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T-shirt, koozie and hour long lines, Happy St. Patrick's Day! March 17th, 2010 Posted by Hunter Wilson
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St. Patrick's Day usually conjures up images of shamrocks, red hair and a whole lot of beer. All over the country people don "Kiss me I'm Irish" t-shirts and green apparel; this all while downing as much beer they can possibly drink. It's a day everyone is Irish. Crowds and crowds of people went out for St. Patrick's Day all over the country. I mean if there was any other holiday meant to just have fun for a full day, I can't really think of it. It's a day when girls can be free of thinking about what shoes to match their outfit and a a t-shirt and jeans are all you need to get in. All in all a perfect day, yes? Lets see, food, beer, friends...what is missing? Oh yes, waiting in line for an hour to get a t-shirt for a pub crawl and another hour just to get into a bar: paying cover charges to get into every place you go, even your DD. 
Yes, in cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami they charge cover, but there are a lot of places that will let ladies in free, guest list ect. too. Even cities like Baltimore and Philadelphia where there are blocks of bars that always have a line going out into the street don't charge cover. I understand it was a chance to make money for the bars of Charlotte, people are going to go out for St. Patrick's Day no matter what, but as the night wore on I heard about people spending anywhere from $50 to $200. The bars were making money regardless of cover. It really took away from the whole experience of a pub crawl. The whole point is to get a drink or two in one place enjoy the atmosphere and then move on to a different bar. You get to see a lot of different people, choices in beer and decor. But when you're paying just as much money to get in as you are for your drinks, it sort of doesn't seem worth it.

In Ireland it's a day for just having fun, good beer and good music. I was extremely disappointed though (part of my family being Irish, this is one day I get very excited about) that there was hardly any Irish music played, the whole day was taken advantage of for the bars to make the most profit and events such as pub crawls weren't well executed. I don't call waiting in a line for an hour a well planned event. Know how many people approximately will be coming out and have enough workers on hand to make it a good experience before the spirits start flying. A few of the bars weren't even sticking to guidelines of pub crawls either, charging cover during the event. The one positive I found was that the bar staffs were on the ball. At the slightest sign of trouble, bouncers were like bees to honey. The bartenders were running their fannies off getting everyone their drinks and food in time and I think doormen got pretty good at checking ID's.

 It also seemed the level of jerkiness went up yesterday too. Even at the end of the night people were in a push and shove mood. It wasn't even crowded anymore and everyone was still elbowing their way around. Maybe it's just me, I kind of have a thing about people touching me, personal bubble and all. Looking forward, it's a definite I'll participate in events for St. Patrick's Day next year. I do like talking to people, and it's enthralling being part of such a large crowd. I just feel that on a day of celebration it'll be more like a Black Friday of bar hopping. True, there were deals if you were wearing a pub crawl t-shirt, most bars you got in free, maybe there are drink specials. But for the most part if you were a champ, and made it to the end of the night, and still were ready to go, your wallet better had been ready too.  
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Hunter Wilson
Owner, CarolinaNightlife.com1 Posts
Charles is the Executive Director of Carolina Nightlife and very involved in the nightlife industry in NC and SC. He has been working with venues of all sizes, different brands and products, and countless events across NC and SC for over 8 years.