Saturday, March 15, 2008

St. Patrick's Day Celebration











St. Patrick’s Celebration in Dover

Today we did one of those things that you read about in the paper, maybe a week before the event, and say “We should do that” but then you never do. I often even rip out the article and put it on my desk but somehow as the day arrives, other things have come up or it just doesn’t sound as interesting as when you first read it.

To my surprise, Doug said yes to my idea to drive over to Dover, Delaware on this beautiful, almost-spring Saturday and celebrate St. Patrick’s a couple of days early. According to the Washington Post, the annual parade drew over 2,000 people last year and promised to be a slice of small town America. It was a beautiful hour and a half drive through the back roads of rural Maryland and we entered Delaware at the crossroads village of Marydel (wonder how they came up with that?).

Well, we didn’t have to worry about beating the crowds to find a place to park. Even on a normal Saturday I would have thought we’d see people on the streets but it was very quiet. A few blocks from the parade route we found the Johnson Victrola Museum and figured we’d have time for a quick tour and still be able to get a bar stool at the only Irish Pub in town. Our tour guide was young and enthusiastic and happy to take us on a delightful journey through the history of recorded sound, including a cute story about Nipper the little dog that has become the mascot/logo for Victrola.

It was a short stroll to the pub where we surprisingly had our choice of tables or stools. It was a small but happy crowd enjoying their green beer and Irish whisky and we joined in and sang along to the familiar Irish tunes. The potato soup was pretty good (we opted for the grated cheese and corned beef toppings) and the Rueben was excellent. Tearing ourselves away just before parade time, we found a couple of seats on the edge of a brick planter and settled back to enjoy the festivities.

As the photos above will show, we enjoyed watching the people watching the parade as much if not more than the parade itself, which was just what I thought it would be: high school marching bands, scout troops, military groups, car clubs, beauty pageant winners, politicians and local individuals in a variety of green costumes. What fun! And there were probably over 2,000 spectators though they were spread out over several blocks of the parade route.

We finished our day with a little walk about town, enjoying the beautifully-maintained park and State Capitol Houses, decided to forego the Museum of Small Town Life since we felt we’d seen it, (never found the ice cream cone I thought I’d have), and headed back to Annapolis.

I wonder what the travel section will have for us next time? Stay tuned.