St. Patricks Day Parade, Downtown

DIARY

I promised an accout and pictures of the St. Patricks day parade downtown last Saturday... here it is!

Cody and I met in the biting cold at Buckingham Fountain, and he secured us a place agains the barrier (east side of the street) while I cast about looking for Sam and Sky. (They arrived a little later, but we missed them).
The parade kicked off at noon with a long chain of dignitaries and bagpipers, and the photos should suggest the procession of marching bands, floats, trollies, balloons, dancers, and corporate trucks that followed.
For the first half of the parade, we had the bad fortune to be standing next to a cluster (I believe the technical term would be "gaggle") of frat boys and sorority girls, who'd obviously been drinking all night, flashing the cops, and imitating stunts from the movie Jackass. I kept mentally daring the tool standing next to me to puke on my shoes, if only to give me and excuse to kick him in the shins.
Later, however, the cold got to them, and they were replaced by yuppie and non-yuppie families. Cody and I got an assortment of beads, streamers, keychains, chees, and pop out of the deal. No complaints. The parade itself was enjoyable, if nothing spectacular, and mob spirit seemed to hold up pretty well despite the cold.

But where were the Shriners?

The parade ended around two thirty, and I jumped a #6 and rode home to Jessica.

In pictures:

1. Here comes the front guard.
2. Mayor Daley's in here somewhere, and that waving hand just left of center definitely belongs to an Obama.
3. He's Green and He Terrifies Little Children.
4. The Irish Fellowship of Chicago.
5. No comment, besides that I like the hat.
6. The military band.
7. Mayor Richard M. Daley and Family Salute Chicago's Irish.
8. Many people thought this was the highlight of the parade downtown. I tried to catch them in midair, but instead grabbed a simultaneous lift off and landing. I figure hitting concrete at that speed must be roughly equivalent to falling off a tightrope. It would hurt.
9. The Forsaken Hat. Hideous Fratboys continuously screeched for it, but alas, the barriers blocked their drunken advance!
10. Former St. Patrick's Day Queens.
11. Another St. Patrick.
12. The Ancient Order of Hibernians.
13. Lisa Madigan, aka, Chicago's Hottest Politician. I almost developed a
celebrity crush on this woman. Erudite, practical, and absolutely dreamy.
14. O'Brien's something-or-other in a dreamy green car.
15. Misericordia trolleys receding towards Monroe.
16. Another dreamy green O'Brien car filled with... dreaminess.
17. I really felt for this guy. He was trying really hard to give us those beads, which must have been even harder given the constant yelling of the fratboys to our left. But he was a good sport.
18. Step dancers in motion.
19. Balloon #1. At which point the fratboy to my left (the one who tried to wrestle with the steel barrier and lost, and later seemed likely to puke on my shoes) turned to me and slurred, "What do you think of that froggg?" "It's a frog," I said.
20. No, it's not the IRA.
21. No, still not the IRA.
22. Balloon #2. Still not the IRA.
23. A non-obnoxious lephrachaun!
24. On rollerblades no less!
25. The Plumbing Council.
26. Bagpipers.
27. An Irish Caterpillar?!
28. The Medieval Times Court...
29. ...followed by the obligatory Tough Guy on Horse.
30. The Sons of Sligo had put together a pretty impressive float.
31. It was followed by a bunch of field hockey players on rollerblades. How does Gaelic Football work? I've never understood that game.
32. Marching band. There were actually quite a few at the downtown parade, from quite far afield.
33. I don't know... is this float sponsored by the Irish of North Halsted?
34. The Sheila Tulley Irish Dancers, all in splendiferous costumes. None of them were male, or over fourteen.
35. Balloon #3... it's a shamrock and, and... a polar bear? Something's afoot...
36. Ah, Balloon #4 and its accompanying semi solve the mystery. When the attendants ran out with cans of Lime Coke for everyone, this quickly became one of the most wildy greeted features of the parade.
37. Into the sunset?
38. A lot of the parade profiled sponsoring Unions... it's nice to see that a few things don't change. The first of this series was the Pipefitters Union.
39. Heat and Fire Insurance Union (with the Simpsons endorsing).
40. Bagpipers.
41. The Great Lakes Irish Wolfhound Association. My family's owned two Irish wolfhounds, and they are absoutely the sweetest dogs around. They don't live long, nor are they known for exceptional brainpower, but you can tell how loyal and friendly they are at a glance.
42. Marching band.
43. The Guinness float. We all hoped that they'd follow the lead of the Coke float and hand out some free samples, but to no avail.
44. The Teamsters.
45. The Iron Workers.
46. For some reason, I particularly liked this trolley. Those umber ones.
47. Step dancing.
48. Marching band from Georgia.
49. Marching band continued...
50. The Kelvyn Park Hurricanes.
51. Another installment of the Sligo Association of Chicago.
52. Possibly my favorite moment. This Dark Green Hearse broke down just across the start line, somewhere about Congress. After a frenzied jump, it revved into life again, but in a shocking moment of Kauffmanesque genius
53. the coffin felt out, and was hurriedly run back to the hearse by six lads
wearing porkpies.
54. Yes. Metallic Coffins.
55. The Yiddish Sons of Erin. I should tell them about my situation...
56. And no parade would be complete without an appearance by Eugene "Gene" Moore, the Cook County Recorder of Deeds.
57. Marching band.
58. Balloon #5. The only thing the balloons consistantly had to do with St. Patrick's day was the color green. Except for the Coke float, which had to my knowledge, nothing to do with St. Patrick's day.
59. And the obligatory Star Wars Episode #3 promotion. I cannot deny its charm.
60. One of three DeLorians.
61. And men walking around with exploding smokestacks utop their heads.
62. Connor, post-parade, with assorted loot.

All in all, good times.