Sunday, March 12, 2006

St. Patrick's Day Parade


On Saturday, we went to the parade in downtown Raleigh, in honor of St. Patrick's Day. Our two grandsons were with us, sporting their green "cat-in-the-hat" toppers with shamrocks on them; one bought last year and one today. I discovered they are Most useful to catch the candy and bead necklaces thrown by the parade participants. Our grandsons had their hats nearly half-full when the parade ended. It pays to be handsome, apparently. Little girls and grown women were walking over to them and placing handfulls of candy in the hats, or draping beads around their necks. They collected 6-7 necklaces.

The weather cooperated as never before; most of the parades are held in freezing weather. We reached about 75* today, and it was mostly sunny and breezy enough to keep us from getting too hot. That is more than I could say for the poor dogs who marched in the parade, especially the Huskies. Their tongues were hanging to the concrete and I could tell that the hot street was hurting their paws.

I was taking a lot of photos, but I couldn't see the digital camera screen very well due to glare, so I was just pointing and clicking and hoping they were good enough to share. I am not sure they are - but I am sharing them anyway. We had bagpipers, Irish and Scottish dancers, cheerleaders, horses, miniature horses, antique cars, people in Renaissance costumes (which has not much to do with St. Patrick, I'll wager), local radio personalities and dogs. At the end of the parade, local army parachutists dropped from the sky into Moore Square; trailing green smoke and narrowly missing all the tall trees surrounding the square. All the children were properly impressed! Enjoy the photos, such as they are.

14 comments:

Unique Designs from Zazzle said...

i always think of those old "Irish Spring" soap commercials during St. Patrick's time of the year.

Aye, and i like it too.

Panthergirl said...

Oh my god... I love Irish Wolfhounds!!! Too bad they have SUCH short life spans. :(

Here via michele this time!

kenju said...

Panthergirl, you were my 33,000th
visitor! Thanks!

MaR said...

Lovely pics. I know, sometimes they are sort of blind shots because you can't see a thing. But yours are very nice! Via Michele's this time!

Jamie Dawn said...

Thanks for showing all the pics. What a fun day! I'm so glad the weather was good. I'm sure your grandsons had a blast.

Anonymous said...

Why were the huskies in the parade? Are they a special Irish breed of Husky or something? (just kidding).
Sounds like you all had a great time!)

WendyWings said...

Looks like a fun day ! Michele sent me today.

Greg Finnegan said...

Great pictures, Kenju! It's good to be back in NC now. My brother is more familiar with Raleigh than I am, since he visits there once a month.

Pirate said...

Erin go braugh.

dena said...

Has the wether been beautiful or what. Usually it's breezy, rainy and chilly for the Ocean View St. Pat's parade, but this year the weather was perfect.

srp said...

Wasn't our weather just beautiful. Now they say record highs tomorrow then the drop and should be in the 40's again by the weekend. This is awful for sinuses.

sonia a. mascaro said...

Love these photos. Great reportage!

Weary Hag said...

Great pictures! I love the little Irish dancers, all decked out on THEIR day.

The Wolfhounds are magnificent creatures, aren't they?

Anonymous said...

It sounds like you had a wonderful time with your grandsons. And yes, I am sure they are handsome young men who attract the damsels. How fun for you to see and enjoy.