I'm not a huge camper (I'm very fond of human advances in hygiene), but I like to let my hair down and hippie it up at Pickathon once a year, "sleeping" with my neck cricked on a slant to the tunelessness of drunken improv wannabes playing to an early morning crowd of 0 on the Woods stage. Oh, good times.

Last summer, I stayed the whole weekend fully prepared to be stank, when I stumbled upon The Oasis, which completely robs you of the option of not showering at Pickathon. Sorry, stinkos. A traveling spa with hot showers, a sauna, and massage and acupuncture therapists, you'll recognize it by its towering gypsy banners and patchwork of oriental rungs. Assuming prices are the same as last year, six bucks will buy you a nice hot open-air shower with lavender Dr. Bronner's, and you can rent a towel for $3 if you need to. Personally, I think it only makes sense to spring for the $10 shower/suana combo, especially since the sauna is a converted airstream trailer, which is just cool. There's a cold shower behind it for ablutions, and an anteroom for cooling off and drinking water.

If you really want to do it up, go for the massage (or acupuncture, I guess. Not really my scene, so I can't vouch for it.). The pricing—again, going off of 2011 rates—is slightly under what's salon-standard, at $30/30 minutes and $55/hour. I went for a full hour last year, and if she is still around ask for Susanna Low-Beer—she is amazing, and I spent the rest of the afternoon completely blissed out with massage-pillow creases all over my face.

So yeah, you could be a dirty hippie at Pickathon this weekend, I guess, and maybe nobody would notice (they would), but if you tossed some of your beer budget at The Oasis instead, I have serious doubts that you'd regret it.

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  • The Oasis