What a long, fun trip it is
SAN FRANCISCO — The bus came by and we got on, that’s when it all began.
I couldn’t help but be struck by a sense of irony as we trundled down Haight Street in a hippied-out ’72 VW Westfalia.
A half-century ago along this same San Francisco street, Gray Line buses ran a Hippieland sightseeing tour, of which Hunter S. Thompson wrote at the time, “It was billed as ‘the only foreign tour within the continental limits of the United States’ and was an immediate hit with tourists who thought the Haight-Ashbury was a human zoo. The only sour note on the tour was struck by the occasional hippie who would run alongside the bus, holding up a mirror.”
Now here we were, on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love on a bus tour of the Haight, only in a vehicle that came to symbolize the counter-culture. And instead of hippies holding up mirrors, people flashed peace signs, beatified smiles and nods of approval.
As San Francisco gears up for the 50th anniversary of that long ago summer that sent in motion a cultural revolution, hopping aboard a San Francisco Love Tour VW bus proved an ideal way to be transported back in time — and to learn things about the city that even natives might not know.
The concept is the brainchild of Allan Graves, who after years in the fin-tech startup industry was looking to set his soul free. The idea came to him in a fevered pitch late one night following a conference call with investors in New York. “By five in the morning I had the whole business plan down,” he says.
That plan was to buy an old Volkswagen bus, fix it up and use it to give tours of the city he knew so well as a resident for 25 years. There was no shortage of competition in this space, but Graves was counting on the uniqueness of the vehicle and the intimacy of its surroundings — the vans seat a half-dozen plus the tour guide/driver — to set SF Love Tours apart.
That was three years ago, and that original bus has been joined by two more on the two-hour and private tours offered by the company.
Of the three VW Westfalias in the fleet, two ’72s and one ’76. Their names are Love Bus (the original), Sunshine and Liquid Dreams. Each is painted by artist Madison Tomsic (for more about this free-spirited soul, check out buminthebus. com).
We hopped aboard the two-hour city sightseeing tour (US$48 per person), joined by an Australian woman and two women from Texas. I’m guessing all three weren’t alive during the Summer of Love, or if they were they were in diapers.
The tour started at Fisherman’s Wharf. Allan’s younger brother, John, was our guide, and the good vibes emanating from the bus were only enhanced by the college student’s sunny demeanour and California-cool style.
He fired up the air-cooled engine, pressed play on his iPhone to start the curated soundtrack (Hotel California got things rolling) and found first gear. The bus bucked and we were off.
It was evident right away that this wasn’t going to be a tour focused primarily on the ’60s, contrary to the swinging peace sign on the rear-view mirror, painted ceiling and soundtrack (second song? If You’re Going to San Francisco).
The first of the 15 districts we went through was the upscale Marine District. “Locals call that Safeway there Dateway because of all the single, fit people who go there after working out on the trails along the water,” John noted.
Next up was the Presidio area, one that most tour buses aren’t allowed in, but as John explained, “we’re a counter-culture tour so we go where we want.” The 5th Dimension’s Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In started up.
In this former military base, we had our first taste of hippie-lore. John told the story of a young man who was sent here to military school by his mother after crashing her car on a joyride to Santa Cruz. “That boy?” John asked the busload. “Jerry Garcia.”
John stopped the bus at a great Golden Gate Bridge photo op, and we climbed out to take the requisite pictures of the iconic span. Then it was onto the Richmond District, through Golden Gate Park and onto Haight Street.
John pointed out the former crash pads of Jimi Hendrix (to the sounds of All Along the Watchtower), Janis Joplin (Me & Bobby McGee) and the Grateful Dead. On the street, people took pictures of the bus and waved. Not a mirror in sight.
Next up were the districts of Twin Peaks, the Castro — John pointed out Harvey Milk’s house as YMCA played — then the Mission district, where we stopped and got out to take pictures of the city skyline from Dolores Park.
Back on the bus, we headed into the city through the Hayes Valley district past the original Levi’s factory and Carlos Santana’s high school (Oye Como Va), the Civic Centre, the Tenderloin, Union Square, China Town and Little Italy (also known as North Beach).
Then it was onto Russian Hill and a drive down Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world.
Then we were back where it all began to the strains of Tony Bennett lamenting he’d left his heart in this fantastical city.
For more information, visit sanfranciscolovetours.com
Vancouver Sun