17 March 2010

Happy St Paddy's Day from Butte America

Butte, Montana, has one of THE quintessential St Patrick's Day celebrations in America. Butte's Finest have curbed the underage drinking in recent years (we were once a college student destination), and that has made for a much safer, family-friendly celebration. Still, it IS an Irish celebration, and drinking is a central part of it--as this enterprising soul selling liquor parade-side will attest:

The parade has gotten much smaller in recent years (and this is not an election year, either), but still has the requisite drill teams:

Several excellent piper bands, with the Edmonton Police Service Pipes & Drums being foremost among them:

And of course an appearance by St Patrick himself:

After the parade, Mrs Rover and I had a pint or two at the Quarry Brewpub (Chuck Schnabel has made an award-winning stout this year), and spent some time taking in the, uh, sights:

E'ireann go Bra'ch!

7 comments:

Richard Gibson said...

You must have arrived shortly after I left the Quarry - that "sight" was arriving as I left! Sure an' it was a fine day for it!

secret agent woman said...

Happy St. Patricks' Day to you, too!

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Is that you in the last picture, ER?????? ha ha ha

Looks like a GREAT time was had in Butte for St. Patrick's Day...

I'm sure you are 'recovering' today!!!!
Betsy

Betty said...

Looks like a fun time...did you see my son-in-law in kilt and sporting a skunk sporin?

Frostbite and Sunburn said...

That's a long way for the Edmonton Band to travel. Good for them!

A Wild Celtic Rose said...

I love the Irish Flag Mowhawk

Maria said...

♫ Happy St. Patrick's day to you ♫
Ha... just read what Betsy from Tennessee wrote ;o)
Looks like everyone had a great day there on Wednesday! I love marching bands... Haven't seen a good ole' fashioned parade {with marching bands} in a while...

Hope you're getting some spring breezes in Butte! Our 6' snow bank finally melted this week!
~Happy Weekend to you~
Maria