St. Patrick's Day Marks First Holiday Celebrations In Sacramento Without COVID Restrictions
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) -- Two years ago, the pandemic hit Sacramento and St. Patrick's Day was the first holiday canceled.
Fast forward to March 2022, and downtown Sacramento is back to normal, celebrating the Irish holiday maskless.
"Everything was different, nothing to do, no cars on the streets, no people, daycares closed," said Joel Younger who's putting the past behind him. He added, "We're out celebrating so it's a great time.
"To see everyone, it's amazing. Everyone is having a great time," said Bart Pitcher who lives in Sacramento.
In March 2020, COVID shut down life as we knew it and the first holiday to be canceled was supposed to be the luckiest day of the year.
"I was feeling really uncertain," said Thaddeus Johnson, the owner of Streets Pub and Grub in midtown.
Johnson said the Irish holiday is his biggest moneymaker.
"It's like our Super Bowl of holidays, and it hurt," he said.
Two years ago, Johnson nearly lost it all.
"I lost employees, the whole gambit, it was all bad," he said. "I wasn't sure what we were going to do. The fact that people are actually in here, it's great."
The third year was a charm for Sacramento businesses welcoming mask-less neighbors indoors, and for the downtown crowd, it's been a sham-rockin' good time.