TUESDAY.
Today was a sort of non-day, mileage-wise. After availing myself of the breakfast at Vassar, I set the GPS on a no-highway course to Corning. I could get there by afternoon and take the glass factory tour. But first, some daylight pics of the House. The Great Room was just too dark and mercilessly sucked all the light from my flash, so I mucked with the display settings in Preview.
Some more pics from the hall:
The door is open against the wall.
I hit the road (Rt 28 for those of you following along at home) and make it through downtown Kingston, starting to climb into the Catskills, and I see a sign. 375 Woodstock.
Hmmm. Why not?
Ok. How unmarked can the greatest musical event in history be? I mean, there are probably *still* people trying to leave. So I drive...and drive...see a marker for Maverick Music but that's a red herring; some very small field from longer ago. I see nothing. The best I can find on the GPS is Woodstock Museum. Aha! Surely that will lead me somewhere...
An hour and several beautiful but tight roads later, I find the museum. It's...small. And homeley. That's because it is someone's home. Sure, they've built a dec^H^H^Hstage in front of their house, and have a colorful school bus rusting in their yard, but if the curator was expecting guests I didn't want to be one.
Back to my pre-programmed course to Corning. An hour later, I pass Rt 212, the road the museum was off. Just did One. Big. Circle. I re route the GPS for Ithaca and get in about 3:30. Have a lovely conversation with the lovely English girl at the Visitor's Center and get a room at the Wild Goose B&B, in Eco Village, a self-sustaining collection of townhouses built on a bluff 10 miles out of town. Cheaper by almost half than anything else at $65, and is definitely "interesting". Room is very nice, village is unsurprisingly granola.
http://ecovillageithaca.org/evi/
I skipped the community supper (featuring all locally grown organic food) in favor of hitting downtown. In retrospect I should have stuck around. I huffed my way (Ithaca is hilly) to the Chapter House, with dozens of beers on tap and seisiun music. Had a Victory Brewing Storm king Stout. On an empty stomach.
http://www.chapterhouseithaca.com/
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/345/1013
Some of you will have seen that the stout's 9.1%. Feeling the inevitable, I excuse myself from the bar and huff up 2 hills to the Nines, an awesome pizza place. Fresh, deep dish slices as big as Ohio. Spinach and mushroom and 3 lbs of mozzarella. 30 minutes later I'm heading back to the bar, music is happening, but it's warm, and I'm stuffed, and after 30 mins I'm drowsy enough to head back to the B&B.
At 2am I wake to the sound of rain. Specifically, the sound of big drops hitting a sheet metal surface. TANG. Tang. Tang. TANG TANG. Tang. TANG TANG. As I contemplate ripping the offending metal from it's moorings, I look at the weather. Rain all day Wed, big snowstorm in the plains.
Hmm...
