We got into Melbourne on March 16, intending to just stay overnight. The local yacht club was having a St. Pat's dinner that night so we invited ourselves. The folks were really getting into the spirit of it, with Shepherd's Pie, soda bread, corned beef & cabbage and green beer! Several of the members came over to our table to talk to us and find out about our adventure - a VERY friendly club. During the course of the evening, we discovered that Melbourne was having a parade the next day! Of course we had to stay!
It was like a mini-version of Savannah's parade - lots of green, decorated babies and animals, men in kilts (love that!) and all sorts of outfits. The parade lasted for an hour or so, pretty respectable we thought. There were some beautiful vintage cars, two St. Patricks, floats, bagpipes, veterans and (of course) politicians. A few things were different: the firemen and police from New York were retired, the local military was the Sea Cadet unit and the Scots were out in full force as well as the Irish. We both agreed that our favorite entry in the parade was the duck. Yep - the duck. It was walking the parade route behind its owner, wearing a green cape! Pretty cool.
The downtown area was absolutely packed. Right after the parade, they started setting up stages for the afternoon and evening festivities on the still closed streets. We didn't stay for all that... I had to skype with Ms. Olivia and we had lamb stew on the boat.
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| Gemini at the dock in Melbourne |
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| The best-dressed folks at the Yacht Club |
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| This guy was right outside the window... |
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| ...preening |
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| The path from the marina went under this bridge |
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| Getting ready for the parade |
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| Debauchery is the name of a bar in town - they have their definition over the door |
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| This little one reminded me of Olivia |
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| Love those kilts! |
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| The first St. Patrick of the parade |
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| An Edsel, in pretty good shape! |
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| An old police car |
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| This sharp looking veteran looked to be in his 80s. He got lots of applause. |
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| The Sea Cadets |
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| The community band was pretty good! and they didn't have to march! |
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| The drummer brings up the rear |
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| Our favorite part of the parade... the St. Paddy's Day duck! |
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| The kazoo band |
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| There were skaters... caught this one zipping by |
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| The second St. Patrick |
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| No parade is complete without Vikings! |
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| One of the Scotsmen... kilt, plaid, Scotty dog... the whole deal! |
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| Everybody got in on the act |
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| And bringing up the rear was a lively Caribbean dance group |
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| All in all, a pretty respectable little parade! |
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| And back to the boat... |
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