Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The city of Franklin (a suburb of Nashville) is a very historic area that has maintained its small-town feel, and they frequently host various quaint festivals for its citizens. This past Saturday, they held a Celtic Festival to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, that we just couldn't pass up. Matthew, Heather, Alex, Amber, Brad and I all ignored the drizzly weather in order to partake in some holiday festivities.

Upon our arrival, I was immediately impressed by the girls (some were very young) that did a group jig to Celtic music. All of their steps were so quick that it sounded like gunfire. As we left the performance, we noticed that there was some crazy guy dressed up like a Leprechaun walking around. The girls, of course, had to pose for a picture with him. (He must have been wearing some sort of whisky cologne, because he already reeked of alcohol at 3:00 in the afternoon.) In an effort to include the boys in the photo documentary of the experience, they stood for a picture in front of McCreary's Irish Pub, keeping in style with the event.

An assortment of booths and vendors lining Downtown Franklin were available to assist our seasonal spirit. Our group spent a prolonged period of time at the "History of Surnames" stand. We each took turns looking up our respective last names, and despite the fact that 3 1/2 of us have the same surname (Heather -the 1/2- will join the Mehaffey clan in 6 short months), we occupied the booth for well over an hour. We knew our family had some Irish heritage, but apparently, we are Scotch-Irish, because the surname actually originated in Scotland and has derived from the name M'Haffy. Huh. I kinda like that. M'Haffy. Needless to say, Brad and I got the official history of "Mehaffey," along with our Coat of Arms printed and framed with a seal of authenticity. We will proudly display it in our home proclaiming our identity as well as our heritage.

Complete Celtic Festival Photo Album