The weather here is more volatile than a 13 year olds emotions. Yesterday we were hit with a winter storm that looked like this:
And today the sun shone warmly at 55 degrees and melted it immediately away. We decided to go to Morristown, NJ to see their St. Patrick's Day Parade. It was so much fun. I loved seeing everyone in green, hearing about 100 bagpipe bands and feeling like winter was defeated at long last! There is something about the color kelly green that just oozes spring, don't you think? As for St. Patrick's Day, I don't know if it is celebrated in Ireland at all, but here in Morristown, NJ it certainly is. St. Patty's, as it is affectionately called, is an American holiday that starts at the end of winter on March 17th. It is marked by everyone dutifully wearing kelly green, seeing the start of parades (which Americans are very good at), and having a good reason to get very drunk. Mostly, young people under the age of 35 and without children enjoy dressing festively in green, going to bars, and getting drunk. The ones with children who are no longer amused by people peeing on the street at 3 in the morning prefer to start a Saturday with pancakes and bacon then pack up their kids and go see a parade. We, not quite over 35 with kids but not of the getting wasted sort, decided to go to the parade.
Since living in Italy I have really appreciated American parades and the character it shows. They are creative, carefree, fun and relaxed. This is what the Morristown St. Patty's Day Parade looked like, enjoy:
Over 70,000 people were expected to attend. People sat and stood wherever they could to get a good view!
The parade started with the flags of Ireland and the USA.
The, of course, all the mayors of the local towns walked first.
My favorite part were the dogs that were included in the parade. The Seeing Eye School, a national school that trains puppies to be helpers for handicapped people is in Morristown. These doggies were a part of the parade and were so cute. Most of them are still puppies and not yet trained to walk on leashes like proper adult dogs do.
The ordinary dogs looked like they were having a much more relaxed time:
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A green golden retriever. How cute.
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Most of the little boys really liked the firetrucks and old cars.
Then, there were countless bag pipe and drum bands. My favorite one was one that played a cumbia and danced.
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| the little bag-piper who could |
And lastly, there were the old geezer clubs, Sons of Ireland, war veterans, hot dog sellers, trinket sellers and people in costume that were fun to see.
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| The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick...vs. the Unfriendly Sons of...? |
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| An American flag the size of Texas |
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| The Irish flag...the size of Texas |
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| I'm sure the Irish all look like this dude. |
After the parade we went to the best burger place in the area. When I say the best, I mean the best. Arthur's has the freshet meat grilled to perfection. It is in Morris Plains and people from all over NJ will travel in the winter, summer, spring and fall to have a bite of their amazing burgers.
One thing I have luck in is parking spots. If I am in the car I will get the front row parking spot. If the person driving has me in their car they get the best spot. It is a really strange thing to have good luck in, but I do. Today, I got a picture of this good luck in action.
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| Driving up to Arthur's |
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| THREE spots cleared up as we pulled in! |
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| highly rated restaurant |
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| I got corned beef and cabbage on their specials. |
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| The chef got a burger with love. |
So that sums up my Saturday before St. Patty's day. I'm grateful for all the Irish that came on boats suffering and sick over the ocean back in the 1850's. They helped move the USA's growth by making buildings, roads, creating schools and bringing music that soon turned to country music in Nashville. For that alone I am grateful! Now, off to find the recipe for that delicious corned beef and cabbage.
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