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St. Patrick's Day Happenings Around Town

If you are looking for fun with friends and family or perhaps you just want to spread a little St. Patrick's cheer to someone, check out these local spots.

Some cities and towns celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on full throttle, like Chicago, where the Chicago River is actually dyed green, or in New York City, where the infamous annual pub crawl starts on March 14 and continues to the end of the day on March 17.

In America, you don’t have to be Irish to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day because you magically become Irish on the biggest party day of the year. I’m not saying that the Puyallup or White rivers are going to be green, but I do know that there are other things to do around town that do not involve drinking copious amounts of green beer.

Flowers, such as the very tall Bells of Ireland or green sweetly scented carnations, can be purchased for that special someone at very reasonable prices.  An individual carnation is only 99 cents!

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McDonald's

If you are looking to sweeten up the mood, make a quick stop at the McDonald’s on in Sumner or up the hill in . The chain is offering their ever-popular Shamrock shakes in small, medium and large ranging from $2.19 to $3.19.

For something simply marvelous and unusual that will tickle the Irish fancy of young and old alike, stop in at or for Madyson’s Marshmallows, where your imagination and sweet tooth can dance a little jig. Celebrate the Irish with gourmet marshmallow treats such as Rock the Shamrock marshmallow pops for $1.75 each or Lucky Irish Donuts for $13 a dozen. My personal favorite is the enormously large monogrammed shamrock dipped in milk chocolate — yum.

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For the family, there are a few dining options for Irish fare, such as the Berryland Café, which is serving authentic homemade Irish stew loaded with carrots, potatoes, garlic, cabbage, lamb and, I was told, the kitchen sink. This steaming hot bowl of warmth and comfort can be purchased from $3.69 for a cup and $4.89 for a bowl (roll included). Another family friendly option is off state Route 410 which is offering St. Patrick’s Day specials still to be announced. 

If you are truly looking to honor this Catholic holiday, St. Andrews on Valley Ave East is holding its usual Thursday Mass. Time for reflection and worship begins at 9 a.m. Speaking of St. Andrews, the l at Tapps Island golf course will be offering corned beef hash as well as corned beef and cabbage specials — and if I need to say it, there will be an abundance of adult beverages as well.

Now onto the heavy stuff: Guinness. There are several pubs and taverns around town that are celebrating the day the right way with corned beef and cabbage and green beer. 

Green beer will be served all day for $6.99, along with green drink specials and the infamous Irish car bomb (a half-bottle of Guinness poured into a mug with a wicked shot of Jameson thrown in and topped with Irish cream). Talk about warming the cockles of your heart and the buckles on your leprachaun boots. 

The BLT is also offering fare for $8.95 and drink specials and prizes sponsored by the sassy and fun Bailey’s and Bushmill’s girls.

Don’t worry if you miss the dames at the BLT because they can be found later at Babalouie’s in Bonney Lake from 10 to 11 p.m. where prizes and give-a-ways will continue along with dinner special of corned beef and cabbage which starts at 5 p.m. for the nice price of $7.95. 

One more to mention, which appears to be a local favorite, is Captain Jack’s on Valley Avenue East which will be serving food specials, Bud Light in a green can and other drink specials. Shiny gold coins (not real gold) will be inconspicuously placed around the tavern and lucky winners can dip into a magic pot o’gold to retrieve prizes. There will be two big give-a-ways as well.

So bottom line, if you are looking to celebrate the patron saint of Ireland, your newly found Irish heritage or perhaps just tilt back a few pints of green beer while wearing your sparkly green bling and oversized shamrock hat, then stop in to a few of these places where on St. Patrick’s Day, everyone is a friend and many toasts will be had.

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