Green beer countdown: Savannah
Everyone knows that you don’t have to be Irish to drink like one, especially in Savannah on Saint Patrick’s Day, where the parties, parades, and profligate consumption of alcohol is enough to make you want to check yourself into rehab. Savannah’s Irish bash is the second-largest St. Patrick’s Day parade in the country (New York’s is No. 1), but still packs a
punch with close to a half million visitors expected to visit the southern city on Saint Pat’s Day alone.
It’s definitely a “Bucket List” event, especially the fiesta along cobblestone River Street, replete with enough beer, baubles and brogue to make you think Lucky Charms is actually fine dining. It’s the one day when River Street turns into Bourbon Street, so wear comfortable shoes, bring lots of cash, bring ID to purchase booze,  and leave the kids at home—or along the parade route.
The pre-parade festivities begin on Friday, March 12th at noon when the
infamous fountain at Forsyth Park is turned green in honor of all the beer that will be spilled on Saint Patrick’s Day. The event is free and open to the public.
Before you commit all the sins you have planned for Saint Patrick’s Day, make sure to assuage your guilt at 8 a.m. morning mass at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. Then, let the sinning begin: line up along the route on Abercorn Street near Forsyth Park to catch the start of the family-friendly parade at 10:15 a.m. featuring floats, bands and Irish-looking officials wielding batons and colorful sashes. Don’t forget to kiss any uniformed soldier that marches by in the parade, a long-standing and proud Savannahian tradition.
The parade winds its way down Abercorn Street past Lafayette Square
, turns on Broughton Street, continues down East Broad Street onto Bay Street, then makes its final (and arguably most scenic) route down Bull Street past Chippewa Square. Due to all the festivities, getting in or out of Savannah by car on Saint Patrick’s Day is road rage waiting to happen; ifdriving, your best bet is to park across the river near Hutchinson Island at the Westin Savannah Harbor Resort and take the ferry over to River Street. And for the luck of the Irish, if drinking, don’t drive (or swim). For a listing of accommodations in the downtown area, visit www.savannahspecialoffers.com.
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THE IRISH TRILOGY – PART 2 – SMITHWICK’S
‘Tis sure we’ll be wearing the green,
When the calendar says March seventeen,
To help us to think,
It’s Smithwick’s we drink,
Just try some, you’ll know what we mean.