Terry and I went to Ollie’s Public House, on the corner of Edgewater and Par, on Saint Patrick’s day. Terry had two free tickets for some reason. The parking lot was packed when we arrived. There were green shirts everywhere. Terry brought a beach chair and I had my artist’s stool. We sat fairly close to the outdoor stage. We both ordered a Shepard’s pie which was good and quite filling. Neither of us drank any beer, but there was plenty of Guinness all around.
The first band on stage was “Off Kilter“. They performed Irish traditional songs like, Danny Boy and then went into rock and roll cover songs. We bumped into Kathryne Sullivan, Mike Underwood and their friends Joe Busdecker and his wife Leann Siefferman Busdecker. I spoke with Katheryn a bit but it was impossible to hear over the bagpipes. Women started dancing in front of the stage.
After Off Kilter, the Orlando Fire Department Bag Pipes and Drums Band gathered in front of the stage. There were maybe a dozen bag pipe players and just as many drum players. The crowd gathered around them. The loud shrill sound was quintessentially Irish. The crowd clapped to the beat as the firemen picked up the pace. They played “Amazing Grace” and then doubled the beat. The book light I was using to see my sketch died, so I decided the sketch was done.
It was a fun night. Some people staggered and fell while dancing. One woman had to be helped into the passenger seat of her car by a security guard. T-Shirts read, Kiss Me, Pinch me and I’ll punch you. There was a long break after the Firemen so Terry and I headed home. Just as we drove off, the bag pipes started up again.