One Day, One Place: The Music Never Stops In San Rafael

Wanting to learn more about the band’s connection to San Rafael, I stopped at Friends Books (friends of the San Rafael Public Library and now mine), where a kind woman pulled up a chair for me in the music section. Davis wrote about his first meeting with the Grateful Dead, introducing them to producer Keith Olsen and the making of the 1977 album “Terrapin Station.” “The Grateful Dead was essentially a San Rafael band,” according to Terrapin’s website, which gives important nearby addresses like 20 Front St., once the Dead’s recording studio Club Front. Under the Litchfield’s sign on the northeast side of Highway 101 was the music hall Euphoria Ballroom, also known as Pepperland. Cafe Rico is a sweet mix of espresso and condensed milk; eggs range from arroz con huevos to scrambled revoltillo. The restaurant has a facade painted lime green, welcoming communal tables and counter seats, an adjacent bodega and rotisserie, and a patio a few doors down (as you walk toward Fourth Street). Owner Barry Lazarus explains why certain albums are valuable (record and cover condition is a factor) and shows off sought-after ones by the Grateful Dead, Velvet Underground and Bob Dylan. Bananas at Large is a full-service emporium for music lessons, ukulele meet-ups, carrying cases for drumsticks, Gibsons and Fenders. At Alan Rosen’s big corner store, you could get lucky and run into a famous musician (word is that Lesh, Bob Weir and Carlos Santana have all been seen here). For accessories suited to Summer of Love festivities, head over to Namaste, where Nepalese owner Deepiz Shrestha will help you choose among tie-dye sarongs, hand-embroidered tunics, glittery scarves and starchy white Indian shirts. Break for lunch at the State Room, where the menu includes Prather Ranch beef burgers, poutine, BLTs, kale and veggie combos, and the brewery’s $10 flights (four 5-ounce glasses). Lesh, a founding member of the Grateful Dead, is approachable and in fine form after two hours of the Saturday concert he calls “Songs to Phil the Air.” Backyard audiences dine on salads and pizza at tables or on the grass while toddlers climb the jungle gym and run next to bocce ball courts. The concerts are free, and the convivial crowd is whipped into a (polite) frenzy when they hear Lesh and others belt out “Uncle John’s Band.” Vendors sell strawberries, cherries, oranges, greens, granola and flowers. For dinner, there is regional Mexican food and homemade tortillas from La Memelas de Luna and steak sandwiches from Tri-Tip Trolley. For a visual piece of rock ’n’ roll history, the Smith Rafael Film Center screens new, classic and artistic movies. Filmmakers and actors often appear at events at the elegant, mural-rich Art Deco theater, home of the California Film Institute and a venue for the Mill Valley Film Festival.