Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

I’m out of town this week so here’s a quick Throwback Thursday post, remembering two of my favorite St. Patrick’s Day festivities: Brew Fest in Franklin (2015) and the St. Patrick’s Day parade in San Francisco (2013).

Enjoy!

Brew Fest in Franklin, TN

This past weekend, we headed down to the Civic Hall to take part in the St. Paddy’s Day festivities.  Walking through the Tenderloin is always interesting, best experienced in full daylight.

By now we’ve been to quite a few festivals in the cities, and we know exactly how to enjoy ourselves without getting antsy.  We always hit the highlights: Food, People Watching, and Parades!  First up is always: Find the food!

This was the first festival we’ve been to that fenced off the main area – complete with pat-downs and purse checks, I guess to control the amount of alcohol.  (Although we still saw a few high schoolers bragging about the handles hidden in their pants…)  The security was a little disconcerting, since most events are much more lax.  (Does that sound ultra-San Franciscan? I guess they’ve sucked me in.)

Within the gates, there was food and music – bagpipes and step dancing and all manner of green things.

After food – watching the parade.

Some people watching.

(Apparently I missed the tutu memo.)

More parade.

Visited the kiddy side.

After walking the perimeter, getting our fill of sun and food and people watching, we headed home for a lazy afternoon nap.

Saturday night we went to a tiny pizza place in North Beach and shared a carafe of wine.  After dinner we stumbled upon a blues bar called Tupelo – so of course we had to check it out!

We stuck around for the live music, and it reminded me so much of our trips to New Orleans.  A year ago, that wave of homesickness would’ve ruined my whole night, but I guess now I can appreciate what I miss but still feel grateful to be where I am.  So that’s progress, right?

We walked through North Beach, past the famous City Lights bookstore and the flying books.

A lone musician played in Chinatown as we waited for the bus.

It was a great end to a day of St. Patrick’s Day festivities!

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Looking back at these two days make me want to get out and explore again! It’s a bit different with a baby along, but hopefully we’ll get back into the swing of weekend adventures soon.