Next day our stop was Bethel, NY to see the museum devoted to Woodstock, the place of the music festival in 1969. It was very informative and fun to look at the nostalgia of the time and the musicians. Although this is usually looked back on as a demonstration for peace, the 4 young entrepreneurs did it purely as an investment venture. Besides the displays describing the festival, there were several short videos.
It was interesting to learn about all the planning that went into this. The organizers paid the performers quite a bit and some performers even demanded higher amounts. They pre-sold many tickets, but never expected it to be as big as it got. People knocked down the plastic fences and entered the festival without paying. They had to give up trying to sell tickets. They even eventually offered refunds to those who had paid for tickets. The whole event was a colossal loss of money to the founders--they say equivalent to $9 million dollars today. Eventually they broke even with the movie and album sales.
A couple of things I'll mention, it was surprising people came together in the town and made sandwiches and fed them for free. It would have been a chance for another entrepreneurial person to make money but then again, the frustration due to the long lines for the food vendors and the high prices, ended up with some of the booths tipped over and raided. (Sounds contradictory to the peace movement). West Point dropped food via helicopters, as did the Air National Guard. Due to traffic jams, performers had to be brought in by helicopter. Another note: everyone always talks about what a wonderful experience it was, but they said there were those who did not enjoy it--the rain, the mud, the crowds, the lack of food and rest rooms.
I am going to let a lot of the pictures of the informative plaques speak for themselves. There is much more than what I took pictures of. It was surprising how long we spent in the not so big museum.
We got to sit in this bus and watch a movie about Woodstock on the windshield. Very clever.
And here outside, down the road is the actual site of the festival.
We spent the rest of this day getting closer to home and one more stop on the next day. Not the prettiest view from our motel room, but still I like seeing sunrises.
Our last stop before home was the Storm King Art Center in New Windsor, NY. Due to our limited mobility, we only saw a fraction of the 500 acres and 250+ sculptures. Fortunately, there was a tram that let us see some of the artwork riding around, but that is only a tiny amount. So, we did do some walking but this is for the young and healthy to roam all around. It's a beautiful setting and the artwork was quite interesting. Here are some pictures.
Bench and chair made from coins!
Art lovers, this is a wonderful stop is you don't mind hiking.
Thus ended our most diversified vacation ever--from the smallest chapel in a pond, movie museums, fun shopping experiences, historic sites from women's rights to the Civil War, to Mark Twain's burial place, boathouses, walks along the beautiful finger lakes, waterfalls, air museum, Woodstock Museum and art sculpture park. The only thing that wasn't diversified was the weather--only one day saw a little light rain and the weather was mild for this time of year. I was extremely grateful to have found the app: Wanderlog. It helped me find things to do and to arrange them in the most efficient order. It is awesome! Thanks for "coming" along with us. Maybe you saw something you would like to visit.
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