St. Patrick's Day, NYC

There's no place like The Big Apple to spend St. Patrick's Day. This was my first St. Paddy's in the city, and it was everything I expected.

The day started out with a quick stroll down the East River, then an unplanned trip uptown to see the St. Patrick's Day Parade. The river was beautiful, there were hardly any other people around, and they day was perfect for wandering around outside. The parade was crazy, hectic, full of green, full of beer, full of music, and full of smiles. Everybody's happy on St. Patrick's Day, just like everybody's Irish. I made the acquittance of 4 strangers who kindly told me that I was walking in the opposite direction of the parade (I still haven't mastered the city streets). We walked there together, shared stories and laughs, then tunneled through the crowd to find a decent place to stand and watch the parade. The songs of bagpipes and drums carried over the noise of thousands of voices, and with it the spirit of the Irish. Flags held high above marchers could be seen from the back row, igniting some Irish pride even in those with no Irish heritage.

As much as I wanted to stay, obligation called and I had to make my way to class. The laughs didn't end with the parade, however. I passed a guy typing on his phone and his shirt caught my eye. A simple green shamrock with a heading in green letters reading "Winning" marked the front. The clear allusion to Charlie Sheen's recent antics made me laugh out loud. Then I saw the back of the shirt - "Let's get Sheenfaced.". I had no choice, I went back and asked the guy if I could take his picture. I really hope he stumbles upon this blog post some day.