While most of the world waits for the 17th of March to celebrate the festival of st. Patrick, Scranton Pennsylvania gets down to business early.....really early....Every year in Scranton PA, the Saturday before the 17th means "parade day" and I was lucky enough to attend this years festivities...here's a brief synopsis of what went down...
Let me preface my ramblings by letting everyone know that I have a good number of friends who live or have lived in Scranton and although I haven't spent a lot of time there...I feel I can offer a glimpse into one of the craziest things I have ever experienced...
When the wake up call from the front desk of our hotel woke everyone up around 6 in the morning...I couldn't believe what I was about to embark on...getting in line at a bar called Farley's which opened at 7am....on the menu?? Eggs, Bagels, Some fruit perhaps??? a little granola or a spot of trail mix.....negative. Nothing but good ole Milwaukee's best light...that's right.. beer for breakfast! the way it goes down, you order 10 8 oz beers for 17 cents....that's $1.70 for all you math wizards...Even more astounding perhaps than the price of beer was the people in the bar....all rowdy and excitable...acting as if it was like any busy night at the bar...after three hours...many beers and a few spills on the sawdust coating the floor of Farleys we were out....
Post Farleys:
So it's now 11 am or so and after a quick bite we are enjoying 2 dollar Guinness and such...then off to the banshee for some more drinking...the funny thing about all this is that I walked through and around the parade, but never really saw a damn thing...at this point the haze was thick and the group was in need of a mid-afternoon siesta...so...back to the hotel for a get and a nap...for those who are unsure of what "a get" is, all i can say in response is that if you have to ask, you just don't know....
After we all got back into the swing of things around 7pm it was off to coopers for the second time in two nights....great food and more great beer...and a little bit of scotch whiskey as well...from there the group of about ten of us started to spread out and about..each of us choosing our paths for the remainder of what had been a very long day of alcoholic gestation....
So why the hell am I writing this??? Well for one it has been awhile since I wrote anything here and for another I am telling everyone if they get the chance to experience this day for yourself....DO IT! it is like nothing you have ever done...I promise.
