MANSFIELD — The shuttle (a big, yellow school bus) blasted songs from “Journey” and “Alice In Chains,” causing a group sing-a-long, including the bus-driver, as it took me and about 30 other campers from the Richland County Fairgrounds to The Ohio State Reformatory on Saturday.
I was still giddy, recovering from Jacoby Shaddix (lead singer of Papa Roach) staring me dead in the eye and pointing at my camera the night before.
The day was gloomy, but a nice change from Friday’s hotter temperatures. Light rain fell and gray clouds coated the sky, giving a sort of hazy feeling I’m almost positive many were feeling already. Concert-goers were already asleep on the grass at 1 p.m.
The shuttle is the most convenient way into the festival. Having already gone through security to board, passengers bypass any large lines and slink right on into the grounds.
Aside from seeing the headliners, my group’s goal was to make it through a tour of the Ohio State Reformatory. We couldn’t be on the grounds for three days without walking in. I am the only Mansfield native in my group, so it was almost an obligation.
The line was endless, looping around and around food and merchandise stands through the third stage, full of interesting characters. A man wearing only a green tutu and wig made his way around the line many times, accompanied by a small posse. A woman in fishnets and a black bodysuit stopped and complimented us all with a large grin, then proceeded to offer us all tarot cards.
I pulled the Death card, in which she smiled as she told me a chapter of my life was ending, but a new and positive one with bright opportunities was in fruition. Immediately as she left, a man walked by with a design of the exact card plastered on his shirt.
Two hours passed until we could enter the haunted building, so more conversation with strangers ensued, whether we liked it or not. The man ahead of us in line began to integrate himself into whatever we were discussing, which soon turned into state stereotypes. He explained that he was a teacher from Florida, and made all attempts to escape the “crazy Florida man” stigma.
This led to him asking my birthday, which he proceeded to search behind the term “Florida man” to find the craziest headline on that day. With the cell phone service being so slow, this went on for an uncomfortably long amount of time, causing any comedic timing to fall.
Eventually we made it inside, an immediate heavy feeling falling over me upon the first step. Folks alongside us during the tour seemed to gain the same emotion, an uncomfortable look in their eyes as they watched their footsteps go along the slim halls across the cell block.
The tour was mainly self-guided, but most stayed together throughout the whole thing; an unspoken camaraderie.
Right as I was itching to go, the tour ended and we exited the facility, shocked to come out into the world of so many people once again. We realized that for a moment, the quiet Reformatory had brought comfort to our overstimulated brains.
The day flew, full of outrageous conversations and comfortable strangers. We laid among the crowd on the grassy hill, second round of mac’n’cheese in hand, anxiously awaiting Evanescence and Breaking Benjamin onstage to end the night, mourning the festival’s final day.
