The East Durham Irish Festival takes place in the most ridiculously Irish town this side of Galway. As we drove down Route 145 in Greene County on Memorial Day weekend, we passed a sign declaring we were entering “The Emerald Isle of the Catskills.” I had traveled with my girlfriend Jody down to Kingston to…
The security for music festivals is always more for show. The polo-shirted guards at the entrance of Mysteryland were ostensibly there to enforce the “Zero Tolerance” policy set forth on Mysteryland’s website, which reads: “It is forbidden to use, distribute, sell and/or to be in possession of drugs on the festival grounds and campsite. Violators…
My car swirled early-spring dust as I pulled into Skydive the Ranch’s unpaved lot. The Ranch is surprisingly close to Gardiner’s town center for a place that is constantly launching planes. The layout mostly consists of a single building—an airplane hanger/equipment hub/chillage center that looms by the side of a giant plain. All the instructors I met…
The rain slammed down so miserably hard on the club’s back porch that all the people doing drugs had to crush themselves against the wall to protect their inebriants. Pints were tossed back, whiskey-drinks were inhaled greedily through straws, stoags flared up as they were lit, joints and one-hitters got passed to whomever held out…
The Other Hudson Valley 