Day 3
Scene 3: Turn Around
https://open.spotify.com/track/5w9CzS86RikXyC9zrohvO3?si=cc0f932072424766
It’s a beautiful day in Woodstock! Leslie was up early to watch the sunrise. High blue skies and fairly warm. The plan is to go for a very long ride to Poughkeepsie which seemed very possible on the rails to trails site. We’re up for a quick breakfast and head back to the start of the Ashokan Trial on the east side of the reservoir. Unfortunately, this part of the trail is not yet complete. We look for a different option, but there are none that don’t involve a major state road. That doesn’t sound like fun, so we turn around and head back across the top of the lake.
Leslie rented the bikes from Overlook Bicycles and there’s a location just off the trail. We meet Caleb and Rose, who may be the only employees Leslie hasn’t talked to on the phone already. They are so nice and help us find a new path for the day. There’s a road that bisects the lake that we could not get to yesterday. Caleb writes out directions for a fun ride through some quiet neighborhoods that leads to the road across the lake and to the trails on the south end. He’s also got a great water tattoo!
The ride is awesome and there are more people on the trails. The park is alive with families and folks walking and riding. It’s early spring here and the trees and daffodils are just blooming. There are amazing views in every direction. I can’t believe what a beautiful day it is after the wild rain yesterday afternoon.
We have TMBG playing on a speaker attached to the bike. We meet George who’s walking the trail and also staying at Hotel Dylan. He’s also in town for the shows and is more proof of how friendly everyone is here. After riding the whole park and enjoying the lake views, we start making our way back to the north end. We stop for a slice at Village Pizza just off the Reservoir Road. Good crispy-bottom pizza and friendly folks of course.
We make our way back onto the trail and head back towards the hotel. It’s farther than we remember making our way back to the cutout to the main road. I know the cutout by the teepee on the trail. No idea why it’s here, but it’s fun!
The hotel office is alive! Darryl and George are jamming with a couple other guys. This is the musical montage of our movie. Seems like a fun place to work where you also have band practice! We have a beer at the bar and listen to some Grateful Dead and Pink Floyd covers.
We work our way back to the room and the dogs are out and about. And this hotel room now comes with friends! We head back to Santa Fe for early dinner again before heading back to Bearsville for night two!
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3cylhCdnD6ZkwRj6ZcmeIi?si=hLM5nCq-T4u3ilYkbOMikg
We don’t see any bears on the way to the show, though we are both wide-eyed searching for them. I’m looking for the same house just in case the bears actually live there are come outside to play every night.
We decided tonight we would be closer to the stage. We arrive just minutes after the doors open and by the time we have drinks and are at the stage, we are a few people back. It’s fine. We meet Molly in front of us, and today is her birthday! She’s waiting for her friend Kim who’s bday was a couple days ago. They are planning their joint birthdays out through 2033. I love the TMBG crowd. Another woman is handing out stickers.
I see the 3D-printed pins around that I heard about on r/TMBG. Someone has fifty candy bracelets with song titles they are trading around. I need to be better equipped next time. Another huge shoutout to the pins person, @CapitalQ. They have posted amazing footage of multiple songs on YouTube. One bonus from @glassemon who got a great video of “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” from tonight with Mark Pender living his best life on trumpet.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0pOxFBIcKSVRQp94GMhcxFt6LHYSGNX8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_M-oKHhEHpE&list=RD_M-oKHhEHpE&start_radio=1
Tonight is the Factory Showroom show. I happened to listen to this one a couple weeks ago after not hearing it for years. “James K. Polk” and “Brontosaurus” may be my favorites here. We are loving watching the guitar playing singing backup vocals for “Wu-Tang” with the silliest look on his face the whole time.
The horn line is on fire tonight! “Doctor Worm” is banging. There’s several songs from Factory Showroom but it’s a great mix of bits from Eyeball, Severe Tire Damage, and Nanobots. The last quarter of the show brings a slew of favorites for Leslie and I. They play “Twisting”, “Fingertips” again, and one of my personal favorites: “Turn Around” from Apollo 18. It’s also a fitting montage for this scene in our movie! The encores are all from Flood and all repeats from last night in the best way: “Birdhouse in Your Soul”, “Particle Man”, and “Istanbul.” We dance with Kim and Molly and I’m elated. The bass player gives Molly his set list. Happy birthday!
Molly and Kim are nice enough to drive us back to the hotel. We trade numbers and texts and wish them both a great birthday weekend. No one is outside tonight. The fires are not lit and it’s cold out there. We drink beers in the room, listening to Friday night’s setlist, telling stories, and laughing. There’s one beer left, and I’m good. Leslie hands it to me, telling me, “Power up, Perkins!” I don’t know where this comes from, but I’m dying. It’s hysterical. We split the beer, and I know this will not be the last time I hear these words.