Getting the flavor of … Woodstock 40 years later, and more

Woodstock 40 years later

Nearly four decades ago, about 500,000 kids gathered on Max Yasgur’s alfalfa field near Woodstock, N.Y., said Bill O’Brian in The Washington Post. The occasion was the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, an event that defined the baby-boom generation. Today that famous hillside “looks more like a golf course than the quagmire it was” in mid-August 1969. A small sculpture of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jerry Garcia stands as a memorial to that time. Overlooking the field is the Museum at Bethel Woods, a 2,000-acre, $100 million complex that hosts concerts, festivals, and other events. The museum somewhat resembles a mega-church; among its exhibits are 20 films and 164 artifacts. Visitors can watch Woodstock: The Music, a 21-minute documentary, while sitting in a bus painted in psychedelic colors. Self-guided tours include one called “The Sixties”—a celebration of JFK, MLK, RFK, the civil-rights movement, the Beatles, bell-bottoms, and miniskirts.

Contact: Bethelwoodscenter.org

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The oldest city of the Americas

Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, is where the Americas—North, Central, and South—began, said Melina I. De Rose in the Baltimore Sun. The city’s list of firsts is impressive, including “the first street, military fortress, and cathedral of the New World.” In the Colonial District, a promenade leads to the Parque Colón, a traditional Old World square where a statue of Christopher Columbus now shares space with such modern attractions as the Hard Rock Café. The imposing Catedral Primada de America, built in the early 1500s, combines Roman, Renaissance, and Gothic styles. Another must-see attraction is the Fortress of Santo Domingo, with its cannons facing onto “some long-ago enemy sailing up to shore.” The real reason to come to Santo Domingo, though? I was able to enjoy such traditional fare as sancocho, a hearty stew, and join neighbors in an outdoor courtyard to talk about politics and the weather.

Contact: Godominicanrepublic.com