The Elmhurst Pub on Smith Street offered a warm seat with a good view of yesterday’s belated St. Patrick’s Day parade in Providence.

The Providence Journal / Gretchen Ertl

PROVIDENCE –– Smith Street was paved with gold — or at least gold-foil-wrapped chocolate coins thrown from floats –– as a belated St. Patrick’s Day parade flowed green and raucous from Elmhurst Avenue to the State House yesterday.

Although the temperature was in the low 40s with a chilling wind, it was mostly at their backs and the sun shone warm upon the faces of bands, bagpipers, clowns, drill teams, Girl Scouts, Shriners driving miniature cars and pageant winners waving as the jewels of their tiaras flashed in the sun.

Postponed until yesterday because of rain, the parade conveyed a Mardi Gras-like spirit, with candy and plastic coins raining down on children and parade-goers draped in strands of plastic beads.

Hawkers sold toys and balloons, students from Blessed Sacrament School dribbled green basketballs and the Hope High School Blue Wave Battalion moved with military precision.

U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy marched behind a banner carried by the Ancient Order of Hibernians of Newport, an Irish-Catholic group.

Maisie, a black Scotty being pulled in a red wagon among Girl Scouts from Troop 87 of Providence, wore a white scarf that made her look smart. Muskets and a blunderbuss startled her each time members of the United Training Artillery of Bristol fired and she scrambled to get out of the wagon as it moved through the puffs of gunpowder smoke.

Tony Lepore, Providence’s dancing cop, whistled and wiggled when he wasn’t posing with children for their parents to snap photos.

“England get out of Ireland,” proclaimed a banner carried by members of the R.I. Irish Northern Aid Committee.

Providence Firefighters 799 turned out in matching green T-shirts.

The Irish Tailgate Society was represented by an RV bearing a “Celtics Fans Parking Only” sign, and a van advertising a party service had Fred Flintstone behind the wheel.

“That was awesome!” exclaimed Edgar Rosales, 7, as he headed back inside after the parade passed by his front porch. He liked the clowns, the guns and especially the horses.

After he went inside and traffic began to flow again on Smith Street, four horse-and-rider teams from the Providence Mounted Command retraced the route back to their trailers parked on Windham Avenue at Whitford Avenue.

They trotted uphill, the one closest to the curb doing what his rider called a side pass, a gait that allowed him to move forward while facing sideways. Then on command, all four broke into a gallop to cover the remaining blocks to the top of the hill and the ride back to the barn.

dnaylor@projo.com