Day TRIPPIN’:
Back to the Garden…Upstate
There may not have been a “half a million strong” on our recent visit to Woodstock, as Joni Mitchell’s iconic anthem memorialized, but “everywhere there was a song and a celebration.”

By Janice Llanes Fabry

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There may not have been a “half a million strong” on our recent visit to Woodstock, as Joni Mitchell’s iconic anthem memorialized, but “everywhere there was a song and a celebration.”

My husband and I were invited to attend a dear friend’s wedding in West Shokan in Ulster County, New York. As the wedding couple suggested, we explored the surrounding areas in whose grasp they fell in love.

Had I not been a mere child of 9 when the massive 1969 three-day music festival captured the end of an era, I probably would have headed to Woodstock myself. What Baby Boomer wouldn’t be drawn to a stage that headlined Jimi Hendrix; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; Creedence Clearwater Revival; The Who; and countless other acts? The mud and the shortage of porta potties, not so much.

Of course, any rock ‘n’ roll history buff worth her salt knows the festival wasn’t held in Woodstock at all. In the months leading up to the event, concert promoters were driven away by resident opposition there and in neighboring Saugerties and Wallkill. To the rescue came a hippie sympathizer by the name of Max Yasgur, who graciously offered his 600-acre farm 43 miles away for an initial payment of $10,000. Yasgur’s magnanimity notwithstanding, touring a dairy farm in Bethel just doesn’t have the same cachet or vibe as the legendary Woodstock.  

As one would expect, there are still vestiges of a Bohemian, artsy lifestyle. Small museums, galleries, and a popular playhouse feature local artists. There are yoga studios, Psychic Readings by Rose, and Val’s Home Baked Pies. The Village Green in the center of town is a hub for a few gray haired, long bearded, bandana-wearing hippies.

Shops with groovy monikers as Funkanova, Headstock, and Peace Love & Cupcakes line Tinker Street, the town’s main drag. Tantamount to scientists at an archaeological dig, nostalgic tourists rummage through shops for tie-dyed t-shirts, incense, and vinyl record albums. One shopkeeper Abbe Sue Graber is the resident wooden kazoo maker and plays it like a saxophone. It turns out she’s been wailing the blues on kazoos for decades.

As colorful as this enclave is, the Catskill Mountains as a backdrop during fall is spectacular. The vibrant foliage follows one everywhere. We took a hike up Overlook Mountain, a gateway to the nearly one million-acre deciduous Catskill Forest Preserve. This southernmost peak offers extraordinary panoramic vistas of the Hudson Valley.    

Unbeknownst to us, Overlook Mountain is also the center of Tibetan Buddhism in North America, so there’s a Buddhist Temple across from the trailhead. Not as much an anomaly as one might think, it’s actually integral to Woodstock’s spiritual culture. Tibetan prayer flags and chimes hang throughout the town. The shrine’s giant golden Buddha sculpture, ensconced by radiant imagery and artifacts, is a sight to behold.

We also visited nearby Phoenicia, a tiny hamlet in Shandaken named by Native Americans for “rapid water.” The quaint town is deeply embedded in the mountains and its Esopus Creek flows right through to the Ashokan Reservoir, our wedding’s destination. The ceremony and reception were held at Ashokan Dreams. This converted rustic barn on the dazzling High Point Mountain boasts breathtaking views of the reservoir, the ubiquitous Catskills, and the Berkshires.

While roaring fire pits and flannel blankets kept us warm, the bride and groom’s embellishments of flower-filled butternut squash centerpieces, intricately decorated jack-o-lanterns, and a timeless passage from “Corelli’s Mandolin” gave new meaning to nuptial bliss.