We arrived at the Schuylerville Yacht Basin by noon and tied up comfortably (but unfortunately) next to a roadway overpass. We had stayed here several years ago and liked the location because it was just a few miles from Saratoga Springs. That afternoon we caught up on chores (laundry, repairs, etc.) and spent some time relaxing as we had a busy weekend ahead of us attending the Saratoga Jazz Festival.
On Saturday morning the driver we had engaged picked us up and we loaded his trunk with our chairs, umbrellas, lunch and beverages. We had our heavy duty boat raincoats as well as lighter ones. We were prepared for the worst and very glad we had upgraded our tickets from the lawn to the covered pavilion. It was already raining when we left and it continued to rain all day long.
But the “show must go on” and all the acts performed on time and with great enthusiasm. The first act was the Cindy Blackman Santana Band (Carlos Santana’s wife on drums). They were excellent and followed by Jonny’s all-time favorite, the Cuban pianist Chucho Valdez and his quartet. They were even better! So much so that Jonny wouldn’t leave to see another of our favorites, pianist Emmet Cohen, who was playing on the smaller stage. We see Emmet Cohen in Miami fairly frequently so it was OK.
We spent most of the time at our seats in the pavilion though we did see a couple of the acts on the smaller stage (with a limited number of covered seats). The crowds were a lot smaller than expected, most probably because of the rain. We left before Snarky Puppy, the main act on Saturday night, as it had already been a long day and we were ready for a break.
Oh, and as you can see, we brought Archie. He was the only dog we saw in the two days of the event - only service dogs were allowed - but we were surprised that there weren’t more there. He was well behaved and seemed to enjoy (or at least tolerate) his first concert experience!
On Sunday morning, we awoke to sunshine and it stayed that way all day in spite of the prediction of thunderstorms. Jonny took Archie for a long walk down a nearby trail. We are in a very interesting part of the country next to the original and historic Champlain Canal.
Our driver picked us up at noon and this time we traveled lighter. We arrived just in time to see the first main act of the day, Pat Metheny. The crowds were much bigger than the day before with people sitting all over the lawns between the two stages. We meandered back and forth between both stages throughout the day. Of particular enjoyment were some of the (new to us) acts on the smaller stage including a young women named Samara Joy, a great jazz singer, and an Afro pop band called Jupiter and Okwess who had us on our feet dancing! Also, we definitely enjoyed Bonnie Raitt, the main act on Sunday night. We saw several more acts on both days but the ones I mentioned were our favorites.
The weather was beautiful all day until the concert ended and people were walking back to their cars, when all of a sudden we had a torrential rainstorm. We had to wait for our driver who was running late so we found shelter under an overhang until he arrived just after 9 p.m. We were very happy to get back to our cozy abode on board Zendo! It had been a very busy and fun two days and we were ready for a little tranquility!
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