Truckin'

Some people spend their college spring breaks in Florida or Texas or Mexico. My freshman year in college, I spent the time being a Dead Head, and traveling around the East Coast with some friends following the Dead. We started out from New Hampshire, with friends from other New England colleges-there were a few from both Bennington and Middlebury in Vermont, a few from Bowdoin in Maine and of course, our contingent from New Hampshire. I drove down with a group of 4 girls in a friend’s mother’s Volvo station wagon, and we headed south to Atlanta for the first of 4 shows in Georgia and North Carolina. One thing about Dead shows-you could see them on back to back nights and never see the same show twice.

We were the fortunate ones-between all of us, we had a network of friends and family all over the east coast and we could couch surf and not have to camp out or anything. A unique feature of the Dead fan base was the community (traveling circus?) that followed the Dead from show to show. They had folks selling food from the trunk of their cars and back of vans. Some were energy healers, others sold handmade goods and clothing. There were entire families, sometimes multigenerational, that spent their lives on the road with the band. I remember at one Dead show at the Meadowlands, there were folks teaching yoga and aromatherapy, selling falafel, jewelery, woven pieces and doing laundry in a wading pool in the same row in the parking lot.

It was around this time that Touch of Grey had come out, and the Grateful Dead was morphing from being a subculture to mainstream. As a result, there were quite a few Southern frat boys and their dates in this sea of tie dyes and patchouli oiled folks. One thing that made the Dead unique back in the day was the fact that they encouraged their fans to tape their shows, and to trade the tapes all around. There are shows that were more rare than others, and of course a bootleg from one of those shows is a prized possession.

We made it to Atlanta for the show at the Omni, and actually had a day or so to go sightseeing and visit. There is an incredible amount of history in Atlanta, and we were able to spend some time exploring it. We visited the Botanical Gardens. The Fuqua Conservatory was brand new. It was interesting to see the winter gardens and especially the hydrangeas (my favorite flower overall). Me being a Gone with the Wind buff had to go see the Margaret Mitchell house. It was the home she wrote her masterpiece in back in the 1920’s. In the late 80’s, it was in the early stages of restoration and was not open to the public to admire as it is today. We also had a chance to picnic in Piedmont Park, but this was prior to the restoration. Another park we visited was Grant Park. We may have been a bunch of hippies, but we were also interested in culture and nature.

The set lists between the two Atlanta shows were incredibly different. The first night it seemed as if the band was catering to their new found fame and fans. The music was less jam band-y, and more oriented to the casual fan. The next night was more for the Dead Head. They did some of my favorite Dead songs including Wharf Rat and Box of Rain. The vibe was different the second night, and it was more a communal experience.

We had stayed with a friend’s sister and her family in Atlanta and after brunch, we took off for Greensboro, NC for our next stop on our tour. It was about a 6 or so hour ride from Atlanta to there. We had friends that were attending Greensboro College, so we were going to crash with them, and all go to the concert together.

During our time in Greensboro, my friends and I visited the Bicentenniel Park, Blandwood Manor and the Courthouse National Military Park. What is significant about the Battle of Greensboro is the losses sustained by the British troops at this battle were directly responsible for the surrender at the Battle of Yorktown months later. We also went hiking in a nature preserve near town, and ate in a really good somewhat vegetarian restaurant.

The shows in Greensboro were more like the stereotypical Dead shows. The first night was almost a greatest hits retrospective, including Bertha, Sugar Magnolia and an amazing cover of Knocking on Heaven’s Door. Night number 2 featured Terrapin Station, Me and My Uncle, Trucki’ and a new song Hell in a Bucket. They also did another blistering cover of All Along the Watchtower and Good Lovin’ which actually are my preferred versions of the songs.

We left after the show on Saturday morning and drove northward, taking 81 up through Virginia then East to I-95. From there it was a straight shot up to I-91 to Vermont. Driving through western Massachusetts anytime of year is lovely, and early spring it is particulary charming. The trees are budding, it looks lush, green and new throughout the Connecticut River Valley.

Robert Frost, who once taught at my college, must have envisioned that region when he wrote a Prayer in Spring:



Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;

And give us not to think so far away

As the uncertain harvest; keep us here

All simply in the springing of the year.



Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,

Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;

And make us happy in the happy bees,

The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.



And make us happy in the darting bird

That suddenly above the bees is heard,

The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,

And off a blossom in mid air stands still.



For this is love and nothing else is love,

The which it is reserved for God above

To sanctify to what far ends He will,

But which it only needs that we fulfill.

surfer girl

When I try something new, I tend to go all in with it and go big. That is definitely true of the first time I went surfing. We were in Oahu, Hawaii at Waikiki beach and I wanted to try surfing. My aunt, who aimed to please, signed the consent form and I was off to take surfing lessons. I did a group lesson, and was fortunate that there were only 2 other folks in my group, so I did get the attention that a newbie needed.


To start with, we spent what seemed like forever on the beach, practicing standing on our boards. I thought it was silly, but I really wanted to learn how to surf, so I went with the flow. We had to jump around and all sorts of crazy dance moves on our boards. I felt a little odd, but there was a method to the madness of it.

The first thing we learned to do in the water was to paddle our board. In most cases, you will be paddling out to catch a wave, not being towed out. (save the towing for experts). Watching someone do it makes paddling look easy, but believe me, its not! You have to get on a piece of wood in at least waist deep water, keeping your balance. Laying on your belly, you need keep yourself balanced and paddling your board toward a giant wave. Even if it doesn’t look giant from the shore line, when you are in the ocean, believe me it looks huge.

Since waves are continuous, you need to learn how to duck dive. This, for me, was a difficult concept to master, and I don’t think I ever really got the rhythm down. You basically force you and your board under the wave and then let it roll under you. Our instructor spent a lot of time on this, as it is very important to be able to do, and I in turn, spent a lot of time water logged.

“Catching a Wave” is the whole purpose of surfing. In order to do so, you need balance, timing and luck. Basically, you need to point your board to the beach. We practiced for what seemed like forever to be able to feel one with the wave. For me, this was not a natural feeling, and quite honestly, it was a huge struggle. Everything that you are supposed to do to catch a wave is counter intuitive for me. I had perfected my duck dive earlier in the day, but now I wasn’t supposed to, so I was confused. The ultimate goal is to stand up on your board in one smooth, fluid motion. When I tried, I was less than graceful, and I spent a lot of time in the ocean, under my board, beside my board, everywhere but on my board. I wish I could tell you that I perservered and at the end of my lesson I was riding the Pipeline, but alas that would be fiction.

Contrary to popular belief, surfing is not confined to California or Hawaii. In fact, some of the greatest east coast waves are found in New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. I tried surfing at the Wall in New Hampshire, on the Cape, Narangassett in Rhode Island, and Popham Beach in Maine (it actually was all one trip). The best east coast surfing time is actually in the fall, due to hurricane season, and October is prime surfing time in NJ. I never did actually surf in NJ all the years I lived there, but I had friends that did and they swore it was as good, if not better than Pacific ocean waves.