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Diversions

Top o' the fun

By SHARON KENNEDY WYNNE
Published March 15, 2007

Party goers enjoy St. Patrick's Day last year at the party hosted by 13 Ugly Men in Tampa's Whisky Park. The proceeds of the event benefited the Voice of Children charity. See more photos
	[Times file photo (2006): Luis Santana]

For once, the popular Rough Riders St. Patrick's Day night parade in Ybor City will actually fall on St. Patrick's Day.

The celebration - an Irish stew of Gasparilla krewes, marching bands and green-bead throwing party floats - is usually held the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day.

And, as luck would have it, the earlier Daylight Saving Time this year means it will just be getting dark when the 117 units get rolling on Saturday, said Mike Thompson, parade chairman. That makes it easier on families that might be leery of heading to party-hearty Ybor on a Saturday night, he said.

"There's always the young people who are going to be there, it is Ybor after all," Thompson said. "But we get started at 8 and most of the . . . let's say rowdy . . . crew gets there at 10 or 11 at night when we'll be finishing up. So there's a lot of families and kids at this parade."

The parade starts at 8 p.m. at Nick Nuccio Parkway and Seventh Avenue and proceeds up Seventh past Centro Ybor, ending at 20th Street about two hours later.

Pub crawl

It's not only the parade planners who feel lucky this year. Bar owners must be expecting a pot of gold with all the parties planned around the Tampa Bay area. From the chains like Beef O'Brady's and Bennigan's to the local Irish pubs, there's lots of green beer and corned beef being offered up.

Here's some of what's in store:

Ricky T's, 10601 Gulf Blvd., Treasure Island, and 6100 Gulf Blvd., St. Pete Beach; (727) 360-4575. St. Patrick's Day has always been a huge event here. Bar owner Rick Taylor would dye his red hair bright green. Friends can be forgiven if they are full of Irish melancholy as they remember the big man with the big laugh who died March 3 from heart failure. There will still be a party, with huge tents and live music set up on St. Pete Beach, a free shuttle between the two locations and Irish food specials all day. There's a cover charge of $5 at the St. Pete Beach location only.

O'Keefe's Tavern, 1219 S Fort Harrison Ave., Clearwater; (727) 442-9034. This is always one of the biggest parties on Ireland's big day, and it's starting early at 4 p.m. Friday and continuing into Saturday. Nearly 500 pounds of corned beef and 200 kegs of green beer will be on hand for a crowd that spills outside to a block-long party zone under a tent with Irish music and dancing both days.

Four Green Fields, 205 Platt St., Tampa; (813) 254-4444. The authentic thatched roof Irish pub always puts on a big show for St. Patrick's Day. Food will be set up outside and in; entertainment starts at noon and runs till the wee hours. The buffet costs $14.95. If you don't care for Irish stew or corned beef, there's a $10 cover.

Fitzgerald's Irish Tavern, 5811 Nebraska Ave., New Port Richey; (727) 816-9092. Black Irish humor is in abundance at this upscale pub with the 35-foot mahogany bar. Every St. Patrick's Day it holds a make-believe "Irish wake" that runs until closing at 2 a.m., with lots of dining and dancing.

MacDinton's, 405 S Howard Ave., Tampa; (813) 251-8999. South Tampa's largest Irish pub expects to be hopping all weekend, with Irish rugby games on the telly and live music and dancing inside and out. On Saturday, there's a cover charge of $10 starting at 4 p.m. and an array of Irish food until 10 p.m.

Dubliner Irish Pub, 2307 W Azeele St. in South Tampa's Hyde Park area; (813) 258-2257. The pub will kick things off at 9 a.m. Saturday with a Great Guinness Breakfast, a traditional Irish breakfast of eggs, sausage, rashers, potatoes and baked beans paired with a pint of Guinness stout, for $15. The rest of the day and night will be filled with diverse Irish musical acts and dancing until 3 a.m.

Emerald Bar, 550 Central Ave., St. Petersburg; (727) 898-6054. The shamrock in the window will welcome purists who need more entertainment than green beer. The Kevin K Band, a veteran of the New York punk scene, opens at 9 p.m., followed by the Crash Mitchell Quartet, which is likely to pay tribute to Florida folk legend Paddy Mitchell, who traveled with Jack Kerouac. Also Crash's daddy, Paddy was born on St. Patrick's Day. $5 cover.

Other fun

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The team will sport special shamrock caps for its spring training game against the Cleveland Indians on Saturday. Progress Energy Park, 180 Second Ave. SE, St. Petersburg. $7-$20. (727) 898-7297, (813) 282-7297; www.devilrays.com

Shamrock'n Run This St. Patty's-themed run features a 5K, a 1.5-mile walk and a kids fun run, with live music, food, beverages and kids clover medals; $18. It will be at 7 p.m. Friday in downtown Largo at Ulmer Park, 301 W Bay Drive.

Shamrocks and Shenanigans The Bay Area Renaissance Festival at MOSI will have an Irish twist this weekend with Irish Caleigh (a Celtic band), green beer, Highland games (with the Dunedin Highland Gamers competing in the stone put and caber toss), the Tampa Bay Pipes and Drums, and an Irish ale tasting. The festival is 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Fowler Avenue and N 46th Street, next to Tampa's Museum of Science and Industry. Adults $13.95 advance, $15.95 gate; children $5.95 advance, $7.95 gate; seniors $12.95 all times. 4 and younger free. (813) 983-0111, toll-free 1-800-601-4848; www.renaissancefest.com.

St. Patrick's Day Street Festival Dunedin goes green along Main Street starting at 11 a.m. Saturday with music, food, pipers and step dancers. Flanagan's Irish Pub, 465 Main St., will have dancers, the Dunedin Pipe band and two food tents.

And that's no blarney

St. Patrick's Day started out as a holiday to honor the saint who introduced Christianity to Ireland in the fifth century. But now it's a day to honor all people and all things Irish - which would not include green beer, but that's another issue entirely.

Courtesy of the U.S. Census bureau, here are some fun facts to liven up today's celebrations:

34.7 million - U.S. residents who claim Irish ancestry

4.2 million - people residing in Ireland

24 - percentage of Massachusetts residents who claim Irish ancestry

12 - percentage of Americans who claim Irish ancestry

March 17, 1762 - date of first St. Patrick's Day parade, held in New York City and featuring Irish soldiers serving with the British

9 - U.S. towns named Dublin

4 - U.S. towns with Shamrock in their names

41.6-billion & 2.4-billion - pounds of U.S. beef and cabbage, respectively, produced in 2005

21.6 - gallons of beer consumed per capita by Americans in 2004. Report does not note how much of it was green.

[Last modified March 14, 2007, 11:48:58]