St. Patrick’s Day is one of the holidays that it definitely pays off to be in Chicago for. At home in Michigan, St. Patrick’s day is recognized by people pinching each other if they are not wearing green and that is about the it. In Chicago, on the other hand, it is a holiday celebrated by many in the city and even draws in people from the suburbs and surrounding areas.

The city dyes the Chicago River green at 10:30a.m. and has a St. Patrick’s Day parade at 12:00p.m.. Downtown was packed to say the least! My friends and I obviously have been looking forward to the parade for awhile and were very excited to wake up Saturday morning.

So, after an 8:30a.m. wake up call, I put on my obnoxious green outfit that I had planned for the parade and went over to my friends residence hall right across the street, Georgetown. We made ourselves green pancakes and headed off to the L to go watch the river dying.

The L was packed! There were a ton of people going downtown and I ended up with a friend sitting on my lap to create more room for standing people. Once we got downtown we headed to the river and, similar to last year, the intensity of the green was stunning. I can not figure out how they get the water so green!

Not only was the Chicago river green, but it seemed like the whole city was too! Masses of people were wearing green and the streets of Chicago looked like a sea of green. The floats in the parade contributed to this as they passed down Michigan Ave. The parade was awesome and it was so much fun seeing all of the floats!

After a long day downtown, my friends and I were all very exhausted and hopped on the L to head back up to school. We were so exhausted that as soon as we got back, around 5:00p.m., we all took naps.

It was an awesome St. Patrick’s Day and I am so glad that I had the opportunity to spend it in Chicago. I already can not wait till next year!