Guinness and he gets the Smithwicks to go along with our Irish potato cake appetizers. While we swap sips of each others beer we get into a conversation/debate on how to say the word Celtic. I say it "cell-tick", like the Boston Celtics. Boo says it's "kell-tick". I've heard both, but decide to stick with my pronunciation for the sake of argument. :) So we order and I get a cheeseburger. Ok, so it's not Irish. I couldn't resist. :) Oh...and the beer? We decide the Guinness is really good with food and the Smithwicks is a good sipping beer. But honestly, neither was great. Hope they have Corona's in Ireland. hahaha!

We make it home just in time to shower/change clothes and head off to a martini party that one of Boo's colleagues is throwing. Whirlwind day but it was good to get out and enjoy what my town has to offer. Lame or not, I was outdoors today!