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Countdown to Savannah: St. Patrick's Day

Written by bugalu

In early 2007, we started our official Countdown to Savannah. Each Sunday, we posted a different topic about this special city where we met for our first Great Slow Travel Gathering in Spring 2008.

With 63 posts over 14+ months, we learned a lot about the many facets of this historic, hospitable and intriguing American city. Our weekly posts touched on Savannah's history, famous people, architecture, food, culture, surrounding area and much more. We hope this information acquaints you with Savannah, entices you to visit this historic city, and prepares you for a very memorable trip.

Since 1813

Savannah is not only known for the Great Slow Travel Gathering; the city is also known for its celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. In fact, Savannah claims to have one of the earliest celebrations this side of Ireland. Since 1813, Savannah has died its fountains green and celebrated the Irish Day.

St. Patrick’s Day is usually celebrated on March 17. (written 3/16/08) This year the city will turn green on March 15th so that the holiday doesn’t fall on Palm Sunday. The parade in Savannah was March 14th in honor of the holy week. It is the 2nd largest parade in the US. The city will be overwhelmed with 300,000 or more visitors for the weekend.

River front is turned into a giant block party - similar to Mardi Gras in New Orleans. This is St. Patrick's link at Savannah Now. There will be Ceili (key-lee) Music and Irish folk dancing, green beads and green hair, along with a little green beer.

You know that St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated worldwide by Irish people, even those who may be Irish for only the day. St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland. He is known for converting pagans to Christianity and he also allegedly ran the snakes off the island by banging a drum. The 3 leaf clover is said to be a representation of the Holy Trinity. In Savannah, they will celebrate a special mass at the Cathedral of St John the Baptist, the beautiful cathedral on Oglethorpe square.

Irish Toasts

I’ll end this little post with some useful information. As you raise your glasses, here are some Irish toasts:

As you slide down the banister of life
may none of the splinters go the wrong way

This, along with other Irish sayings, I've posted on my blog:

May you have the hindsight to know where you’ve been
The insight to know where you are
And the foresight to know when you’ve gone to far.

Resources

All About Savannah: Links to many information pages about Savannah (where to eat, where to stay, places of interest, getting around town, and more)

Author: Bugalu was born with a travel bug, raised a military brat. She happily settled in Alabama, and married into the WhistleStop Cafe family, the one in Fried Green Tomatoes. She works as a practitioner and stays busy blogging, cooking, writing cookbooks, and helping with a family business.

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Countdown to Savannah: St. Patrick's Day

Since 1813

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