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After seeing the awesome green river, it was time to head to the St. Patrick’s Day parade!
It was a nice little hike to get over to the parade route. And by “nice” I mean uphill against the chilly wind. But it was still a festive walk!
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We had no real strategy for getting a spot to view the parade; or, our initial strategy was to be early and take our time to scope out the scene. But since we were running late based on our original plans, our new strategy was to just get to the parade route.
We found a place at the end of the route, next to an opening by a barricade. We were unsure if we should brave the crowds to find a better spot but there were so many people already camped out that we figured it was the best one that we’d be able to find.
There were a lot of police in front of us who were controlling the crowds, but I was certain that they’d move when the parade started.
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However, it became clear after we heard the bagpipes and saw the first floats pass that the police were there to stay — keeping the peace but obstructing our views.
Still, we were able to see some of the floats and shake hands with the mayor of Chicago: Rahm Emanuel.
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The crowds got bigger and wilder and I gradually got lightly pressed into the barricades. While this was going on, I was craning my neck to see the parade. I wondered if we would see anything particularly outrageous or fantastic as a float. As time went on, though, we realized that it was going to be pretty typical — nothing out of the ordinary.
Perhaps I’m just spoiled from the parades I got to see on the daily while working at Disney World, but after about 45 minutes or so, I was fine with moving on. Besides, the police — who had been keeping people organized for while — stopped strictly managing the crowds, so a bunch of people bottlenecked in front of us. It began to feel chaotic and I couldn’t see us spending the next two hours pleasantly in that atmosphere, so, we peaced out.
Still, I’m glad that we got to see a little of the parade.
If I were to do it again, however, I’d probably get there earlier and grab a spot in the middle of the parade route, instead of the end, where a bunch of people kept tagging on at the end.
So, should you see it? I wouldn’t go to Chicago just to see the parade, but it’s fun to pair with the other St. Patrick’s Day activities. From what I saw of it, it wasn’t anything spectacular, but I think it’s worth dropping in to see a few of the festive floats.
What about you? What’s the best parade you’ve ever seen?
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The Layover is a category of blog posts dedicated to my recent travels. Read all of my posts related to this topic by clicking here.
