"It's a Skybrook thing. You wouldn't understand"
Part I
That was the phrase emblazoned on the campgrounds T-shirts and merch. Well, as this past weekend blazed on, I believe that I and the 30+ friends from cities far and wide who camped here came to understand.
You see, not all events are planned. And sometimes life throws you a curveball Ironically, this was the name of the now cancelled Phish festival that was supposed to happen at Watkins Glen International this weekend. We had been anticipating this weekend for months. The producers of the festival had been working on it for a year. We even had matching shirts made! So getting the news of the cancellation was a heavy thing. It felt like all of these dreams we had were crushed! But what are we supposed to do, turn around all our cars, trucks, and buses and go home? That would be such a waste. And what's the use in that? Where do you go when the lights go out?
So I did the best thing I could think of and looked for a nearby campsite to host me and my Phish Head phriends. I mean, I been around, but coming from the Windy City, I didn't know which to choose. Perhaps our destiny was bound, or many just some strange design. If I could, I would explain it, but I don't know how. All I know is that when I called Skybrook and spoke to the very helpful Meg, she told me they could accommodate all of us and that she has a spot where we could all come together, and most importantly, camp together! In that moment, my sanity was restored. When that moment ended, I relayed the message through our group chat, and like birds of a feather we flocked to Skybrook where Meg kept the office open late and had no complaints about waiting all night for all my friends to arrive. We were charged a very reasonable fee. There was plenty of room around for all of us and fire rings where we could have us some fuego at night.
At first we thought we would only stay one night, but we decided to stay and sleep again two more nights. Who knew a day would turn into a weekend? We were surprised to find out they had F(ph)ish fry that night plus the musical stylings of DJ Steve! Well, we didn't taste any of their food because we had plenty of our own meat. Friday afternoon, a man named Hippie came by and offered us a hay ride around the twists and turns of the sprawling property with gorgeous rolling lawns, oh boy. We drove by our friends gathered, but not squished into a small swimming pool. Presumably not to weigh them. Why weigh on a sunny day? We waved at the friendly campers and saw some beautiful unburdened horses. Some of us took a dip in the pool right before the water in the sky came down on us. But after it cleared up it was party time and we all glided over to the rec room. Skybrook had no idea that we came to their town to party down. DJ Steve on the 1s and 2s did not disappoint and was very accommodating when Diana (politely) demanded a few requests. He had us all bouncing around the room. (Especially Zack!) And we really needed that. Remember, we were grieving the loss of our devotion to a dream of going to an epic festival! But that was the night we began to feel some joy again. We burst into song to unwind. read more
