THE ALL-AMERICAN YANK: SAINT PATRICK'S DAY 2007

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

SAINT PATRICK'S DAY 2007

THE FAKE MUSTACHES & MULLETS ARE ALWAYS A BIG HIT

(A BALIA, ME, CHAPMAN)

THE FESTIVITIES JUST GETTING STARTED ON RIVER STREET

Let's take a second and think of the Top 5 best places you would want to go for St Patrick's Day.

   1) Dublin, Ireland
   2) New York, NY
   3) Boston, MA
   4) Chicago, IL
   5) Hoboken, NJ

ST. PATTY'S DAY MORNING - ME, BALIA, ZWICK, MANIRE

If I were to say anywhere south of the Mason Dixon Line and/or anywhere in Georgia would you think I was out-side my mind? Well I am not because Savannah, GA throws "the second largest St. Patty's Day celebration and parade in the United States." I would love to say that I knew all about the huge party just a couple hundred miles away in Davidson, NC but honestly I had no clue until 3:30am the night prior to the festivities. Sitting on the porch at a local sorority house (called 'Eating Houses' at Davidson) I was told all about the annual event by my buddy Mike Chapman who was heading there in the morning. He extended the invite for the next day but it would require waking up in about 2 hours, which was, at the time, unthinkable. You know where this story is going...I was abruptly woken up 2 hours later, didn't completely remember the convo from the previous night, threw on some pants and made my way to the car parked out front. The trip was better then I could possibly imagine and Savannah exceeded all expectations. The cobblestone streets of Savannah's River walk were packed with people from 10am to 3am. River Street was blocked off from the rest of the city to keep the debauchery isolated, however that becomes difficult when 350K - 400K people make their appearance known for the 3 glorious days. In Savannah, Saint Patrick's Day offers a 3-hour parade with over 300 organizations from Firefighters to Military Units to the Budweiser Clydesdale's. After the parade the streets are littered with folks in amazing St Patty's Day costumes, bag-pipe bands, food vendors (serving my favorite HUGE Turkey Leg) and live concerts featuring Irish tunes or classic rock. Oh by the way...there are hundreds of Pubs stretching as far as the eyes can see, all stocked with Guinness and Smithwick's pints. Signs that read "$1 Drafts" and "Buy 1 get 1 Free" were everywhere as the local establishments fought for the business of the thousands of temporary Irishmen. My group did not discriminate and was happy to provide business to as many venues as possible. After the weekend had ended Savannah, GA was right at the top of my list for Saint Patrick's Day celebrations and I would recommend anyone who has not experienced it to drive south to Savannah and BOOK IT early. An overall phenomial time that will be hard to top, even by the big boys (NYC & Chicago).