St. Patrick's Day is a big holiday in Chicago. Part of the Chicago River gets dyed green, there's a parade, and there's lots of drinking. I'm not Irish myself, though strangely enough 23andMe thought I was partly Irish. But they only thought so for a few months; then I went back to being 100% Scandinavian. I miss the Irish part of myself.
At any rate, St. Pat's is a big day in Chicago and it is being celebrated tomorrow, Saturday, March 12. I'm sure that this is because Saturday is a better day to drink a lot and watch a parade than Thursday.
However, my husband and I are going downtown tomorrow evening to see a Chicago Symphony concert. It should be fine - the parade will be over and I'm guessing most of the drinking will be happening in bars either on the North Side or South Side of the city. And the city of Chicago handles this holiday very well. We have been downtown on St. Pat's n the past. We usually take the train to and from the Loop (the downtown section of Chicago). On St. Pat's there is no alcohol allowed on the train; conductors are checking before you get on.
Just to be clear, I'm not against celebrating, especially now when we all could use a lift. It's fun to see the green river and if you like parades, it's a good one. I only advocate celebrating responsibly and being considerate of others. Cheers!
My nephew lives in Chicago and has shared what a big celebration St. Patty's is! I suspect it also heralds spring - we are all needing to bust out of our homes by this point every winter. (Especially, this year!) May it not get too rowdy. This line made me chuckle - " I miss the Irish part of myself." hahaha Thanks for this!
ReplyDeleteYou are right! I hadn't thought about the connection between the timing of St. Pat's and spring, but it's true - we've been cooped during the winter and now it's almost spring!
Delete"I miss the Irish part of myself." You had me chuckling at this little detail that reveals something about your personality and sense of humor. Perhaps it is in everyone's system in places like Chicago and Boston for the days or weeks following March 17th.
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