Bloomington, Indiana

Bloomington is an Indiana city, southwest of Indianapolis. The WonderLab science museum has hands-on kids’ exhibits, plus insects and reptiles. Indiana University’s Eskenazi Museum of Art has paintings, sculptures and decorative arts from around the world. The 1835 Wylie House is now a museum with period furnishings and an heirloom garden. Southeast, trails lace Hoosier National Forest’s Charles C. Deam Wilderness.

“This town has a modest, but decent, hippie community. At 4:20 (p.m.) at a park on 9th Street, there is a drum circle. Also a cafe/restaurant called the Runcible Spoon is visited by many hippies and other interesting people. A few hippies (roughly 6) work there as well. The restaurant is located on 6th Street downtown. Across the back parking lot of this restaurant is a little natural foods Co-op store called Bloomingfoods, where many hippies are employed, and where most hippies buy all their essentials.

On Kirkwood Avenue, the most active part of the downtown, there is a little shop called the Dharma Emporium, owned and frequented by lots of groovy people. On Walnut Street, there lies a shop called the Magic Bus, owned and operated by a bunch of hippies that live in the back; kind and gentle folk. Also, the town of Bloomington is mostly liberal, and there are a lot of interesting people. Just stay away from the west side of town: this is a “thriving” commercial part of town with no trees and a lot of new subdivisions. Bad, bad, bad.”

Kauai, Hawaii

This beautiful island is a real tropical paradise. From the white sandy beaches to the cliffs of Kalalau it’s exotic as anywhere! Lots of hippies live around the Hanalei area, and the trail to Kalalau is the major hippie thing to do. There are some really nice campgrounds on the island, so backpacking & camping out for a week is possible, but make your reservations ahead of time.

Maui, Hawaii

Still full of hippies living on the slopes of Haleakela, the dormant volcano, in places like Kipahulu, Kula, Hana, Paia. You’ll need a few gold cards to visit here. This scene is expensive. Water shortages, overcrowding and tourism are making the Maui scene less attractive unless you hide out in the jungle!

Chicago, Illinois

It is said the ground is so fertile here in Illinois that when you drop a nickel it turns into a quarter before you pick it up. You’d imagine there’d be plenty of hippys and longhairs crawling all over Illinois, right? Nope, not really. You’ll find some transplants downstate at the universities but mostly you’ll find ’em up in Chicago. With plenty of health food stores, hemp shops and tons of yoga centers, there’s a nice underground network of hippie folk. The best hangout for hippies I’ve seen is a place called Healing Earth Resources up on the north side (Ashland & Belmont) that deals in your usual clothes & music as well as being a great central hub for a lot of hippie-minded communities.

Mt. Shasta, California

“One of the most sacred places on earth. Everyone is so totally kind. The mountain pours out its love and watches over all its inhabitants. It snows for days in the winter, but in the summer I go live in the woods and draw off the healing energies. Another kind thing is that the cops realize that hippies are really laid back and we do a lot for the community and keep it beautiful, therefore we all do well living in harmony.”

Savannah, Georgia

Savannah is great!

Savannah is known for manicured parks, horse-drawn carriages and antebellum architecture.

There are a few colleges here, including Savannah College of Art & Design, so there is a nice community. They have lots of festivals all year. The weather is nice, especially in spring. It is old & historic. Beautiful houses, churches, apartments. It’s easy to walk around (hard to drive), tons of huge trees, statues. All types of stores, second-hand shops, restaurants, coffeehouses. Lots of movies have been made there, some books. Artists are all over. It’s on the river, a short drive to the ocean. Near the South Carolina border, about 2 hours north of Florida. The people are so nice, & it’s real easy to find something to do. Just walk around, you’ll see people. Liberty Street is the main street w/coffeehouses & good, mellow restaurants. Be sure to get a map, though, because it’s easy to get lost, & avoid “new” Savannah, it’s suburban, like any other town. You can find cheap motels near the interstate, or in the next town south.

Savannah is a beautiful, diverse community. it’s easier to walk than drive around, beautiful “squares” which are little parks in the middle of the roads. there are veggie places, & you can drink in public, on the roads & all. I went to the art school’s sidewalk art fest last year (every April), had so much fun, tons of music, & got to see a free show, laying out on the grass, Emmy Lou Harris. you can see artist, painters, photographers, & writers all over, lots of old bookstores, cemeteries, antique shops, you name it. there is your share of tourist, but it is worth it.

San Diego, California

There are some really cool places to hang, especially Ocean Beach, Encinitas. Laid back mixture of surfers and hippies make for a cool scene. Check out The Black a famous headshop in O.B. Also “blacks beach every full moon at 8:00 p.m.”. The music scene in S.D. is really happening these days. Great concerts from major acts and lots of smaller venues showcase local talent. Many things to like about S.D. and you can’t beat the perfect climate! Although it’s now overcrowded, the traffic sucks at times, and the worse thing is how expensive it’s getting to live there.