Fall is such a beautiful season here in North Carolina. Everyone seems to be out and enjoying the cooler temperatures, vibrant colors, and tons of outdoor activities.

One of the things I love about autumn is the decorations on porches.  Here are some photos of porch scenes in Downtown Raleigh.

I have to confess that Raleigh’s St. Patrick’s Day parade is always my favorite parade of the year.  I love the wacky combination of entrants in the parade.  It’s exciting when you really can’t predict what category may be coming around the corner next.  Of course there are Irish dancers, Scouts, beauty queens of all ages, bagpipes, candy being tossed, and green everywhere you look…including on the legs of horses!  See:

So along with your standard, expected entries in the annual parade celebrating the Irish through Downtown Raleigh, you’ll also find many unexpected, not so standard entries. The primary qualification for parade entry may possibly be just adding some green somewhere or simply sporting a shamrock.  That seems to be how there were groups in the parade showcasing what seemed to be every known breed of dog, the N.C. State rodeo club, The Little German Band with a touch of green added to their outfits, The Dancing Queens in green spandex, a few monster! costumes, and even a group encouraging people to “wear” their babies.  But one of the most bizarre sights at today’s parade had to be the real policemen behaving like the  Keystone Cops! What??

This year’s parade was awesome. Entertaining, unpredictable, wacky, and fun!