The Road Trip Continues: Jazz Festival, Saratoga Springs, NY

     We said goodbye for now to Chelsea and Simon in New Hampshire and continued our road trip across their beautiful state, into Vermont. Along the way, we stopped at The Dorr Mill Store in Newport, NH to shop for wool fabrics and rug hooking supplies. I was overwhelmed by the size of their store and the variety of woolens. They had everything from bins and barrels of wool scraps for one dollar, to fat quarters, to yardages. They had patterns, hooks, books and backings, and so much inspiration. We spent close to two hours exploring the store and I made a few purchases of wool for  rugs I would like to make over the winter. It was a little hard to accept that this store is so far away from where I live and I won't be able to return to it any time soon. They have everything online to purchase, but it's so much nicer to see and feel the wool in person. Anyway, I am grateful to have even this one visit and I hope for a return visit one day.
     We stopped overnight in Vermont and continued on our way the next morning to Saratoga Springs, New York for the annual Jazz Festival. Saratoga Springs was our home for a couple of years in the late 80's and it is a city we love to return to when we can. It boasts the famous Saratoga Race Track for horse racing and it is the summer home of the New York City Ballet. It is also steeped in history. Because of this, it is a vibrant, beautiful city with many ongoing cultural events.
     The Jazz Festival runs for two days every year and folks come from states away to enjoy the music and the atmosphere. It's a fun, party-like weekend where everyone is friendly. One example of this is the lady we met who offered two large thermos coolers with free drinks in memory of her late husband. He came to the festival every year until he was shot and killed in a random terror attack. His framed photograph sat atop one of the coolers. One cooler held vodka and lemonade (his favorite jazz festival drink) and the other had Sangria. We stopped and chatted with her for a bit and I accepted a taste of the Sangria. It was very good. Steve is the jazz lover in our family and the festival is really his thing, but I enjoyed the live performances and I had a great time throughout. I was particularly amazed by the Joey Alexander Trio. Mr. Alexander celebrated his thirteenth birthday on the day of his performance here.

We had tickets for inside seating but we spent most of the day in our beach chairs in the shade or walking around between venues. There were all kinds of foods being sold including a spit with a roasting pig and Ben & Jerry's ice cream. There was an indoor air conditioned bar and even a cigar shop. Below is a clip from another band I particularly enjoyed.

 

We lived out of the backpack from noon 'til night except for our little excursion to downtown Saratoga where we dined in an air conditioned restaurant for dinner. It was a very warm day and the cooled air was a welcomed oasis.