Another successful (unofficial) St. Patrick’s Day weekend in Chicago has come to an end and, despite the cold, we were happy to be a part of the celebration on both land and sea! Luckily the cold didn’t keep Chicago from flocking to the river in the thousands and the sun shined brightly over one of the city’s most famous holidays. St. Patrick’s Day is just one of those celebrations that you just can’t miss!
Those who have had the chance to attend Chicago’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration know that it is absolutely something to be experienced firsthand. The river is dyed electric green, there is a huge parade near millennium park, and the area bars open at nearly the crack of dawn. The street is full of people from all backgrounds donning green and proudly becoming Chirish for the day.
As a company that rents electric boats on the Chicago River, we wanted to give our customers a front row seat– no matter the forecast. The dyeing of the river started at 9am sharp, and even with the sun shining it was still below 20 degrees. But, like the rest of the city, the cold didn’t keep our guests away as our first rental of 2017 boarded the Mighty Marie set out at 8am. These festive ladies stayed toasty warm while cruising through the icy waters of the Chicago River with Captain Sam. The mimosas surely helped.
A few blocks away, the other half of our staff was riding through the parade in the gorgeous newest addition to our fleet: Sweet Caroline. Sweet Caroline is our second Riverwalk Boat and enjoyed her maiden voyage down crowd-lined Columbus Ave. The parade lasted a whopping three hours, and there were SO many people there. Many large and small businesses, non-profits, clubs, and politicians participated in the parade. We had a great group of people hanging out on the Sweet Caroline, showing people exactly what it looks like to rent an electric Duffy on the Chicago River for a few hours!
We hope that everyone had as fantastic of a weekend as we did and that, despite the snow, St. Patrick’s Day celebrations continue right up until the 17th.
Keep an eye out for our boats on the river this spring– reservations are open now and we will begin renting out the boats in mid-April! Reserve your boat now!
