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Other stories in "Spring"

• Going with the dogs
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• Finally, the Bunyan is done
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• Good deals
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• Blazing a trail
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• The mushrooms are coming
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• Gotta have a twist cone
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• Planning ahead
  Tour a tall ship, reserve a campsite, find the mother lode.
• Road Trip/Wildflowers in bluff country
  On two sides of the Mississippi, see thousands of lovely blooms in one day.
• Luring the ladies
  In shopping towns, April is the month for girlfriend getaways.
• Culinary getaways
  On artisan farms, help pick your own dinner, then dine alfresco.
• The season's first ship
  For a free trip to Duluth, guess when the first saltie will arrive.
• Brainerd revisited
  Our new correspondents tell us why these Minnesota lakes are much more than a vacation spot for hotshots.
• Without reservation
  If there's a big festival in your future, stake out space as soon as possible.
• Snap up copy of new biking guide
  In Wisconsin, new trails await bicycle tourists.
• Friend us on Facebook
  Watch for cool events and new picture galleries.
• A room in the Zona Romantica
  In a Puerto Vallarta neighborhood, a B&B fosters friendships.
• Guest List/Andrew Slade's Top 5 North Shore campgrounds
  Guest list.

Time to toast St. Pat

For a day, everyone gets to be Irish.

Everyone wants to be green this year, right? Here are some good ways to do it over St. Patrick's Day in 2010. And if you miss the big day, four Irish inns are green all year-round.

Great parades: In traditionally Irish St. Paul, the annual noon parade runs along Fourth Street to Rice Park on March 17; the parade in Madison is at 1:30 p.m. March 14 and runs from Capitol Square.

In Chicago, they really do dye the river green. Watch the dye job at 10:45 p.m. March 13 from Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive, then watch the noon St. Pat's Day parade through Grant Park.

In Milwaukee, the big St. Pat's parade starts at noon March 13, starting at Third and Wisconsin downtown and followed by music, dancing and pipes and drums at the Irish Cultural and Heritage Center.

In Kansas City, Mo., the 37th edition of the St. Pat's parade will wind through the historic Westport district at 11 a.m. March 17, with Shamrocks & Shenanigans music and contests later in the Power & Light District.

In St. Louis, the St. Patrick's Day parade at noon March 13 is the biggest downtown event of the year, with more than a quarter-million spectators and an Irish Village with food and entertainment.

In northwest Iowa, Emmetsburg is the state Irish capital, and it celebrates with a long weekend of festivities, including a parade at 1:30 p.m. March 20.

In Wisconsin, there are parades in Prairie du Chien, Racine, Sturgeon Bay, Shawano and Siren March 13; in Plymouth and the usually Swiss capital of Monroe on March 17; and in New London March 20.

In Minnesota, there are parades March 13 in Crosslake in the Brainerd area and on March 17 in St. Peter.

Music, beer and a bed: If you really like beer, you may want to stay put on the big day. Each of the Irish inns below has handsome rooms and a pub that serves up Irish specialties and live music. Check for on-line specials.

In the eastern Wisconsin town of Plymouth, the Irishman's Walk parade on March 17 begins at 11 a.m. and ends at 52 Stafford (pictured), an 1892 hotel renovated into a Irish inn with a beautiful restaurant and pub that features cherry millwork and Celtic-themed stained and etched glass.

The Stafford has two sister inns, St. Brendan’s in Green Bay and County Clare in Milwaukee. Newly built St. Brendan’s is on the Fox River in downtown Green Bay. On the edge of downtown Milwaukee, which has one of the region's biggest parades, the County Clare has comfortable rooms above the pub. 

In Galena, the Irish Cottage Boutique Hotel includes Frank O'Dowd's Irish Pub & Grill. It celebrates St. Pat's Day March 12-13 and 17, with Irish dancers, music, contests and prizes.

At Cascade Lodge on Minnesota's North Shore, the O'Phelan family celebrates St. Patrick's Day March 12-18 with Irish music and fare. If your name starts with O, or even if it doesn't, ask for half off a third night and free ski and snowshoe rentals.

In Finn country, two saints: In the northern Wisconsin town of Brantwood, St. Urho shares the bill with St. Patrick on March 13, when there's a corned beef-and-cabbage dinner and program at the community center.

The northern Minnesota town of Menahga, home of a fiberglass St. Urho, celebrates St. Urho Days March 12-13, with a parade at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, followed by bar-stool races at Spirit Lake Beach.

 A pitchfork-wielding St. Urho is said to have banished the grasshoppers from Finland, thereby saving the grape harvest in the vineyards.

Last updated on March 8, 2010