Excitement builds in South Boston ahead of St. Patrick's Day Parade
BOSTON -- For the first time since the pandemic hit, Boston's St. Patrick's Day Parade will be back to full strength. The route will go back to the full 3.5-mile stretch along Dorchester Street and Broadway.
"It's a great time for Southie to show its stuff to the people who live in Boston and around Boston," said Matthew Casey, General Manager of Lincoln Tap, a bar along the parade route. "You can expect large crowds, great food, and a lot of fun."
If you are heading down there to grab a drink, you may want to do so early. Boston Police have asked those establishments to close up by 4 p.m.
"We thank them for providing that service to us," said Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox. "There has been a spike in drink spiking, and this is why again we discourage public drinking. We aren't going to allow it."
Christine McGinley and her crew came from Philadelphia for the parade. They call themselves the Super Bowl Six. The group went to the Super Bowl in Arizona to see their Eagles play, and then planned a trip to Boston for St. Patrick's Day. They insist they didn't come to the city to drown their sorrows following the Eagles loss to the Chiefs.
"No, I don't even care about the game. It was just fun," laughed McGinley. "We will start at the beginning, or the end [of the parade], and we will stop, eat, go back out to the parade. [Our outfits] have shamrocks, and the back says, 'Let the shenanigans begin.' We are all matching!"
McGinley made a stop at L Street Tavern in Southie. The bar was made famous from the movie Good Will Hunting. The staff there have a basement full of Guinness kegs and hope it will last the weekend.