Our Review | The Music | The Venue
The Festival was held on the former Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, New York. The base boasts a 2-mile long runway, one of the longest in the world, which serves as a backup landing site for the US Space Shuttle program. And they needed every inch of it for Woodstock!
When we arrived we were shown to the farthest point possible and still be on the base. Many RVs chose to move closer to the stages and venues. We stayed behind and were so glad we did. As you got closer to the venue, the open area grew increasingly tighter. A few campers stayed behind with us and we had a great time. It was a long walk down the flight line but worth it in the end.
Thursday and Friday, it was still possible for us to leave the motorhome and drive the car at least 2/3 of the way down the runway to the venue. But, by Saturday, that was out of the question. It's amazing how much bigger a runway looks when it has over 65,000 vehicles parked on it!
We made a couple of trips into the town of Rome before being boxed in and were delighted with the reception the festival-goers appeared to be getting from the "locals". Everyone we talked to was very nice and extremely helpful. All along the streets were hand painted signs welcoming us to Woodstock '99. The townsfolk did an outstanding job and our hats are off to them! For a small town of 44,000 to just say "come on!" to a horde of over 225,000 is awesome!
In spite of the huge amount of traffic, the New York State Police were out in full force and very ably kept things moving right along. It was immediately apparent that everything, down to the last detail, had been well planned and prepared for. Although at times traffic moved very slowly, it DID move smoothly. We saw no accidents, no fighting, no trouble at all. It truly seemed to be a flashback to the season of love and peace.
We were extremely disturbed to learn about the looting and fires at the venue, which occurred after our departure. It is our sincere hope that none of this mayhem spilled over into the town of Rome. It would be a shame for such tolerant and welcoming folks to have to suffer because of a few who got out of control. Again "Hat's Off" to Rome, New York !!! (Thanks)
A Winding Road * (formerly Cruising America) * 2408 Becker St., New Braunfels, TX 78130 * 850-292-1599 * freedom04@awindingroad.net
