GrassRoots Parking Tip

If you're doing a same-day round-trip to GrassRoots, here's a tip: pass up the free parking at Agard Road and pay for parking on Route 96, near the fairgrounds.

The parking lot was fine yesterday (we used it), before a lot of people had arrived. Thursday is usually a slow day. So there were no lines to board the shuttle bus (also free), in either direction.

But tonight, and tomorrow, there will be a lot more people, and tonight a lot of them will be leaving at the same time: when Emmylou Harris stops singing, about 11 o'clock. That could mean long lines to board the bus to go home.

Across from the fairgrounds on Rt. 96, the various car dealerships, markets, etc. sell parking spaces for $10 a day. That means at the end of your night you can walk to your car and be home in Ithaca in half an hour (assuming you don't get stopped on Rt. 96 for squealing your tires, which happens a lot this weekend each year, when state troopers on 96 develop very sensitive hearing).

$10 can't do anything about the cops, we don't think, but for parking, it can be a very wise investment. By Sunday, the crowds have thinned enough to go back to free parking and the bus.