15-16 July - Woodstock & Beach Boys Concert, Yankees Game

15 July

Our friends from Maine, George and Anne-Marie Lechner live just north of where we are camping and asked if we were interested in seeing the site of the 1969 Woodstock Music and Art Fair.  I knew Woodstock was reasonably close to where we were staying and thought it might be interesting to see.  I was only about 14 years old when Woodstock took place 15-18 Aug 1969.  Over 400,000 people assembled on a farm near Bethel NY and rock groups came here to perform.  Not only did the crowd grow to well over 10 times what they originally predicted, but it rained and turned into a muddy mess.  Food and water were scarce as was clothing, but there was reportedly no shortage of sex, drugs and rock and roll!

A few days later George and Anne-Marie called and asked if we would like to attend a Temptations and Beach Boys music concert at Woodstock!!  Well, heck yes!!  So we drove to their house today and headed to Bethel NY.  On the way we drove through the Shawangunk Mountains.  What a beautiful drive - very scenic.

The farms surrounding Woodstock have been purchased and are part of the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts.  They built a Woodstock Museum, set a monument at the site of the rock concert and have beautifully preserved the grounds where Woodstock was held. 

The Woodstock Festival Monument

The main site of the Woodstock Festival back in Aug 1969.  There were two stages, hydraulically lifted when that band performed.  You can see where the stages were on the left side of this picture.

They also constructed a huge amphitheater and that is where the concerts are held today.  George bought a membership when the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts was originally developed so they have VIP seating, etc.  We arrived and with our VIP tickets got parking very close.  Our VIP tickets also allowed us to walk right in, bypassing all the lines. 

We then proceeded to the VIP dining area where gourmet meals were provided by culinary students under the guidance of a chef.  We had stuffed pork loin wrapped in bacon with mashed potatoes and squash with rolls. After dinner we headed to the seating area.   Doreen and Anne-Marie sat together in the 7^th row from the stage right in the middle.  George and I sat in the 9^th row from the stage directly behind the girls!  The seats were fantastic as was the music.  

The huge ampitheater.  There is also a lot of grassy area seating.

Doreen and Anne-Marie sitting in front of George and I. The Temptations were on the stage

The Beach Boys performing.  Two of the original five are still with the group

George and I.  The Beach Boys asked everyone to turn on their cell phone lights.  No lighters now!!

Huge crowd, estimated 15,000

The Temptations played for about 45 minutes and after a short break to reset the stage the Beach Boys came on and played for two hours.  We had a fantastic time, getting back to the Lechner house about midnight, picked up the dog and got back to the RV about 0100 hrs.  Was a short night!

16 July

After a short night’s sleep we got up and headed to the train station to catch the Metro North to Yankee Stadium to see the Boston Red Sox play the Yankees.  We decided not to board the dog this time.  The train ride was about an hour followed by a short walk to the stadium. 

The train station at Yankee Stadium

We arrived at Yankee Stadium and what a historic place it is.  We found the office that stamps the Major League Baseball Stadium Passports and also provides the “first game” certificates.  It’s nice of them to offer to mail the certificate home so we did not have to carry it around since it would likely get bent or wet.

It was slightly overcast which kept the temperature down but in the third inning it started to rain a bit.  Our seats were in section 332A, row 10 which is the top row in that section.  It was easy for us to get up when it rained and simply step behind our seats under the overhang until it quit.  They had a great crowd as the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees is historically a huge rivalry.

At the gate 4 entrance

Filling quickly

Great view from our seats

The "lady" herself!

Boston taking BP before the game.

We sampled their fare and concluded Cincinnati still serves up the best hotdog.  We searched up and down the concourse and the only condiments we found were ketchup and mustard.  No kraut, no jalapeños, no onions, no relish.  Boring!  Doreen had sliders and they were pretty dry and blah.  Oh well, at least the beer was cold.

We stayed until the 6^th inning and then decided to avoid the crowds and head towards the train station and back to the RV.  That would make it about 7 hours on the dog and that is about the limit for her.  She never messes in the RV or in our house but we hate to press the issue.  She did great, and we had a great time “at the ol’ ball game”!