Well it's Tuesday, The head hurts a bit, I'm not as young as I used to be. So as Rob says, "spin us a yarn old man". The St' Patty's Day weekend started Friday night as Sara and Sean arrived from Maryland. To get into the mood we watched "The Wind That Shakes The Barley". [ before I go any farther, a little about this movie. If you like Irish history this is a movie for you. Set in the west of Ireland in 1920 the story is of two brothers, Teddy, the IRA man and Damien, the Doctor, leaving Ireland for London. The brothers unite and fight the British, then each other after the treaty. As Rory(Brad Pitt) in the movie, "The Devil's Own" says, "Don't look for a happy ending. It's not an American story. It's an Irish one."] Sean and I drank a few beers and we were on our way. Saturday morning the boys all went on a run together, this was a first for the three brothers, the apartment was full of parade people getting ready. Taking turns in the one bathroom and eating brunch, ( a nice way to say either you can have breakfast of lunch but I'm not making both).We all ended up at the parking lot ready to go at noon, but where was the bus? A gun show was going on at the city center and the parking lot was full of gun enthusiasts giving us a lot of stares in our kilts. Finally at about 12:20 the bus arrived, we had already started to discuss an alternative way to the parade but no one wanted to be the dd. We boarded the bus and headed to the Albany hall. As tradition requires a couple of bottles were passed around the bus, we arrived at the Albany hall around 1:10, the Albany buses were still in the parking lot (They were scheduled to leave at 1:00). A few of us went in and said hello to our brother Hibernians before returning to the bus. (for those of you that aren't Irish the last sentence really says, A few of us went into the bar for a couple of pints as quickly as we could) I returned to the bus to an angry daughter, "you said two minutes". I went back in and got three beers for the girls. The Bus dropped us at the parade and took the girls downtown. We gathered on Central Ave, meeting up with the rest of the Saratoga Marchers, finding our spot in the parade order and soon were stepping off. The Parade has always been fun for me, friends, family and pretty women waiting for me along the route. We made it to the end and there she was, standing at the end just like the past two years. My parade girl. This time I got her name and where she works, I know where I'm going some night this week. I digress, As we end the parade the division tends to split up. Some go to meet family others are heading home, the Curran's we go to the Bayou Cafe (http://www.bayoucafe.com/) A few of us headed in, Rob was not willing to pay the $5 cover, ( I didn't pay but Sean did, Murph, and the first few guys didn't pay but Chris did. It must have been how intimidating you looked in your kilt if you got in for free. Next year we will have to work out something with the bar.) We planned on staying there till 5 then go over to the Albany hall for their celebration. Things were working out, at the Hall, everyone got in alright and we ran into Rob right away, we knew he would get to the hall somehow. Music, drinking and parade people, who could ask for more. At one point, in the club bar, we had Davey Curran, Sean Curran, Sean's Daughter Christine, James Curran, Jerry Curran, Paul Curran, Dave Curran, Steve Curran, Sean Curran, Sara Thomas (soon to be Curran), Samantha Curran, Michael Curran and Jack Curran. Curran's rule. We only had two hours to party at the hall before the bus left but that was long enough for a bit of a fight to break out.A lot of yelling but no punches thrown (Paul, you lucked out). So the bus returned to Saratoga and we hit the Parting Glass. Our group started to wither away and when it was only the two Chris' and Rob left, Rob pulled his disappearing act again and the night came to an end. It may have been early to some but when you start drinking whiskey at noon, nine at night is late enough.
Sunday was the Saratoga AOH Family St. Patrick's Day Party. This year the party was moved to the Elk's Club and what a place it is. We had a good turn out early and the stories from the day before were told and retold. The entertainment for that day started with Michael portraying Turlough O'Carolan in a one man show, "Carolan's Cap". The show was great and we were off and running. We had Shawn Kelly and his son Josh sing and play music, The Wild Irish Acres Dance School performed and then taught the crowd to dance, Paul Donnell's band, the Hip hop town band (not the real name but Paul and I both kept forgetting what they were called) then Shawcappella, a group of a dozen singers from the high school sang. When the party ended at 7, a few of us went to the Local for a pint or two.
Monday, St. Patrick's Day. I watched the New York City parade on TV then went out for a couple of pints and a bit of a pub crawl. It was very low key. Yes, I'm getting old and it hurts more then it did when I was 20.
Well that's about all that happened or at least what I'm willing to tell. I hope everyone has a great Easter. If you want to see photos of the past few days look in the previous blog for links to both the parade and family party.