Here are five stats for St. Patrick’s Day . . .

1.  60% of Americans plan to celebrate this year.  They’ll spend an average of $39.65 each.  And we’ll spend an all-time high of about $5.9 BILLION collectively.

2.  It’s just the FOURTH most popular day of the year to tie one on.  The top three drinking days are New Year’s Eve, Christmas, and the Fourth of July.

3.  83% of people who plan to celebrate this year will wear something green.

4.  Just over 33 million Americans have Irish ancestors.  The two states with the highest percentage are Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

5.  And a Leprechaun’s pot of gold filled with 1,000 one-ounce gold coins would run you a cool $1.3 million this year.

On another note, not many places are giving away free food for St. Patrick’s Day this year.  But there are a lot of SPECIALTY items out there . . .

McDonald’s has their Shamrock Shake . . . Dunkin’ Donuts has a Mint Brownie Donut . . . Krispy Kreme has green glazed donuts . . . Dairy Queen has their Mint Oreo Blizzard . . . and you can get a FREE Mint Chip ‘n Oreo milkshake at Baskin-Robbins tomorrow.

Also, Sonic is selling 50-cent corn dogs tomorrow, but not because of St. Patrick’s Day.  March 17th is also National Corn Dog Day.

(Wallet Hub / Forbes / Thrillist / Sonic)

Four Ways to Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day Without Booze

Tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day.  But if you’re looking to skip the Guinness, whiskey, and hangover this year, here are four ways to celebrate that don’t involve booze . . .

1.  Run a shamrock-themed race.  There are always 5 and 10k races held on or around St. Patrick’s Day.  Not only will you be skipping the booze, you’ll be getting some exercise too.

2.  Cook something Irish.  No, pouring yourself a bowl of Lucky Charms doesn’t count.  Look up a recipe for corned beef, shepherd’s pie, or Irish stew and try your hand at actually cooking.  You might surprise yourself and find something you enjoy enough to add to your regular rotation.

3.  Watch Irish movies.  Look up movies that have a tie to Ireland.  A couple good ones to get you started are “Brooklyn”, “Once”, and “Circle of Friends”.

4.  Be the designated driver.  If you end up hitting the bars with your friends, they’ll be grateful for you offering to be their safe ride home.

(Forbes / Wikipedia)