Savannah, GA, for whatever reason, has the second largest St. Patrick's celebration in the U.S. - and this year they had the largest parade! Chef Hubby's Mom and Husband live in the historic district and were wonderful and nice enough to let us invade their home for this epic celebration, which shuts down several of the main streets in the city.
Katieschmatie and her husband came with us, which meant that I had a buddy to dress crazy with, which is always fun!
The celebration starts several days before St. Patrick's Day. We got there on a Thursday and got to watch the streets get progressively more full every night.
Friday night the celebrations were already starting, and even though it rained between 8pm and 9:30 it didn't keep people from filling the streets again by 11pm:
We got dressed up on Friday, although not as crazy as our plans for Saturday:
Chef Hubby had a lot of people asking to take pictures with him cuz he looked aaaaaaawesome.
Saturday kicks off with the parade. People start lining up in the squares and along the parade route at 5 am to get good seats - the best ones are the ones that will provide some shade.
We walked around to take pictures of the parade route, along which (for some reason) there was a genuine bald eagle - who was not thrilled by the large crowd:
The parade has bag-pipers, high school marching bands, families with generations of Irish in them, local businesses, Vietnam vets, New York fire fighters, etc. etc.
Oh, and there was a goat. That was painted green.
One of my favorite things to see, however, is the soldiers.
By the end of the parade every one of them is covered in lipstick from girls running out from the crowd
and kissing them on the cheek. They also get beads, and this year I saw some with boas.
Half the fun is looking at the crazy costumes of the people watching the parade:
This year, Katieschmatie and I were two of those people... and everyone wanted their picture with us!:
It was hard to go more than a couple of blocks without being stopped. And when we saw someone else dressed awesome, we would ask to get a pic with them too - like these two guys with the amazing mustaches!:
Saturday night City Market and River Street were packed. There was always space to go if right next to the stages was too crowded to stand right in front of, and the music was fantastic. So many people, all intent on having a good time without getting violent or riotous. Just rowdy and fun loving.
Katieschmatie and her husband came with us, which meant that I had a buddy to dress crazy with, which is always fun!
The celebration starts several days before St. Patrick's Day. We got there on a Thursday and got to watch the streets get progressively more full every night.
Friday night the celebrations were already starting, and even though it rained between 8pm and 9:30 it didn't keep people from filling the streets again by 11pm:
We got dressed up on Friday, although not as crazy as our plans for Saturday:
Saturday kicks off with the parade. People start lining up in the squares and along the parade route at 5 am to get good seats - the best ones are the ones that will provide some shade.
Oh, and there was a goat. That was painted green.
One of my favorite things to see, however, is the soldiers.
and kissing them on the cheek. They also get beads, and this year I saw some with boas.
Half the fun is looking at the crazy costumes of the people watching the parade:
I never knew that about Savannah. Looks like a great time, awesome pics!
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