In the first 10 years that I lived in this fair city, I never missed a St. Patrick’s Day celebration. St. Patrick’s Day wasn’t a big deal for me growing up – it was a day to wear green or get pinched, and that was about it. But in Savannah, it’s a Very Big Deal.

The first six or seven years I had to work on St. Pat’s, either as a reporter (there were no other stories in town on that day) or with the Health Department shadowing our inspectors as they made sure all the funnel cakes and corn dogs along the parade route wouldn’t kill you.

Then, once I joined the family business, I was able to take off on St. Pat’s like the rest of the town. Even the schools are closed for St. Pat’s because every kid in the city is at the parade. And I love it.

But this year, schools were out for two days around St. Pat’s, and we decided to take advantage of the four-day weekend for our Disney trip. I do not regret this, but I did have to give it some serious thought before committing.

And while it pained me to miss the big, green day, we didn’t miss everything. The Saturday before St. Patrick’s Day is the annual Tara Feis – an Irish festival geared toward families. Bounce houses, face painting, Irish dancing, puppet shows, etc.

We had a great time soaking up the festival spirit. Camille looked the part too. When she was two years old we were given an adorable dress with green clovers on it and I knew immediately that it would be her St. Patrick’s Day outfit – someday. It was a size 5 and swallowed her tiny frame whole.

But this year was the year. What a doll.