Happy St. Patrick's Day Everyone!
Because it fell on a Sunday this year, the parade here in NYC was held on Saturday the 16th. And thank goodness too, because the weather on Saturday was magnificent.
Tara, Tim and I marched 6 years ago and while it was bright and sunny like it was yesterday, it was really windy that day. By the time I got to the Post at 4 PM, my face was all wind burned. Still, that was one of the great experiences of my life, something I'm happy to say I got to do at least once. This time around, we just low keyed it at home.
When St. Patrick's Day falls on a Sunday, you really can make it a whole weekend celebration. I suppose you can do that even if it falls in the middle of the week. It really is one of the most fun days of the year.
To that end, I wanted to check out what the so called experts consider to be the best cities to celebrate St.Patrick's Day in. The last time I did a St.Patrick's day special, I was surprised at some of the places in America that they considered to be hot spots for St Patrick's day celebrations. I was no less surprised this time around either.
Several different news sources referenced the list put out by wallet hub.com for the best St.Patrick's Day cities. According to them here are the top 10..
1) Boston
2) Chicago
3) Savannah, GA
4) Reno, NV
5) Pittsburgh
6) NYC
7) Worcester, MA
8) Buffalo
9) Tampa, FL
10) Santa Rosa, CA
Philadelphia came in 12th, Las Vegas 18th, New Orleans 19th, and San Francisco 28th.
OK, so I of course think NYC has the best of everything including St. Patrick's Day. But I'm biased so you can't totally go by me. Boston has a huge Irish population, so I get why that's at the top. And dyeing the Chicago River green, have to admit is probably as cool as it sounds, especially after a libation or 6.
I've also had eyewitness testimony that St. Patrick's Day in Savannah is amazing.Without question the best celebration in the south.
But in all my 50 years on earth, I have never heard anyone say "Hey, I hear Paddy's day is hopping in Pittsburgh! Let's head there this March. And while I know some people have gone to Reno just to watch someone die, I've never known anyone to go to Reno to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.
Wallethub, unlike Weekly Mail factored in several different things, such as pubs per capita, cost of 3 star hotels and weather.
So, hotel rooms in Manhattan are astronomical, I dig that. And the weather here in March is hit or miss. But the reason I'm guessing the hotels in Pittsburgh are cheaper is because NOBODY GOES THERE for St. Patrick's Day.
And once again, not to pick on the good people of Buffalo, but I would think the weather alone up there would disqualify it from any St.Patrick's Day list, much less place it in the top 10. I don't think they get decent weather up there till Memorial Day.
Personally I also try to avoid celebrating St Patrick's Day in cities I cannot pronounce. So I won't be heading to Worcester anytime soon. Also, Worcester is practically Boston isn't it? That shouldn't count.
I actually have a colleague at work who is in Tampa this weekend, so I can get us all a report on how hopping it is down there.
And BTW- if any of you who live or happen to be outside of the NYC area, please feel free to share with us how St. Patrick's Day is celebrated where you are.
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I saw this posted on a FB page and I thought it was pretty cool. There are three cities in America whose names originate from Gaelic.
The first is Baile n Ti Mhoir, which translates in English to Town of the Big House. In Anglican, it's pronounced Baltimore.
More locally Menlo, NJ derives from Menlough, a village outside Galway.
The last one is Cnoc Rua a small village in County Wicklow, Cnoc Run translates to Red Hill, in reference to the red berries found in holly trees. Holly trees? Hollywood. Hollywood California. Hooray for Hollywood! Hooray for County Wicklow!
Again. I'm only getting this info off a Facebook reel I saw. The young lady who filmed the video had a brouge and she sounded like she knew what she was talking about. Feel free to fact check me on it, as I'm too lazy to do it myself.
And lastly as we wrap up this short but special St. Patrick's Day edition...
There are plenty of days where all of us feel in one way or another that our country is going to hell in a hand basket. But if you really stop and think about it, in our almost 250 years of being a country, one of the most amazing aspects of it all is that so many different nationalities, creeds and races all had such a huge hand in building the country and making it what it is today.
I say this because I truly believe and hope that everyone is as proud of their heritage as I am of mine.
I said this the last time I wrote one of these specials, they have it now where you can spit or pee or whatever into a cup and some company can tell you if you're 1/163 Luxembourgean or not. I've lived for 50 years believing that I am 3/4 Irish. I really have no desire to be anything else.
Happy St.Patricks Day Everyone
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