4 Ways To Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day In Ocean City

OCEAN CITY, NJ — St. Patrick’s Day is on a Friday this year. Entertainment districts in Cape May County will be swimming in Kelly green, and perhaps flashing red and blue lights if people don’t behave themselves.

And devout Catholics may have to consult their parish priest before they dig into a plate of corned beef and cabbage.

Some of the places in the Ocean City area to celebrate the March 17 holiday are:

• O'Donnell's Pour House in Sea Isle City has their annual St. Patrick's Day party.
• Island Grill offers corned beef and cabbage, and a corned beef reuben.
• Jilly's Arcade offers one hour of arcade play for $10 at their St. Patrick's Day party.
• Deauville Inn has a special St. Patrick's Day menu, plus weekend brunch. Make reservations here.

Devout Catholics abstain from eating meat on Fridays during Lent, a sacrifice that recognizes Jesus’ death on the cross on a Friday. Catholics in several suburban Chicago towns can eat the traditional fare without guilt, but the Diocese of Chicago is holding firm.

Whether revelers in cities like heavily Catholic Chicago, one of the most St. Patrick-y cities in the country, go all in with the holiday staple corned beef and cabbage could come down to whether they get special dispensation from the diocese.

The Archdiocese of Camden has granted permission for Catholics in the area to eat meat on Friday the 17th, and said to make another appropriate sacrifice on that day or abstain from meat on a separate weekday. Read more: Corned Beef OK For NJ Catholics On St. Patrick's Day, Archdioceses Say

There are several Lenten fish fries going on for Catholics who want to play it by the rules.