Ground Zero for St. Patrick's Day

For some reason I was under the impression that as an ironic twist, the celebrations of St. Patrick's Day in the U.S. outpaced the celebration of the the day here in Ireland. We'll I'm here to tell you that is not the case. They may not eat corned beef and cabbage here (at least I have yet to see it anywhere but I keep hearing it's a thing in Cork, which I plan to check out) but celebrate they do.

Of course Dublin puts the country on the map for parades and for the draw for St. Patrick's Day and i was there a few days ahead of time on business. Even then I could tell it would be crazy crowded and opted for Galway instead. It just seemed smarter to stay close enough to sleep in my own bed.

The parade was grand. Like so many parades in so many towns I've lived in. Parade-goers crowded the streets to see kids and relatives marching, bands playing and every businesses of every size touting vehicles with balloons tied to them.

And I think they just plan on rain for parades here. Look at the umbrellasand the faces on some of the partiers.

And I think this woman had a couple of kids she was watching for becaue she got there early enough to get close but the look on her face the entire time screamed she wanted to be anywhere else!