Boston for St. Paddy's Day
Feb 6th, 2009, 02:25 PM
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Boston for St. Paddy's Day
I'm flying in on Monday, 3/17 and staying until Wednesday, 3/18 specifically to enjoy St. Patrick's Day in a genuine Irish City (Unlike my current home of LA). What area do you think I should stay in and any good hotel suggestions under $125/night?
Also, is there just the one parade in South Boston or is there also one in the more "tourist" type locations? If so, what do you recommend? I'm 37 so it's not like I'm just looking to go get drunk and get into a fight, I'm just a lady looking to really experience St. Patrick's Day with fellow fun drinkers!
Also, is there just the one parade in South Boston or is there also one in the more "tourist" type locations? If so, what do you recommend? I'm 37 so it's not like I'm just looking to go get drunk and get into a fight, I'm just a lady looking to really experience St. Patrick's Day with fellow fun drinkers!
Feb 6th, 2009, 03:11 PM
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Only one parade and it's in Southie. Although, it's always on a Sunday so you'll miss it anyway.
Your best bet is to head to the Faneuil Hall area and hit up one of the Irish bars there. We get started early, I believe the bars open at 8am.
Your best bet is to head to the Faneuil Hall area and hit up one of the Irish bars there. We get started early, I believe the bars open at 8am.
Feb 7th, 2009, 03:50 AM
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1. A room in Boston for $125 a night at a big "holiday" time? I don't think so.
2. You will almost definitely not get a room anywhere if you are under 25. Be prepared to prove it if you are 25-30.
3. If your idea of fun is a lot of suburban kids and twentysomethings getting drunk, you will love it.
4. In ten years of living on the Boston Waterfront within a few blocks of Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market, the only murder in the neighborhood was St Patrick's Day, after the bars closed, two townies got mad at a suburban kid and knifed him.
Some fun!
2. You will almost definitely not get a room anywhere if you are under 25. Be prepared to prove it if you are 25-30.
3. If your idea of fun is a lot of suburban kids and twentysomethings getting drunk, you will love it.
4. In ten years of living on the Boston Waterfront within a few blocks of Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market, the only murder in the neighborhood was St Patrick's Day, after the bars closed, two townies got mad at a suburban kid and knifed him.
Some fun!
Feb 7th, 2009, 04:03 AM
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Ack, the OP explained that she is 37.
And frankly, those of us who are at our computers at 8 AM on Saturday morning probably are not prepared to understand the concept of planning to "experience St. Patrick's Day with fellow fun drinkers," we can only offer sit back and offer dry info about hotels and parade schedules.
Posters on biddingfortravel have been reporting plenty of Boston hotel winning bids under $100, but of course we cannot be sure whether that will hold over for mid-March.
And frankly, those of us who are at our computers at 8 AM on Saturday morning probably are not prepared to understand the concept of planning to "experience St. Patrick's Day with fellow fun drinkers," we can only offer sit back and offer dry info about hotels and parade schedules.
Posters on biddingfortravel have been reporting plenty of Boston hotel winning bids under $100, but of course we cannot be sure whether that will hold over for mid-March.
Feb 7th, 2009, 04:08 AM
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Try Priceline also. I got a 4-star in Cambridge the first weekend in April for $100, and they accepted my first bid. (Priceline will also let you choose the neighborhood, so you can get something in the North End, where you'd like to stay.)
Best Wishes,
BC
Best Wishes,
BC
Feb 7th, 2009, 04:27 AM
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biddingfortravel is a site where members discuss Priceline.
There are very few hotels in the North End. The Priceline zone that would include them also includes the financial district, Chinatown, the West End, and all of downtown Boston as far west as the Common.
Don't boast about getting your first bid accepted, since it means you might have bid higher than you had to.
There are very few hotels in the North End. The Priceline zone that would include them also includes the financial district, Chinatown, the West End, and all of downtown Boston as far west as the Common.
Don't boast about getting your first bid accepted, since it means you might have bid higher than you had to.
Feb 7th, 2009, 04:35 AM
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Feb 8th, 2009, 03:27 AM
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Anonymous does have a point about my slightly snarky post. It is to a degree impossible for me to imagine someone over 25 enjoying a bunch of drunk people. This is not a judgement of the original poster or anyone else, merely a statement that Anonymous was correct and I was dry or worse.
More broadly, I have a horror of people getting into situations where they don't know what to expect, then being freaked out/terrified/humiiated, e.g., walking down Bourbon Street with a friend who lloked into one of the bars, then announced to the entire street at the top of her lungs: "My god, there are naked people in there!"
I'll try to relax and let people make their own mistakes!
More broadly, I have a horror of people getting into situations where they don't know what to expect, then being freaked out/terrified/humiiated, e.g., walking down Bourbon Street with a friend who lloked into one of the bars, then announced to the entire street at the top of her lungs: "My god, there are naked people in there!"
I'll try to relax and let people make their own mistakes!
Feb 16th, 2009, 02:44 PM
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I want to thank everybody for their responses. That said, I am indeed 37 years old, I have lived in Los Angeles for almost 14 years, I enjoy drinking and reveling with the youngsters from time to time, I'm a college graduate with a great job that asks me to use my brains and I've traveled through Europe and the U.S so I don't think of myself as somebody with very little common sense or intelligence.
I believe in doing everything once in my life and being rowdy on St. Paddy's day is on my list.
I appreciate it's not something many of you would want to do but I'm grateful that you are willing to give me tips on how and where to do it.
I did indeed find a hotel room in the Financial District for $90. Such is life during a recession I guess.
I believe in doing everything once in my life and being rowdy on St. Paddy's day is on my list.
I appreciate it's not something many of you would want to do but I'm grateful that you are willing to give me tips on how and where to do it.
I did indeed find a hotel room in the Financial District for $90. Such is life during a recession I guess.
Mar 11th, 2009, 06:27 PM
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Just a note on the "real Irish" business...
I have spent nearly all my life in Boston and the family is all Irish... I am in that first generation born in the US. Like most other Boston Irish families, St. Patrick's Day for us is not a day of drunken idiocy but a day when we all go to Church (first and foremost) and then enjoy a large family gathering. The same way many families celebrate Easter here in the US is the way Irish families expect and prefer to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.
Are there crazy pubs and parties and very "happy" drunks about? Absolutely. Plenty of them. But please do not go about saying or thinking that this is how "real Irish" celebrate it. Those who know the culture or have come from the culture know it is a day that is deserving of far more respect than that. Always Church and family first on this great day... that is how "real Irish" know it in Boston and other cities. The parade is always great, too... but not when people who do not understand the importance of Saint Patrick turn it into a reason to get drunk.
Just 2 cents from a Boston boy who has always had the Irish tradition drilled into him by the older generations out of County Mayo and Galway.
I have spent nearly all my life in Boston and the family is all Irish... I am in that first generation born in the US. Like most other Boston Irish families, St. Patrick's Day for us is not a day of drunken idiocy but a day when we all go to Church (first and foremost) and then enjoy a large family gathering. The same way many families celebrate Easter here in the US is the way Irish families expect and prefer to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.
Are there crazy pubs and parties and very "happy" drunks about? Absolutely. Plenty of them. But please do not go about saying or thinking that this is how "real Irish" celebrate it. Those who know the culture or have come from the culture know it is a day that is deserving of far more respect than that. Always Church and family first on this great day... that is how "real Irish" know it in Boston and other cities. The parade is always great, too... but not when people who do not understand the importance of Saint Patrick turn it into a reason to get drunk.
Just 2 cents from a Boston boy who has always had the Irish tradition drilled into him by the older generations out of County Mayo and Galway.
Mar 11th, 2009, 06:30 PM
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FYI - as a side note to the curious.
Yes, I am getting quite a bit of grief that I'll be in New Orleans for this St. Patrick's Day... but I earned forgiveness by finding a Church to attend that morning, promising phone calls to family during the day, and not aiding the "Irish" parties around the French Quarter. Once my grandmother gave her blessing I was in the clear. lol
Yes, I am getting quite a bit of grief that I'll be in New Orleans for this St. Patrick's Day... but I earned forgiveness by finding a Church to attend that morning, promising phone calls to family during the day, and not aiding the "Irish" parties around the French Quarter. Once my grandmother gave her blessing I was in the clear. lol
