The St. Patty’s Day Parade is coming up. Sunday March 13th @ 1pm

Here are some tips from Tom at www.theJTX.com -  “Parade starts on far West Broadway, gets downtown by the Inn about 1:30.
Should go for 2 hours (maybe a lit…tle more). Done by about 4….

If you are coming into town, come EARLY! If you need to park, get here by 10am. Seriously. You’ll be happy you did.  You also have the alternative of parking on the East Side of town and walking over the bridge, but you still need to get to town early.  If you plan to stay over, get reservations NOW.”

As a local, I love the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Jim Thorpe, PA.  The winding Broadway, the Old Jail, the cool old pubs and the Molly McGuire history all make it a perfect backdrop for this special parade.  In sleet and snow and unpredictable weather I can always count on a huge crowd with beer and whiskey to warm the soul.  Last year, it was a perfect weather and some reports said that 10,000 people made it to town this year to catch the parade.

I like to start at the top and check out everyone waiting to make their way down the parade route.  The bag pipers, men in kilts, local politicians, community organizations, civil war re-enactors, area businesses all ready with a hint of green to be greeted with shouts and smiles and the occasional beer or shot (the “shot lady” must have given out hundreds of shots this year.)

The walk down you’ll see tons of  house parties spilling both in and out the street, young party goers in crazy, over the top green get ups, serious townies in their lawn chairs and coolers and families with kids sitting on the curbs waiting to be tossed candy.

Its a great day to be Irish!

Aki