Happy Saint Patrick's Day from the OBX!Did you know that the largest St. Patrick's Day Parade in the state of North Carolina resides right here on the Outer Banks? Yep, that is right. The annual Kelly's Hospitality St. Patrick's Day Parade is it, and it was held this last weekend in Nags Head. Stretching along a parade route of approximately 1 mile on the beach road at the 11.5 milepost were thousands of fans, friends, and fabulous folks from the Outer Banks cheering on all of the paraders in this 20th annual edition of the parade.
This year the theme was "The Wearing of The Green," and as you see by the pictures there was a lot of green on the parade route! It was a well organized and orchestrated event with Nags Head Police in control and lots of volunteer Marshalls helping keep the order along the route.
This year the weekend celebration included the first ever running of the Leprechauns 8 K. The Outer Banks Running Club did an outstanding job of making a fun event that raised awareness of the need for the OBX Food Pantry with this race.After the celebration there was a true American and Irish celebration with hot dogs, libations, and music inside and outside under the tent at Kelly's Restaurant. The hot dogs and musical entertainment were provided by Kelly's at no charge. In 2008, there were 2,470 hot dogs enjoyed at the event.
We are already looking forward to next year's St. Patrick's Day Parade here on the Outer Banks. In the mean time Erin Go Brah (Ireland Forever)!
