Find Some Greenery And Head For Southie: It's St. Patrick's Day

Cut your afternoon classes today and go to South Boston. It's St. Patrick's Day, a legal holiday, and they don't have holidays like this back in Kansas City.

South is the ancestral home for hundreds of thousands of Boston Irish and many of them will travel back today to watch the 230th annual Boston Parade. The parade, filled with bands, politicians, Irish groups, and assorted celebrities, will kick off from Andrew Square at 1 p.m. It will wind its way through Southie and finally disband at Broadway around 4.

Earlier this week the Boston Pilot, official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston, touched off a controversy by asking that the parade be moved from South Boston to the somewhat more cosmopolitan atmosphere of downtown Boston. Nostalgia for the old days won out, however and the parade is staying in Southie.

There will be 200,000 proud Irish down there today so leave the orange socks at home.