Shamrock San Diego

Well, I think they learned a lesson from prior events. They added more port-a-potties, so that there were no pools of piss running down the streets. (Because of the experience with tromping through puddles of pee during Halloween, I wore rainboots this time - ok, just kidding, I wore the rainboots mostly because it was raining, but still.) That being said, this event's a rip off. They block off a part of downtown and prohibit you from frequenting this public area unless you pay $40. Wow, what a deal! I get to pay $40 to go to bars to pay for drinks! The girl standing next to me in the ticket line said it best - "Wait, so what are we paying for? Just to walk around on the street?"

To be fair, there were some cool bands playing, but that doesn't really justify blocking off and charging admission for entry to public streets. They have drink stations in the area serving Jameson (ok, cool) and Miller Lite. Yeah, last time I checked Miller Lite isn't Irish, and there are probably a gazillion acceptable Irish beers they could have been selling. Because they have blocked off a certain area, and it is difficult to get in and out, people start crowding at the same bars. Thus, the lines for the bathroom were like two miles long, and the lines to get into some pretty average and unimpressive bars were also starting to get really long.

And after all that complaining, I'm going to add that I had a blast, because I was with my friends, and I had plenty of Jameson and Guinness to keep me happy. St. Patty's is awesome.