— The frosty froth flailed forward, as a deep mid-February cold (for your beer that’s green or otherwise) led to a milder St. Patrick’s Day and first day of spring, kinda merged into one. Lot of takes melded into one, so see it under Uncategorized —
With a name like The Garage Bikes and Brews, you should know what to expect from this new and retooled celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, and lets add it spans the globe to embrace three different continents.
There is the unique combo, creatively speaking, of a cart carrying Mexican food, mostly, at the River Falls venue on Thursday, with just a wee bit of Irish fare being, of course, the more traditional for this day. Gotta say, they’re worlds away, across the seas … but giving the best of both worlds, including spicy or not so much, just the right amount of zest. So give some TLC to the TLP Taco Truck, when visiting it for this event, one of many that are held by it on occasion in conjunction with The Garage, in this case running from 3-7 p.m. The Garage Bikes and Brews, housed on Cedar Street, is well situated for often also, having events driven by trekking in cycles on its wide-ranging resume.
But for St. Patrick’s Day, music is provided by Bryan Anderson. He has done multiple recordings in Nashville, and is known as an up-and-coming act, the kind we like to feature. Salute him with a Guinness?
Along those lines, since this is St. Patrick’s Day, if you say to the guys at The Garage, that you found out about this on HudsonWiNightlife, you’ll get $1 off a pint (Irish term) of beer, so don’t forget to mention us.
Also in River Falls, around the same time frame, there is a potato soup — not necessarily just pub — crawl for the best such dish, and we will find out, indeed, just how many ways you can make spuds into a meal. There is more to this day then just corned beef and cabbage.
The 517 in downtown Hudson gives a new twist to that old favorite, the Rueben sandwich, by making it a triple decker, complete with fries for $14.50. That last flavorful bit reminds me of the other night in downtown New Richmond when amidst the loud hip-hop on the jukebox, I spotted on the tube a pro wrestling star who would have been more akin to subtle Irish ditties, called Sheamus. The name is like a longtime whimsical columnist for the Twin Cities Irish Gazette. But this Sheamus has a manager all ready to mix it up who looks just like an Old School potato farmer, with such an AC/DC-like hat to go. Very blue collar but a green theme. Like the rumblings I’ve heard about The 517 are about a contest there with the best server boasting a unique style and getting a perk, based on your judging.
That brings us around to Paddy Ryan’s Pub in the town of Hudson, which now is calling itself also a Boxty House, (try this version out!) and in addition to all the usual fare of this day and night, you can wash it down with an offering of 35 different brands of Irish whiskey and other such spirits from the island, in a shot or tumbler, and quite a few ethnic brews as well as the usual American. And check out also, such fare at their new location in River Falls.
The Wild Badger in New Richmond also has multiples of both DJs and shot-girl-served drinks — do you get more than one Irish-type redhead? — on Thursday night, although you might have to pinch a few pennies for the favor, and on the next two nights there are the bands Tim Sigler and Varsity Rejects.
So the status and offerings, this time around, of the Shamrock proud parade-and-the-like-festivities was the talk of the town in New Richmond earlier in the week. It will go on this year, at the usual time and place.
There is more to do on this day, that also throws non-traditional into the mix.
A woman checked out some beverage items, and the logical conversation piece was, whatcha doing for St. Patrick’s Day? Staying in rather than fighting the crowds, and having a brunch that starts with biscuits and gravy and eggs. The clerk responded in like manner, adding that she needed to work the next morning at 9, which she conceded is not that early .. but once the Irish get going, (the night before) …
A New Richmond clerk had green hearts on nine fingers counting thumbs, but not the ring finger, as she was all thumbs while being barren of such accessorizing … and a big green hat to match. On a poster on the wall was a man model for clothing, who had the same singular style of a faux ring finger — but this time it was on that digit as the only one, with a cross.
The wee ones are not to be left out, as their PJs were on special at certain stores, and there were green shirts of all limerick, especially childrens’ ditties to go with lots of styles.
These are odder bedfellows than the often-held bed races at parade, shown by a non-Caucasian and thus not Irish lad way back on March 5, sporting a totally sparkly hat.
Around that time, on one side of the street were three four-leaf clovers on a hanging plant stand for spring, where you would find U.S. flags and plenty of them just over three months from now, and for now they are next to a green fire hydrant, not flaming red.
Across the street is an Irish blessing on a doorway, weighing in at over 40 words, much like that song 40 by none other than the Irish band U2. Or one could say that particular doorway message had, by the numbers, a good half of the 95 thesis, to get a bit Lutheran on this largely Catholic holiday.