An Urban Bluegrass Adventure

Last week I read in the paper about a free bluegrass music festival to be held in San Francisco. I thought to myself, " Heck, I like bluegrass music. I lived in Virginia for ten years, didn't I?" Additionally, I thought, "I like free things. We don't have any money after paying for our deck and fence, right?"

And thus our fate was sealed.

Saturday afternoon after the boys woke up from their nap, we piled them in the car and headed for Golden Gate Park. I was envisioning a scene where families would spread out their picnic blankets and nibble quietly on sandwiches while toddlers frolicked with the family dog and gentlemen strummed banjos on a haphazard stage. What I wasn't envisioning was a massive crush of humanity -- something close to 700,000 people-- overtaking ever corner of the park and pressing up again seven different stages where a dizzying variety of acts played simultaneously.

Our first clue should have been the fact that it took close to half an hour to find a parking spot a million miles from the park in the depths of the Outer Richmond. We shlepped our children and our gear over to the park, staring slack-jawed at the flower children, frat boys, retirees, street people, and other assorted city dwellers surrounding us. The plan had been to meet up with friends near the quaintly named "Banjo Stage" where Gillian Welch was performing, but it quickly became clear that there was no earthly way to find anyone in that crowd and furthermore, the Welch performance was so packed that it was standing-room only and the performer herself was a mere dot in the distance.

Ever adaptable, we took our rugged Peg Perego stroller for a rough trek up the side of a hill and through a grove of eucalyptus trees. Eventually, we found a spot amongst the trees behind some stage or another where we watched a couple acts we had never heard of (from the back) and enjoyed our picnic and people watching. One favorite moment was when a drunk lesbian couple fought their way up the side of a tree so that they could drink whiskey and watch the action from on high. Scott and I also had a good snicker over Max's comment, "It's stinky around here!" Yes, son, that's the smell of pot smoke. Welcome to San Francisco.

All told, we ended up having a really good time, and the kids enjoyed playing in the dirt and dragging logs all over the hill. They didn't mind a bit that we couldn't really see much on the stage.

If we return to this festival next year, I think we will have learned a few things and will be better prepared. It really was an amazing event in an amazing city. Have I mentioned how much I love living in the Bay Area?

Henry posing in front of our "view" of the stage.

Scott and Max eating dinner.

Our "neighbors" trying to get themselves up the tree.