Midwest Reggae Fest

Midwest Reggae Fest
Clay's Park- North Lawrence, Ohio
August 1-3, 2014

The very first reggae band I ever saw was the Wailing Souls, for FREE at Nautica during FlatsFest way back in the summer of 1993.  They performed their radio hit ‘Shark Attack’ and I danced with reggae abandon as I did this weekend when the Wailing Souls were the Saturday headliner for the Midwest Reggae Fest.  Everyone in the crowd was loving the classic reggae groove- two-year-olds dancing with 80 –year-olds and people with cream, brown, gold and tan skin tones laughing and hugging and moving as one.  That feeling of unity reverberated through the crowd and throughout the weekend- this was easily the highlight of this year’s festie season.      

After music at the main stage was over on Saturday night we headed into the woods to a smaller side stage to catch a Florida rock/reggae band Sowflo’s set- it was late at night, there were probably a handful of people gathered, just chilling on the primitive benches.  It is hard to fully convey the magnitude of what happened next.  As soon as Sowflo started to play I turned to my sister and said ‘These guys rock!’  By the second or third song we were up and dancing, making our way to the front of the stage.  Before I knew it, what started out as like 20 people had turned into hundreds of people linked at the arms, singing together, swaying to the beat of the keys and horns and drums.  There was an energy running from the band and we could all feel it- we were truly connected by the power of the music and the harmony we felt with each other.

By the time SOJA headlined on Sunday night, I’d seen many of my favorite festie friends and met a lot of beautiful souls.  I sat around a campfire with some of my closest friends laughing hysterically about past experiences and planning future endeavors.  I could feel a special vibe the moment we pulled in and by the end of the weekend I’d had one of the most beautiful and transforming experiences of my life.  The attitude of everyone in attendance was one of unity which created an atmosphere of peace and comradery.  Reggae has a way of bringing together people of differing age, economic status, race or religion, giving us common ground and we can’t help but dance with each other.  I truly felt the meaning of ‘One LOVE’ that weekend.  

The Gathering at Chaffee's 2014

The Gathering At Chaffee's 2014
Girard, Pennsylvania
July 26-27, 2014

As soon as I arrived, everything fell into place.  I hadn’t been able to make it until Saturday afternoon but as soon as I pulled through the gate I found a friend, set up my chair at a campfire and headed up to the stage.  Although I was bummed to miss a bunch of great bands, I was really into seeing Jimkata that weekend and their set was spot on.  To make it even better, I was dancing through the crowd and came upon one of the most beautiful souls I know, Zach the nomad I met at Chaffee a few years earlier, the guy I was so thrilled to run into at Tribal a few months before.  I just love those chance encounters, especially when it’s with someone I adore.  Anyway, I spent the night dancing to Jimkata and Spiritual Rez and spending time with a few of my most favorite people- a wonderful way to spend a festie day!  

Girls' Trip- Geneva-on-the-Lake

Girls' Trip- Geneva-on-the-Lake
May 30- June 1, 2014
Geneva, Ohio

The first time I drove through Geneva-on-the-Lake was on a cold February afternoon but even with the piles of snow and most of the businesses closed for the season, I was struck by the atmosphere of the area.  The main strip reminded me of Key West with gift shops, arcades, bars and food stands mixed with clothing boutiques, wineries and a few upscale restaurants. Only an hour away, it was the perfect location for a girls' trip at the start of the summer.

Jan, Di and I drove together, arriving at Abigail's Cottages in the late afternoon.  Pulling up, it appears to be a small complex of cottages right on the main strip.  But just one step through the gate and the entire place opens to a huge grassy area surrounded by quaint cottages, all with breathtaking views of Lake Erie. There's a lower lakefront sundeck that offers a huge fire pit and a whole lot of places to sit, relax and watch the sunset.  Rocky steps lead straight out into the lake but in late May the water was still quite chilly.  Halfway up the hill, a gazebo perched on the hillside overlooks the lake, as well. That lakefront patio became our group's main hangout for the weekend.

Joanna, Megan and Tera arrived a few hours later after taking the 'scenic route' famished and demanding dinner. Luckily, there was a pizza place right across the street and we enjoyed a quick bite around the picnic table outside.  The cottage was perfect for a group of our size- Di, Jan and Megan all had rooms of their own, Tera slept on a couch and Joanna and I shared a room with 3 beds.  There were two bathrooms, one with a claw foot tub.  I don't know why- I'm not usually a bath-taker but for some reason whenever I see a claw foot tub I start to think I might enjoy it.

After dinner and watching the sunset we all set out to explore the strip a little.  Our first stop was a bar with dueling pianos and $4 shots of Patron.  After taking in a few awesome piano renditions of songs like 'Nuttin but a G-Thang' and 'Brick House', we moved up the strip to an arcade to play some ski-ball.  Now let me say that my Grampy was a ski-ball champion and that must be in our blood because I tore it up at ski-ball, too. I converted all my tickets into temporary tattoos and continued up the strip.  We found a cute little shop called Harmony Jade which offered just about all the hippie chick clothes a girl could want. Not to miss a hippie dress shopportunity,I dug through everything until I found a bright purple dress with a colorful tribal print to make my own.  We stopped for ice cream on our way back to the cottage and made wine floats.

The next morning we woke up, made breakfast and then headed down to the sundeck for a few Sun Salutations beside the water- what an invigorating way to start the day.  We drove to Geneva State Park and walked along the shore, following the coast away from the main beach to more secluded parts.  Then we jogged to the other end, crawled along the rocks and looked for sea glass before we strolled back to the car.  Megan and Tera went to do water slides while the rest of us stayed back to relax by the water after lunch.  Let me just say that I have a long track record of getting moderately to severely banged up on waterslides so when Tera returned with a harrowing tale of her own waterslide related incident, I was glad I'd chosen to relax on the sundeck.  In the late afternoon, most of us headed up the strip to play mini golf (I got a hole-in-one on the 18th hole!) and bumper boats while Di and Jan stayed back to grill up steaks and prepare a delicious dinner.

Now, I take all the blame for making a Tiramisu Trifle with so much homemade amaretto that it might have put us in an alcohol-induced slumber but shortly after consuming dessert and several bottles of wine, we all kinda headed up to bed early.  We woke up the next morning and took one last walk up the strip before packing up and moving out.

Geneva-on-the-Lake was a fantastic Girls' Trip destination- just a short drive away, the excellent location of our cottage enabled us walk almost everywhere we wanted to go but also provided a wonderful area to just relax if we wanted.  Gathering on the sun deck for morning yoga or evening chilling was the highlight of my trip and I'm looking forward to visiting again!