The St. Patrick's Day Phillies game is always fun. Most of the fans were wearing green clothing and accessories and even the Phillies wore green uniforms. The Phanatic, and a lot of the concession workers and ushers were also wearing green attire. There was a lot of Irish music played over the PA system before the game and between innings and everyone was in a happy "Irish" mood. In another special annual event, the U.S. Special Operations Command, headquartered at nearby McDill AFB presented the U.S. Flag, the Phillies banner, and the POW/MIA Flag by parachute prior to the game.
The stadium was sold out with over 11,000 people attending. The stadium capacity is 10,000 but they can also sell about 1,000 standing room tickets if there is demand to do so. My Sister Eileen and two of her friends also attended the game today. It was very hot and humid and even upstairs where we sit in the shade, it was probably the hottest game of the season so far. The Phillies played the Tampa Bay Rays, a good American League team with a strong local following. Alas, the Phillies lost 6-1, despite a strong pitching performance from one of their prospective starting pitchers.
After the game we traveled over to Dunedin for their annual St. Patrick's Day celebration sponsored by Flanagan's Irish Pub. The city park and streets in the center of the town are enclosed by barriers and turned into a party venue. There are food booths, various vendors, lots of beer and other beverages, street musicians and a bandstand in the park with almost non-stop musical entertainment. There was also lots of colorful green attire throughout the crowd. When we arrived around 4:00 pm the crowd was mostly family oriented and the event area was not overly crowded. After walking around and listening to the music for awhile, we went to dinner at a downtown restaurant, the Cafe Allegro, around 5:30 pm, . After dinner, and while walking back to where we were parked, it was almost dark. The crowd had increased significantly and seemed to be more of a young adult, party oriented group. There was were lots of police and security personnel on duty and the crowd was well under control and not the least bit rowdy while we we there. The event would go on until midnight however, and I am sure the potential for alcohol-related incidents would increase.
We arrived back in the RV park by 9:00 pm, safe from party goers driving home after the bars closed.
More baseball tomorrow, this time with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
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