St. Patrick's Day. In past years this was a big day at the ballpark. The Phillies always played a home game. The players wore special uniforms -green shirts and white pants, most of the fans were attired in green and everyone was having a good time, watching the game or not. Alas, not this year. The first game is Friday in Lakeland, and the first home game is on Saturday.
So, the celebration today for us was to over at Dunedin. The local Irish pub, Flannagan's, sponsors an annual St. Patrick's Day community gala. the downtown area and adjoining city park are cordoned off into an open container, people gathering, and entertainment area. It is very popular and draws a large crowd, mostly all displaying some sort of green clothing and accouterments. Some more than others. Between free entertainment continuous from 11:00 am to 11:00 pm and $5.00 beer, it is party time.
We always tried to attend after the game in the past, but this year we got what we thought was an early start. We arrived around noon and a lot of people were already there. Actually, the early crowd is mostly elderly people and families and later on into the evening the crowd gets bigger with more younger people out for the evening who are used to staying out late, partying hard and are into social interaction and relationship building. The Irish music later in the evening also has a more contemporary flair to it than Irish folk tunes you hear earlier in the day, and the young people performing Irish step dancing have gone home much earlier.
We started off sharing a Shepards Pie from a food booth for lunch, walked around people watching and checking out the various vendor stalls set up in the area then settled down in the park to listen to and watch the entertainment. After walking around some more, we had an early dinner at the Al Fresco Cafe, just down the street from the event venue. It is a favorite restaurant and we had another good meal there. It was then back to the RV clearing the area as the next wave of party goers were arriving. My guess is we will feel better in the morning than many people who didn't beat us to bed tonight.
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