st. patrick's day

St. Patrick's Day is this Sunday March 17 and whether you have Irish roots or not you can't help to want to celebrate this festive day. To me, St. Patrick's Day always signified the beginning of the spring season.

Looking for somewhere to celebrate St. Patrick's Day in Texarkana? From green eggs to a ZZ Top tribute band, your pot will be full of fun for this lucky holiday. Put on your favorite green duds and hit these hot spots in Texarkana for the St. Patrick's Day weekend festivities: Shooter's Sports Bar, Hopkins Icehouse and Fat Jack's.

The Irish Car Bomb (a shot of Bailey's plopped in a pint of Guinness) is a popular drink around St. Patrick's Day, though some be surprised to hear it didn't originate in Ireland. In 1979, Charles B. Oat created the drink at Wilson's Saloon in Norwich, Connecticut, according to a booze blogger who studied bartending under Oat.

McDonald's bright-green Shamrock Shake, a minty beverage only available around St. Patrick's Day each year, has a cult following that rivals that of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" and short-lived TV series "Firefly" (though possibly not McDonald's other fan-favorite seasonal menu item, the McRib).

While many people associate St. Patty's with heavy drinking and pub crawls, in Ireland, St. Patrick's Day is a historically solemn and sober holy day for Roman Catholics. Believe it. Until the 1970s, pubs were actually legally required to close up shop for the day.