No, you didn't necessarily have too much green beer to drink Saturday.
If you were in downtown Atlanta, you really might have seen a green man, women with green hair and a woman who strongly resembled a leprechaun.
All were among the good-natured crowd gathered for the annual St. Patrick's Day parade, which started at noon Saturday and moved down Peachtree and Marietta streets.
Several parade-goers marveled at Atlanta's warm weather, with temperatures in the high 70s.
Mary Sullivan flew down from Boston carrying a Hibernian banner to visit her cousin, a green-derby-clad Matt Naughton.
"I've never missed a parade since St. Patrick's Day 1971," he said. "So far this is the best [one] because of the weather and, of course, it's a Saturday."
Among the strongest responses from the crowd were cheers for several firetrucks in the parade -- including one with a spraying hose that managed to wet a few onlookers.
Musician Jack Rabbit (his stage name) walked around dressed as St. Patrick, bestowing blessings on parade participants and those watching from the sidewalks.
"It's an all-inclusive holiday," Rabbit said.
For some, politics and the holiday revelry made strange bedfellows. Not far from the parade scene, there were also hints of St. Patrick's Day at a rally held at the state Capitol.
Paul Sammons, a film major at Georgia State University, was at the rally, dressed in a head-to-toe green body suit. He said his outfit was enough to draw the attention of police officers, who pulled him aside to check his identification and ask him to remove his head covering.
"Cops hate green people," he joked.
About the Author
