My St. Patty's Day Saturday

While St. Patrick’s Day weekend (ok that just felt weird – callin’ St. Patty’s Day from now on) is usually dominated by one festival alone in Richmond, this year there was a competition.  RVA-ers could either go to the classic festival Shamrock the Block in its new location on the Boulevard between Broad Street near En Su Boca and W. Moore St. near Bow Tie Movieland at Boulevard Square, or they could go to the classic location of the festival in Shockoe Bottom (around the 17^th Street Farmer’s Market on E. Main St.) and experience the new Shocko Fest. 

I chose Shockoe Fest for several reasons.  For one, I was convinced that the new location wasn’t going to be great.  Whereas Shockoe Bottom had provided a more spread out, grid-like layout, the new location is just one straight line that spans over about 4 blocks.  Also, while it’s profitable for the city to host the festival in a location with few bars around it (therefore forcing restaurants and other vendors to rent spots/tents), being able to dip into bars and get off the street is part of what makes the festival fun for me…and probably many others.  The only two bars located near the new Shamrock spot are En Su Boca and Fat Dragon.  Thirdly, I was convinced this year was going to be the time when they (organizers...well, and everyone) recognize the kinks that need to be worked out, since this is the first time a festival of this size would take place in this location. I heard a statistic (no idea if it's accurate! Forgive me) that gave me chills:  supposedly the Pumpkin Festival hosted this past fall on the Boulevard drew 13,000 visitors, and that was a bit too crowded for me – Shamrock the Block supposedly drew 30,000 visitors!  And lastly, if I associate celebrating St. Patty’s Day anywhere, it’s in the Bottom, and that’s just where I wanted to be this year. Sticking with tradition!

So some friends and I made our gameplan, which included meeting at a friend’s place in the nearby Locks Apartments (311 S. 11^th St.) for a brunch.. which I missed. Nailed it!  Great start to the day haha.  So I went straight to Sine Irish Pub (at 1327 E. Cary St.).  We assumed it would quickly get packed so we made sure to start there nice and early.  Now I have luck anyway with parking, AND I was looking for parking at about 11:00/11:15 a.m., but I was shocked at how easy it was to find street parking.  I parked right behind Sine! Crazy.  So that was nice. Kinda makes or breaks a day sometimes.  There was no line or cover at Sine when we got there, so I walked right up and in and was shocked how easy it was to secure a big table near the windows facing Cary St.   Eventually the table next to us left, too, so we basically had a whole corner of the restaurant to ourselves (and there was about 15 of us, so hey, we needed it lol).

Sine was a blast!  I had my “healthy breakfast” of pretzels with beer cheese since I missed brunch, and discovered the wonderful treat that is an “Irish Trashcan”.  My naive self thought it was just a vodka-Redbull with a little blue curaçao added to make it turn green, but noooo no no no.  I overhead my friend say, “Oo, too much tequila in mine.” And I was like “Eeeehhhh ‘scuse me?”  Yeah, this bad boy was basically a Long Island iced tea with Red Bull.  LOOK OUT.  I know it at least had vodka, tequila, and gin on top of the blue curaçao and Red Bull.  If there was something else in it, I didn’t want to know. I got three.  

Oh, and important sidenote (especially for the ladies):  for anyone who’s been to Sine before, you know the bathrooms are located downstairs.  So I set off on my merry way, walked down the stairs, and then stopped dead right at the bottom step.  This is where the line for the girls bathroom started! I was so bummed lol BUT the organizers, being the geniuses that they are, anticipated this problem and set up about six porta potties out back at the very edge of the patio.  And those lines took no time.  I think all establishments that had a patio or alley set up porta potties for the festival. Lifesavers.

We stayed at Sine, gradually watching the line grow longer and longer (which apparently was still around the block by 5:00 according to my friend, despite the $5 cover that started at some point and the festival supposedly ending at 4:00) and decided to give someone else a chance to enjoy our spots.  

(Liiiiiiiiiiines!)

We made our way towards the heart of the festival, i.e. the area around the Farmer’s Market at Main and 16^th, 17^th, and 18^th.  It was such a beautiful day, the walk was a divine welcome escape from the loud music and dim lighting inside the bars.

(You know I'm tipsy when my finger starts to make its debut in my pics)

We met our friends at Rosie Connolly’s Pub & Restaurant (at 1548 E. Main St.), which not only had a packed house inside, but had opened their back area (which I didn’t even know they used) complete with a tent for performances and beer tables.  

When you first walked into the alley next to Rosie’s, you could either buy beer tickets or choose to go buy drinks inside.  For whatever reason, I decided to switch to rum and diets, so we went inside.  Considering how busy they were, it didn’t take long at all for four of us to get our drinks and head back outside.  We got to watch the bagpipers and enjoy the beautiful weather some more.  This is also where the day began to get a little hazy for me (understandably, right?).

We decided to migrate again after probably another hour and a half (remember, hazy) and head over to McCormarck’s Irish Pub (at 12 N. 18^th St).  Walking through the Farmer’s Market and cutting through the alley next to C’est le Vin Wine Bar was a HOOT.  But no one was being belligerent or too ridiculous, no fights (which was one of the reasons cited by for moving Shamrock the Block to Boulevard), and no puking or anything like that.  When we got to McCormack’s, it was busy, but not packed at all.  If anything, our group made it crowded.  My only complaint here was that they were out of PBR, and that was my attempt to slow down on the drinking.  So being intoxicated and not too quick to think on my feet, I simply asked for another rum and diet.  We hung out there for probably another hour and then, I don’t know, I guess people decided it was time for dinner lol.  I was just along for the ride at this point.

(You'll notice there are no pictures here.  That's bc the one's I have are just of my friends and I, and it's nothing you need to see lol)

So our day was close to ending, it was time for food, and we decided to go to Casa Del Barco (at 320 S. 12^th St., back by my friend’s place).  I won’t go into that experience too much.  That’s either for a different blog, or I need to cut them slack for being overwhelmed.  The food took over an hour and was pretty crappy for everyone.  But whatever, we got to sit outside and it was still BEAUTIFUL.

So I think it’s safe to say we all had an amazing day.  Sadly I didn’t hear the same story from friends who went to Shamrock the Block.  The stories I heard were mostly that it was way too crowded, the beer lines were too few and out of control, Fat Dragon (the one bar towards the middle of the festival) was too packed to stay in for more than one drink, and it just wasn’t a good enough time to stay at for more than maybe an hour.  But like I said, it was the first year at this location and they need to work out the kinks (or move it back to Shockoe).  While I’m sorry my friends didn’t have the best time there, hey, you could’ve been with us! J  Good job and kudos to all the organizers of Shockoe Fest who didn’t let the city moving Shamrock the Block get them down, and decided to organize their own festival.  I hope it was a success in their eyes. I know my friends and I consider it success and a wonderful start to the St. Patty’s Day weekend.  And in the end, isn’t that all that matters? ;) lol

Keep an eye out for (possibly) both events next year!
Find more info about Shockoe Fest at: 
the Richmond.come event article
the Shocke Fest Facebook event page
the official Facebook page

Find more info about Shamrock the Block at:
the official Shamrock the Block page
the Richmond.com event article