For most, Saint Patrick’s Day is a day for celebrating the Irish heritage by going out for alcoholic drinks. However, what is there to do for those who do not want to go out and drink to celebrate the holiday? Here is a list of a couple of activities that do not involve alcohol.
1. Try Saint Patrick’s Day themed drinks and food:
Restaurants are known for their holiday drinks and other specials they have for a limited time. Places bring back reoccurring items during the Saint Patrick’s Day season, a couple of restaurants that participate are Arby’s, Baskin Robins, Culver’s, Dairy Queen, McDonald’s, Dunkin’ Donuts and Krispy Kreme. Arby’s brings back their mint chocolate milkshake, with Andes candy pieces on top of the whipped cream, according to Offers, online blog. Baskin Robins, McDonald’s and Culver’s also sell green shakes in celebration. Dairy Queen makes their Mint Oreo Blizzard their blizzard of the month due to the green tint from the mint. Dunkin’ Donuts has a mint brownie donut that is topped with green icing and filled with mint brownie butter cream. Lastly, Krispy Kreme tints their glazed donuts green; however, this special is only available for a couple of days surrounding the date of Saint Patrick’s Day.
2. Take a virtual tour of Ireland:
Since actually visiting Ireland is not really an option at this point in the semester, the next best thing is a virtual tour. Virtual Visit Tours is an online 3600 site that allows guests to explore desired destinations around the world. Some of the sights in Ireland that one can visit while on the site are the Hook Lighthouse, National Museum of Ireland, Saint Patrick’s Church of Ireland Cathedral and Kinbane Castle. The virtual tour allows the visitor to zoom in and out, roam and see the view in full screen. This allows for an in-depth look at infamous Irish sight-sees for those who cannot travel to the country.
3. Eat traditional Irish food:
A great way to observe an Irish holiday is by trying traditional Irish food. According to Donal’s Home, online recipe blog, some components of a traditional Irish feast are potato and Irish cheddar rolls, Irish soda bread, Irish stew and Irish oaty apple crumble. Potato and Irish cheddar rolls are light rolls that are covered in a thick layer of melted butter. The rolls go well with Irish stew; the stew has lamb, chopped onion, celery and carrots. The easiest thing to bake is the Irish soda bread, which includes sea-salt, cheese and other herbs. The bread is versatile and an Irish classic. For dessert, there are many different options such as oaty apple crumble. The dessert includes wholemeal flour, oats, nuts of one’s choosing and custard. The apple crumble is usually topped with ice cream, similar to apple pie in America.
4.) Watch Irish movies:
Watching Irish movies can help those who do not know much about Irish culture gain a little better perspective on Irish life. Watching another country’s movies can expose outsiders to their language, culture and different mannerisms. Daniel Day-Lewis stars in the Irish inspired film, “In the Name of the Father.” The film is a historical courtroom drama; Day-Lewis’ character is coerced into a confession of an IRA bombing, states BAZAAR, online magazine. Another great movie is about an Irish immigrant moving to the busy streets of Brooklyn, N.Y. The film is titled, “Brooklyn,” showing the hardship the character goes through as he is immersed into a new American culture. The last suggested film throws it back to old-day Disney channel, “The Luck of the Irish.” The movie plays off several stereotypes of the Irish culture but also dives deep into the roots of the family’s life being Irish. The film depicts a teenager who must find a gold charm in order to defeat an evil leprechaun.
5. Learn how to Irish step-dance:
There are many sites where one can learn how to Irish step-dance, such as WikiHow, online instructional source. First, to appreciate the dance, it’s important to gain some informational background knowledge. There are three types of shoes worn which are girl’s soft shoes, boy’s soft shoes, and hard shoes. Each type of shoe has a different purpose, the soft shoes are for light, single jigs, and hard shoes are for solo dances like the one called “hornpipe.” Next, the proper clothes should be worn when learning; since beginners need to feel ligh0t for the dance, first-time dancers should wear shorts, a tee-shirt and socks.
When the proper attire is put on, the beginner would start with simple drills such as singles, doubles and switches. Singles include hopping on one foot and then stepping. Doubles include the same steps as a single, except there are three steps at the end. Lastly, switches are when the dancer switches from one foot to the other. When attempting these steps, the dancer needs to keep a straight spine and pulled back shoulders.
