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No I didn't go but I remember listening to the radio and hearing all about it while it was happening. I was going into tenth grade and and 15 years old....just a bit too young to go to something like that. Oh, how I wanted to go though! I was mesmerized for the duration trying to hear as much as possible as I could about it.
It was as good as the legend, believe me, I still pinch myself that I happened on this specific cultural moment. At the time many of us thought that a future was solidifying but really, just like my HS graduation, it was a celebration of dreams with some partying with friends but also an end to youthful naivete.
Anyone else there?
I wasn't. I was 12 that summer but remember the era well. Even though I was quite liberal then, I had grave doubts about "peace and love." I have my doubts that the weekend would have been so benign if there were typical August weather. The audience was, by and large, not in great physical shape and heat would have done a lot of damage. Tempers would have flared, and it would have had the potential to get ugly.
I had a couple " windbags" claim they were at Woodstock and I asked about the traffic.
When they said......" not bad".....I knew they weren't at Windstock.
I asked if it was muddy and they said "no".
They sounded stupid about lying about Woodstock because based on their age they would have been 9 years old at the time.
Exactly! We lived in upstate NY and thought it would be "fun" to go and also heard they gave up on collecting tickets. People were just swarming in from all over.
The Thruway was backed up for miles and miles. You had to park your car along the highway and walk - no idea exactly how far. My boyfriend at the time (husband now) didn't want to desert his precious car for which he had saved all through high school. We didn't even know if it would be there when we got back.
Rumors had come back about the lack of bathrooms and the muddy conditions, which was not comforting. If we had known it would be such a huge deal, maybe we would have persevered (our kids are disappointed they can't claim their parents were there haha). The music and bands involved were awesome.
We shortly later did have a VW camper with a flower on the antennae so that was our nod to hippiedom!
I was a little too young and besides, I grew up closer to Woodstock AL than Woodstock NY. Still, it's a time that I remember well. For most of us, the music of our youth is always a sweet melody.
I have always liked John McCain's answer: "I wanted to go, but I was tied up at the time."
(He was POW in the infamous Hanoi Hilton, where he was bound and beaten regularly).
Last edited by Hamish Forbes; 08-17-2018 at 04:25 PM..
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