What is Open in Boston on Evacuation Day (St. Patrick's Day) 2010

 

* This post is from 2010. Our 2011 Post is up. Click Here!

 

First, what is "Evacuation Day," and why is it a holiday in Suffolk County?

March 17th is Saint Patrick's Day to those looking for a reason to celebrate or parade. But, in Suffolk County, Massachusetts it's a holiday for some government employees- those who work for the city of Boston or at a state office in the county.

It is said that this holiday commemorates the day the British troops "evacuated" Boston, on March 17, 1776.

WBUR reports that the actual bill was signed in both black and green ink. 

Many Bostonians suspect that the continuation of this holiday has more to do with green beer than Red Coats.  

(Instead of a photo shamrocks, we thought we'd share a fine photo of Ireland. The photo above is from contributor Mick Timony and used under Creative Commons License.)

Here's a run-down of what is open in Boston on Evacuation Day (better known as Saint Patrick's Day) and the MBTA schedules for March 17, 2010

Restaurants, bars: Open

Convenience stores: Open

Supermarkets: Open

Retail stores: Open

Liquor stores: Open

City, Town, State offices and facilities in Suffolk County are closed: This includes Schools, Libraries.

Federal offices and facilities: Open

Post Office: Open

Financial Services: Open

Boston Parking: You don't have to feed the meters. Other parking rules apply.

Boston Trash and Recycling Collection: The announcement from Public Works covers Wednesday, March 17, 2010 - "No delays in trash or recycling pickup."

http://www.cityofboston.gov/publicworks/sanholidays.asp

MBTA: A call to the customer service lines and a search of the site came up with this information. We'll update this section when they send out their press release a few days before the holiday.

• "Due to train crowding often associated with special events, bikes are not allowed on the Subway on St. Patrick's Day, Patriots Day or July 4th." http://www.mbta.com/riding_the_t/bikes/

• Service will run on a regular schedule with no changes showing on the MBTA site or any notice of changes in service received by those staffing the customer service line. http://www.mbta.com/

 

Details:
Photo: Mick Timony, used under creative commons license.

About this photo, Mick said, "It was taken at Glencar Lake, a favourite spot of W.B. Yeats who was reared near-by. Near the end of summer at Glencar Lake and the swallows are swooping and looping eating their fill before they migrate back to Africa."

Here's the link for Mick's photo:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/40092103@N00/3033429113

Here's more great photography from his trips to Ireland.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/timony/tags/ireland/

Here's his blog

www.timony.com/mickzblog/

Writer:Ed Cherubino