OCEAN CITY, MD — The sun-soaked streets of Ocean City were awash in green Saturday as thousands gathered for the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade, presented by the Delmarva Irish-American club Club. A celebration that has become a beloved tradition since its start in 1980.
The parade featured a plenty of local organizations, from the fire department and surf club, local high schools, to police officers on horseback. However, for some attendees, the main attraction was simply enjoying a few refreshments on the sunny day.
Over the years, it has grown to become one of the largest St. Patrick's Day parades in Maryland. But some say this year felt the most alive in a long time,
“Since I was like 5 years old my parents brought me down here for a week vacation, and we never had this – they didn’t have all this now. This is awesome, we just love it so much," said Cheryl Betts.
Darlene McClintock of Berkeley Springs, W. Va. came to the parade last year. She is back this year to see if she can match last year's performance.
"I wanted to see if I could hang with the kids," McClintock said. "I did it. We did a fourteen hour bar crawl. So this year, I have turned 70, I want to see if I can do it again!"
"It's a small town America parade," said Christina Hubbard of Perry Hall, Md. "It's a parade where you can feel really connected to it. A lot of times you'll know someone that's walking in the parade, and it just makes you feel good. We love it."