What I Did On My Summer Vacation - Part 3: Woodstock...

After leaving Long Island, I headed north. I was on my way to Poyntelle, Pennsylvania and had absolutely glorious weather for my drive.

The drive itself was pretty uneventful, as most drives (thankfully) are. The Ford Fusion I rented was kickin' down about 33mpg, the stereo was cranked and I was diggin' the ride.

I'd gotten to a point in the drive where it was the same route I used to take to Poyntelle from my Dad's house in Wallkill, New York. I would often pass this or that and tell myself that I would stop and photograph it the next time I came through. Well, I don't know how many more times I'll have the opportunity to drive through this way, so this was the day. 

This was the day I would stop at the site of the Woodstock Music & Arts Fair.

Interestingly, the festival wasn't actually held in Woodstock. In fact, the originally chosen site was Wallkill, where Dad lived. The town shut that idea down, though, which sent the organizers packin'. They finally  decided on Max Yasgur's farm in the little hamlet of White Lake, in the town of Bethel:

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.com

For those of you keeping score at home, let it be known that the Woodstock festival took place nowhere near Woodstock.

That little fact notwithstanding, there's now an amazing tribute to that festival at Bethel Woods Center For The Arts, located in Bethel, New York. The Center has both a concert venue and a museum. The museum opened in June of 2008 and, while primarily dedicated to the festival, also features special exhibits. The Beatles incursion onto American shores was the special exhibit featured during my visit, so I gave myself a pat on the back (which is more difficult to do as you get older, by the way) for deciding to stop when I did. 

The sign at the entrance to the museum...

Admission to the museum is $15.00 which, initially, I thought was a tad high, but that opinion changed each time I turned a corner and saw a new display. There was so much to see and hear; sensory overload to the nth degree. Here are some of what's on exhibit:

And a ticket for all three days was only $18.00...

I mentioned that they have special exhibits here, and I was lucky enough to see the "America Meets The Beatles" exhibit on the lower level of the museum. Of course, I wasn't nearly old enough to see their American television debut, on The Ed Sullivan Show, on February 9, 1964 but, like many of you, I suspect, I've seen it a thousand times.

The collection of Beatles memorabilia is impressive, and covers the band's entire history:

The entrance to the Beatles exhibit...

Along the far wall was an example of every Beatles record released in the United States...

A recreation of a 1964 living room in mid-America. The television is tuned in to The Ed Sullivan Show...

Paul McCartney's suit...

Figurines from the "Yellow Submarine" era...

Sgt. Pepper...

Another from "Yellow Submarine"...

Of course, it would be a sin to visit this place and not venture over to the actual site of the festival. It's a natural amphitheater, now with pristine grass growing under the same skies that heard Richie Havens playing the first chords of the festival as he opened with "From The Prison". The story goes that no one could decide who would go on first due to so many performers being delayed by the traffic on the Thruway. Havens grabbed his Guild guitar, strode to center stage, sat down and launched into a fiery three hour set which climaxed with "Freedom", arguably one of the most memorable performances of the entire festival. 

As you stand at the Woodstock monument overlooking the festival site, you can see the 400,000-plus music fans dancing in the downpour, and you can hear CSN as they played what was only their third live performance as a group. You can hear the admonition to steer clear of the brown acid and you can hear the opening strains of Jimi Hendrix playing the Star Spangled Banner. You can see the trash left behind, the downed fences which kept out no one and the clothes strewn about by those who decided they simply no longer needed them.

"By the time we got to Woodstock we were half a million strong..."

In short, a visit to this monument, and to the museum, is the only way to truly get a sense of what it was like to be here 45 years ago as Arlo Guthrie proclaimed "The New York State Thruway is closed, man!" You won't feel like you were there, but you'll definitely feel like you wish you had been...