Irish Channel and Metairie Road St. Pat’s Parades

Last weekend was the next biggest parade weekend in NOLA after Mardi Gras: St. Patty’s parades!

We almost didn’t make it out this year, though. Rory woke up sick on Friday and I ended up taking him to Dr. N. We’re not sure what he had, but it wasn’t the flu or strep or RSV. He ran fever on and off Friday and Saturday, and he’s still not 100%.

But that didn’t mean Riley and I couldn’t go have some fun. Kenny stayed home with the sick one while Riley and I went out to the Irish Channel parade on Saturday afternoon. We met Ashley, the kids, and her mom out there and had a great time.

The luck o’ the Irish was upon us that day, though: the weather was threatening and I was sure we would get rained on. Riley and I both wore our rain boots in preparation and brought umbrellas.  It could have been miserable. But it wasn’t. It stayed overcast and cool and it didn’t rain at all while we were at the parade. Winning!

Riley spent much of his time creating a little garden behind where we were standing. He scraped up mud from the street and collected empty beer cans, juice pouches, beads, and flowers to adorn his garden. So funny. But he was so happy. And his garden only increased in size as the day went on.

  

We saw Scott, Sean, and Stefan first in a group of marchers. They got fancy and spelled out “LSU” with their flowers.

Then this happened. Another marcher came by and handed Riley a koozie, after which he turned to me and asked, “That wasn’t creepy at all, was it?” I looked at what the koozie said, laughed out loud, and said, “Nope!” It was one of those “only in New Orleans” moments. Too funny.

Shortly after that I was lucky enough to spot Thomas Morstead (#6 for the Saints….Who Dat!). He was on the other side of the street from us but I yelled his name anyway. He turned around, caught sight of me, and winked. Day, made.

The guys passed by on float 3, with a huge Woody and R2D2 on the front. Always fun seeing them!

The kids caught a ton of stuff, including a set of toy handcuffs, stuffed animals, balls, spears, carrots, potatoes, gummies, and suckers. Absolutely nothing we needed, especially after Mardi Gras the previous month, but Riley had a great time. I was really glad we went.

 

The next day was the Metairie Road parade. We hadn’t originally planned on going, but since Josh and Amy live a few blocks off the route, and since college friends of ours were in town with their three boys, and since Claire was riding in the parade with Dave, we decided to go. Rory woke up on Sunday morning feeling better, but we didn’t want to chance him running fever again. We dropped him at Nola and Nopsi’s so he could nap while we went to the parade.

There was no chance of rain that day; the sun was out in full force and it was quite warm out. And we were out there for a while; the parade was super slow getting to us. The kids occupied themselves with a tree and acquiring all of the Spanish moss in it.

But once the first marching groups finally arrived, everyone had a great time. We went home with three cabbages, three carrots, three potatoes, three pieces of citrus, and a pack of Ramen. Riley ate much of the food items he caught. With the exception of the oatmeal cream pie I stole from him; brought me right back to my childhood!

  

We had to walk across the street to see Claire and Dave, but it was so worth it. She was SO excited to see us, and even made sure to throw us two spears, one Riley and one for Rory. We saw Dana’s twin sister Lynn on a later float, and then we called it a day.

Such a fun weekend. Now if we only knew why Rory has been so whiny and off lately. I’m hoping it’s just one of his last molars coming through combined with the time change, but who only knows.

In the meantime, have a Happy St. Patrick’s Day, y’all.

Don’t forget to wear green, lest you be pinched!