Being mostly Irish, I actually have a bit of fondness for the holiday. Not so much for the drinking aspect, but more on a “connection: with my roots” kind of thing. I was actually in Galway about 15 years ago during St. Patrick’s Day. Definitely a different vibe than the States, mostly because it’s more of a religious holiday there. There was a very tiny parade and then people went to church and that was about it. I can’t really make a statement about people hitting the pubs early, because I think there were people in the pubs by 10 or 11 am nursing a Guinness every day I was there (both times!). In fact, the only thing different was when we hit the pubs that night,  the bartenders traced shamrocks into foam on the tops of the pints. Good music everywhere, though. 🙂 And as much as I love… Read more