1. Don't drive your personal car downtown
Because downtown Savannah gets so congested during St. Patrick's Day weekend, there will be numerous roads closed off for the festivities. There will be some parking available but it will most likely be quite costly due to the extreme fluctuation of people in town for the weekend. Violation of the parking restrictions could also result in a hefty ticket or worse, get you towed. Also, people will get kind of crazy and you may not want to subject your car to possible "accidents". Some alternative options to getting downtown are: 1. take an Uber or 2. Catch a CAT
2. Party with people you know
Of course everyone wants to have a good time on St. Patty's and the best way to have fun is to make sure you don't have to worry about your safety. Make friends, sure, but don't be naive. Unfortunately, there are people in the world that mean others no good so do yourself a favor and party with people that you know and trust. Bonus: people who care about you are not only more fun but everyone is more likely to have each other's back.
3. Visit the ATM before you start the celebration
If you know that you will be going to a bar or a club where you will need cash, go to the ATM before you got out. Not only will this save you time (you won't have to halt the party to hunt down an ATM) but it's also probably not a good idea to hang out around ATMs on a big holiday after a certain hour. Anyone could be watching and you don't want t make yourself a target to get robbed.
4. Know your surroundings
Yes, GPS is our friend. But, it doesn't hurt to have a game plan and familiarize yourself with the area that you plan to be hanging out in for the holiday. Know where the bathrooms will be located, ATMs (in case of emergency), where you can grab food and so on and so forth. Get on google and do a quick scan of the area or drive by after work.
5. This is NOT the night to "get lucky"
If there ever was a night to go home with a total stranger, St. Patrick's Day/weekend ain't it. There will be out-of-towners from everywhere and you do not want to pick undercover Freddy Krueger or Jason to go home with. Also, make sure to keep an eye on who your group is mingling with. Seriously, safe fun is always the way to go.
6. If you see something, say something (SEE: #5)
Unfortunately huge celebrations like St. Patrick's Day are some of the biggest times for human trafficking. If you see something that looks fishy or if someone looks like they're in trouble, say something. The worst thing you could do is ignore it. It is much better to be safe than sorry and see a tragic story in the paper you could have helped prevent. If you need to report suspicious activity, contact the police and then the National Human Trafficking Resource Center at 1.888.373.7888
7. Know how you're getting home
Did you catch the bus? Make sure you know the bus schedule and when the last route you need is making rounds for the night. You don't want to get left downtown and have to call a taxi or Uber when you've already purchased a bus ticket.
8. Don't call out of work
If you didn't already arrange to have the holiday off, be mindful of the fact that your employer will probably be suspicious if you decide to call out the next morning after the holiday-- not a good look. Especially if you give her some bogus excuse about being sick when you were just fine the day before. Adulting sucks sometimes but being responsible about your job will pay off in the long run (at least literally). I'm not knocking your fun, I'm just saying what's definitely not fun is being unemployed because you blew off work for a couple of green beers.
9. Download a safety app
A cool way to have a backup safety plan, in case of an emergency, is to download a safety app. You can download it on your phone and if you are ever in an emergency, you can push a help button. Your phone immediately notifies a handful of people that you have selected and alerts them that you are in danger. It will also call the police. A few of the popular ones include: Watch Over Me App, React Mobile, OnWatch, Circleof6 and Guardly. Some of these apps are only for iOS or Android so do your own research to see which best fits your personal needs.
10. Download a phone tracking app
Going along with number 8, if you don't already have a phone tracking app, download one before the festivities begin. Accidents happen and you don't want to lose your phone in all the celebratory chaos. There are several options for phone tracking apps including Lookout, Find My iphone, Life360, Find My Phone (for Windows) and more.
11. Dress appropriately.
Okay, so dressing up in a fun green outfit is a blast but remember-- unless you're going to a swanky house party, this is not a 5-star event. No need to wear your cutest heels and those expensive stark white pants. Chances are if you don't spill something on yourself, someone else will spill something on you. Also, your shoes WILL get ruined on that gross dance floor. So save yourself the next-day-frustration and just be casually cute.This is not your best friend's wedding.
12. Know where the bathrooms are
Do not underestimate the value of knowing where the available restrooms are. With so many people out, many small businesses will either not let you use their restrooms (to avoid hassle for themselves/ their customers) or make you buy something to use the bathroom. Although most public restrooms are not the cleanest, portable restrooms are notorious for being super-icky. I mean, if you gotta go, you gotta go but you'd probably prefer the real deal if you can find it.
13. Get pictures before you go out
It's so easy to get caught up in all the fun that you forget to capture the moment. Take a couple of minutes to get some fun photos of yourself and your friends before everyone gets all sweaty and sloppy. You'll thank yourself for the memories later.
14. Know your limit
This is a big one...don't be that girl/guy. You know, the one who ruined everyone else's night because they got so sloppy drunk they had to be babysat all night long? No one likes to be the babysitter of the group. So be respectful of the group and know when to call it quits. It will be a lot more fun if you can remember the whole night. (P.s. Alcohol poisoning is real.)
15. Stay hydrated
Many people underestimate the importance of drinking water every couple of alcoholic drinks. I promise it won't kill your buzz but your liver just might thank you. Who knows, it might even keep the hangover at minimum the next day.
16. Don't forget to catch the parade!
And last, but not least, most big holidays have their own parades to commemorate the day. The St. Pat's parade typically falls on the day unless it's majorly inconvenient like Sunday or Monday. And, this is the best way to have some good clean fun if you have a family...or, if you don't. Parades are always a blast, so get in touch with your inner child and camp out with a hot dog and a lawn chair and pop the sodas.
