Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco : Still Vibrant, Still Mesmerising, Still Love

The Untourists
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Haight – Ashbury was the epicenter of the 1967 Summer Of Love, a large movement in which more than 100,000 people, mostly young, sporting ‘hippie’ costumes and hairdos, converged here. Also known as Hashbury, this area became the centre of the alternative culture, where people rejected materialism, were suspicious of the government, did not support the Vietnam war, and tried to engage more and more in art, poetry, music, meditation etc. There was a strong emphasis on sharing as a community and “The Diggers established a Free Store, and a Free Clinic where medical treatment was provided”.

The prelude to the Summer of ’67 was an event called Human Be-In at the Golden Gate park on January 14, 1967, produced and managed by the artist Michael Bowen. The hippie newspaper of the area, San Francisco Oracle wrote:

“A new concept of celebrations beneath the human underground must emerge, become conscious, and be shared, so a revolution can be formed with a renaissance of compassion, awareness, and love, and the revelation of unity for all mankind.”

With musicians like The Animals, Jefferson Airplane, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Santana, Janis Joplin, The Big Brother And The Holding Company, The Byrds etc having either lived here or worked/jammed/recorded here, Haight-Ashbury is easily a pilgrimage for the history of Rock and Roll in America. Check these addresses and take a walk through this part of San Francisco.

If you are visiting in June, do time your travel for the Haight Ashbury Street Fair. The street fair was developed in response to the re-birth of the economic and residential spirit of the community in the mid-1970’s. With the assistance of the late San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first District 5 and openly Gay supervisor, a group of neighborhood merchants, activists and residents developed this organization with the idea of sponsoring a day long community celebration. The first Haight-Ashbury Street Fair was held on April 30, 1978, to the fanfare of the neighborhood and the City.

What To Do: Walk around, do a Rock & Roll pilgrimage, buy music at Amoeba, hang around the many book stores, art shops and cafes, and eat great food. Go visit The Golden Gate Park too. Check out this exhaustive list of San Franciso Festivals and Street Fairs. Visit the Beat Music to understand how San Francisco’s hippie culture grew. Hang out at City Lights Book Store or at Booksmiths.

Where To Eat: We had lunch at Parada 22, a Puerto Rican joint and loved it. Other notable eateries are Memphis Minnie’s, a barbecue joint. Pork Store Cafe is the classic American joint with psychedelic Hashbury posters on its walls and amazing food. 1428 Haight is another place with great breakfast and lunch. Nopalito’s is fabulous for Mexican.

Where To Stay: Though you can find great places via AirBnB and other such services, if you want the better service and comfort of a hotel, Stanyan Park Hotel (listed in the National Register of Historic Places) is very nice. We stayed around Union Square, which is very far away, but has many more options in many more budgets.

Old Victorian buildings make the charm of Haight Ashbury, apart from, of course, the history.

Although some of the old buildings have been brought down, there are still plenty of old ones to keep the charm alive.

Just cannot get enough of these wonderful old Haight Ashbury buildings.

The Grateful Dead House at Haight Ashbury, San Francisco

A good friend invited us for lunch at Parada 22 which serves Puerto Rican and Central American food. Loved it. Highly recommend.

Parada 22 is a small joint but full of character. And the food is drool worthy.

If you like music, keep a good chunk of your day reserved for Amoeba Music. One of the largest and most well stocked music stores we have ever been to, Amoeba even produces music.

Buy LPs and Turntables at Amoeba Music in Haight Ashbury.

You can even buy used records at Amoeba, adding to the chance that you can pick up a rare album here.

Amoeba Music has pretty much everything in Rock & Roll, Jazz etc

These lovely Flower Power Cafes dot the streets of Haight Ashbury

Colourful graffiti like this remind you how entrenched Haight Ashbury is, in music and art.

Colourful wall art and lovely old Victorian buildings. That’s Haight Ashbury.

Another old but large Victorian building at Haight Ashbury

Rasputin Records at Haight Ashbury. Typical.

The Booksmith is an awesome place for book lovers, right at the heart of Haight Ashbury

If you love books, or music, or art, or just, this is the place. Haight Ashbury.

A lasting tribute to the Summer of Love, 1967.

That’s about as Haight Ashbury as you can get. The Love of Ganesha.

Many old shops are giving way to new plush (read: characterless) ones. Visit Haight Ashbury while it lasts.

The house with the art on its wall is supposed to have once housed Jimi Hendrix.

An old style electric bus pushes through the streets.

We could spend days here exploring these lovely shops.

And cornershops in these Victorian buildings.

This is where Haight and Ashbury meet.

Check the store in the old building. The March rain somehow added to the mood.

A quiet residential part of Haight Ashbury

New homes are replacing old crumbling ones.

But there is always a charming old home to keep up the interestingness.

Buildings of all colours, housing interesting people. That’s Haight Ashbury.

And wonderful textures to these houses…

One of these houses belong to someone famous. Was it Janis Joplin? Can’t remember…

Our stroll on a wet March Day in Haight Ashbury in San Francisco made us wanting to come back…

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