Party Like It's 1967: Hippie Spots in the Bay Area

Golden Gate Park is a massive public grounds—sort of like 30 little parks decided to get together to have a picnic. To find the hippies, simply head to the eastern side and listen for the telltale sound of drumming. You’ll soon find a dozen stoners going to town on a mishmash of drums. This is all that remains of the counterculture movement.

A cooperatively owned, democratically run grocery store which could single-handily delay our planet’s environmental destruction by two years. There’s a bike-rider’s discount; a BYO bag discount; no meat whatsoever; and a plethora of organic and gluten-free foods, often sold in bulk. It’s expensive, but with every purchase you get a complimentary unwarranted sense of superiority.

Taking a cue from their beatnik forebears, hippies learnt to express themselves through music. Amoeba is not only an important Steward of that tradition, its original location on Telegraph Avenue is right near all those colorful Telegraph street vendors, not to mention the congregations of youthful runaways. To earn the affection of these people, make sure you condescendingly ask them when they last spoke with their parents.

This neighborhood was the epicenter of the hippie movement, and today some of that psychedelic luster is partially preserved. Making a pilgrimage to this historic neighborhood is an essential act for the hippie connoisseur. And up on Hippie Hill, just west of Haight Street, legend has it that if you’re truly righteous, you just might spot some real-life hippies.

This is the sort of place that’s almost entirely been phased out in favor of larger music chains, which in turn are being phased out in favor of online distribution. But there’s always something to be said for being able to have an informative chat with a real-life sales clerk while thumbing through a rack of vinyl (or in my case, cassette tapes).

This is your typical neighborhood independent anarchist collective book distributor. The clerks work on a volunteer basis to uphold the separation of knowledge from any guiding authority. Hmm, literaturey!

Like so much of the modern hippie experience, this place adapts the 60s as a whimsical theme rather than a guiding philosophy. Consequently, Magnolia probably caters more to yuppies than to anybody with a true counterculture bent. If you want a more authentic hippie brewery experience, homebrew your own beer and wrap a mason jar full of the stuff in a brown bag, and then drink it in a park.