The site has been purchased by the owner of Comcast and he has done a great job of preserving the site and building a museum/performance venue. We drove down to the area where the stage was set up and then back up to the top so I could get a complete overview of the area. The “amphitheater” itself is a little smaller than I thought, but when you consider it was wall-to-wall people it was quite large. Jack showed me the surrounding areas that were used for camping and parking. Quite amazing.
The museum is very well done. It is an overview of the ‘60s and works its way up to 1969 by displaying not only news events but also the daily life we were so comfortable with. It takes about an hour-and-a-half to go through the museum and it certainly brought back memories.Woodstock was not at Woodstock. The town of Woodstock is about 2-1/2 hours away. The promoters cashed in on the name “Woodstock” because the community
is very artsy-fartsy and was, and still is, home to many musicians. One who calls Woodstock home is Levon Helm, drummer for the band The Band. Levon has built a studio in Woodstock and puts on performances called Midnight Rambles. My son, Michael, is a singer/songwriter/recording engineer and loves what Helm does. I took some pictures for him and tried to get some sort of souvenir but folks at the studio said there were no brochures or pamphlets.Friday was Yankee Stadium day. I left Honesdale about 3 p.m. and headed into New York again. I was a little more familiar so the trip was not nearly as stressful as the trip to the Mets. I crossed the George Washington Bridge again and stayed on the Cross Bronx Expressway to Jerome Avenue then headed east. I drove under the el just like you see in the movies. I am getting a little smarter so I ignored the parking hucksters and followed the signs for parking to a parking garage right across the street from the stadium.
“The House That Ruth Built,” old Yankee Stadium has been torn down and replaced with the new Yankee Stadium. They did a fabulous job of mimicking the old park. They kept the facades and designed the playing field to essentially duplicate the old park. I still like the quirky parks but there is something about Yankee Stadium that puts it in a category of its own. Even Fenway and Wrigley don’t have the charm of Yankee Stadium.
My seat was way up on the fourth level but I had a great view of the field. The game was very good. The Yankees were down by one in the 7th and had runners on 2nd and 3rd. The manager of the Twins decided to walk Mark Teixeira, a power hitter, to load the bases and pitch to Alex Rodriquez. Rodriguez had only hit 586 home runs and was tied with Frank Robinson on the all-time home run leader list. A Rod came through and blasted a grand slam to give the Yankees a three run lead which they held until the end of the game. Real slick managerial move.
I have mentioned a few “traditions” at various parks and the Yankees have some of their own. Bob Shepard was the ballpark announcer forever at Yankee Stadium and Derek Jeter’s at-bats are announced by a recording of Shepard introducing Jeter. All the other players are announced live by the PA announcer. The middle of the 6th inning is celebrated by playing “YMCA” and the grounds crew does a cute routine while dragging the infield. Yankee wins are celebrated with “Old Blue Eyes” singing “New York, New York.” Overall the Yankee Stadium experience is right at the top of list of good times. The only part that was bad is that I had no seat-mates at this game.
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