Holiday
Friday April 24, 2026
Every third Monday in April is a special day in Massachusetts. It’s the first day of April vacation (our version of Spring Break) for schools, but more importantly, it’s Patriots’ Day.
Patriots’ Day is a state holiday that commemorates the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the two skirmishes that kicked off the Revolutionary War. But unlike Evacuation Day (coincidentally also St. Patrick’s Day), which is a day of only mild fanfare and a weekend parade in Charlestown, Patriots’ Day is a legitimate holiday in Massachusetts. There are reenactments of Paul Revere’s ride, parades in Lexington and Concord, and, of course, there’s the Boston Marathon. If you ever wondered why Mark Wahlberg’s movie about the Marathon Bombing is called Patriots’ Day, now you know why.
Most of us just call it Marathon Monday today, and it’s essentially another St. Patrick’s Day. The city and Marathon-route suburbs effectively shut down, people get hammered all day, and public places fill up with piss and shit because there aren’t enough porta-pottys and businesses refuse to open their restrooms to drunk college kids who aren’t spending any money. It’s a beautiful thing that is completely unique to Boston. (Yes, other cities have marathons — they are not remotely as significant as Boston.) Nike isn’t pulling ads over liberal backlash from New York Marathon runners.
Anyway, I don’t get Patriots’ Day off since I’ve never worked for a local company. But it did make me wonder how many other states have their own holidays. So, I did some research. Turns out… It’s not a ton, and they’re mostly celebrating their admission to the U.S.
These are some of my favorites:
Idaho Human Rights Day (Third Monday of January) - Idaho
Yes, discerning ready, that is Martin Luther King Day. Idaho is the only state to have a corresponding state holiday that celebrates human rights and diversity. I, like, kind of wonder if it’s a prank? Idaho has a Human Rights Day? The state that puts doctors in jail for performing abortions and that just reinstated firing squads to carry out state executions like they think they’re 18th-century pirates or something? This is easily the trolliest state holiday that exists.
Town Meeting Day (First Tuesday of March) - Vermont
This is such a New England thing, making a state holiday for the Town Meeting. I have no idea how religiously this is observed, but supposedly, people from 40 towns gather on the first Tuesday of March to discuss business and elect local governments.
A Town Meeting is also what we call it when you and your friends pass around a bottle of liquor until it’s completely drained.
Evacuation Day (March 17) - Massachusetts
I mentioned this in the intro. Coincidentally, it’s also St. Patrick’s Day, for which there is a much bigger parade, but Lindsay and I always went to the Evacuation Day parade when we lived in Charlestown. Most people seem not to know that Boston fought the British for almost a year before the Declaration of Independence was even signed. On March 17, 1776, the British were forced out of the city and never came back.
César Chávez Day (March 21) - California
Ooooooooof this one did not age well, California.
Pascua Florida Day (April 2) - Florida
This marks the day that Florida was first sighted by Ponce de León, which is such a weird fucking thing to commemorate to me. There were already thousands of people living there, yet we must celebrate the day some random guy became like the 15th European expedition to land in Florida. (Slavers had already been pillaging the peninsula before he got there.)
Truman Day (May 8) - Missouri
I get that Missouri wants to celebrate the only President it has ever produced, but talk about a rough option. The only guy to drop an atomic bomb, not once, but twice. The guy who started the proxy quagmire in Korea before the even worse proxy quagmire in Vietnam. The guy whose administration was riddled with corruption scandals. The second-most unpopular President since Gallup has recorded approval ratings. (Dubya is number one, Trump three.)
It’s just kind of embarrassing, Missouri.
Kamehameha Day (June 11) - Hawaii
Kamehameha united the Kingdom of Hawaii through brutality and bloodshed, but he was also a key resistance figure against European imperialism. He would be pretty not chill with the haoles and cruise ships today, so I think it’s nice that Hawaiians honor his memory every year. Keep native Hawaiian traditions alive.
Victory Day (Second Monday of August) - Rhode Island
Rhode Island is the only state to commemorate the end of World War II with an official state holiday. Just thought this was a fun bit of trivia.
Cabrini Day (First Monday of October) - Colorado
Cabrini Day is a new holiday introduced by Governor Jared Polis. Basically, he wanted to replace Columbus Day with something other than Indigenous Peoples’ Day, so he chose Frances Xavier Cabrini as the honoree. She seems like a cool chick, so honor deserved, I guess, even if it’s kind of random.
One Place: New England Aquarium
Anjali Vaswani is visiting us this week. I took off Thursday so we could take Desi to the Aquarium, and I think it might have been the best day of his life. He was positively spellbound by all the fishes and the lights and the various marine mammals. He was kicking and waving his hands and smiling the entire time. Take babies to the aquarium. And then take them for lobster rolls after, so they remember what sea fauna is really all about.
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One Hollywood: Love on the Spectrum, Netflix
This show is back for its fourth season, and it continues to be the easiest dose of joy in the streamverse. It’s basically a blind dating show for young adults on the autism spectrum, only it’s far more sensitive and earnest than neurotypical dating shows. It’s the only show that has made me cry from all three of joy, sadness, and cringe.
More importantly, it’s valuable exposure to neurodivergence to just understand how enormous the autism spectrum is. These anti-vaxx grifter morons who push the vaccines cause autism agenda love to say “autism wasn’t this common 50 years ago.” This show is plain proof that autism has always been this common; we just didn’t recognize or diagnose it properly. The number of undiagnosed autistic Baby Boomers and Gen Xers is probably astronomical. In a recent episode, one cast member’s grandfather says he’s diagnosed himself as autistic because a doctor never did. Autism shows in so many different ways; it’s not just the non-verbal, ultra-sensitive, explosive rage that Hollywood and RFK, Jr. love to imagine.
Watch this show. It’s beautiful.
One Book: Butter by Asako Yuzuki
The next iQuanti Book Club book, chosen by Seychelle Thomas. The AIO calls it “a Japanese novel about a female gourmet cook and serial killer, Manako Kajii, who is imprisoned for murdering wealthy men she seduces with her cooking.” I’m only one chapter in, but it’s fairly entertaining.
One Song: Fleet Foxes - Mykonos
Desi was into this this week. We’re trying some new things with him musically just to see what he’s into. Pop punk continues to be his preferred genre.