University of Virginia Library

Gathering Of The Curious

The summer in Haight-Ashbury, the hippie capital
of the world, was a gathering of the curious.
With the semester ended and time an abundant
quantity, thousands of "tourists" by-passed a week
at the beach or summer camp to join the exodus
to the West, specifically San Francisco. Many spent
a night or two in the Panhandle and then moved on.
Some stayed longer, establishing friends, and thus,
a floor to sleep on. And some merely wandered
aimlessly about, trying to soak up the atmosphere,
bumping elbows with the hordes of news photographers
who cluttered the streets, and giving interviews
to national magazines on what it is really like
to be a hippie.