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Emma\u2019s Shop features handmade jewelry,\u00a0local artisans and a well-curated vintage selection in Fairfax.<\/p>\n
Lauren Segal\/For the S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n
Gestalt House is a welcoming destination for cyclists and beer drinkers in Fairfax.<\/p>\n
Lauren Segal\/For the S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n
Good Earth grocery is bustling in Fairfax.<\/p>\n
Lauren Segal\/For the S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a happy place. You felt it when you walked in, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
I\u2019m standing inside Fairfax Variety, a wonderland of a store on Broadway Boulevard in Fairfax, which owner Polly Knox proudly calls \u201cthe last five and dime in Marin County.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But it goes well beyond the shop\u2019s walls of candy, constellation of disco balls and socks featuring a cowboy hat-clad cat over the word \u201cMeowdy!\u201d I\u2019ve felt a \u201chappy place\u201d aura since I biked into this throwback town a few miles west of Highway 101 and San Rafael.<\/p>\n
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Fairfax is the most analog small city that I\u2019ve found in my under-the-radar Bay Area downtown travels<\/a>. It has a history of art, activism and invention that continues to blend into the fabric of daily life, and a past so random and whimsical \u2014 a Wes Anderson movie come to life<\/a> \u2014 that I felt the need to fact check it all.\u00a0<\/p>\n (L-R)Fairfax Variety owner Polly Knox offers a vast assortment of items, from unexpected toys and candy to housewares, books and gifts. Knox calls her shop the last \u201cthe last five and dime in Marin County.\u201d<\/p>\n Lauren Segal \/ For the S.F. Chronicle, Lauren Segal \/ For the S.F. Chronicle, , Lauren Segal \/ For the S.F. Chronicle,<\/p>\n (Top to Bottom) Fairfax Variety owner Polly Knox offers a vast assortment of items, from unexpected toys and candy to housewares, books and gifts. Knox calls her shop the last \u201cthe last five and dime in Marin County.\u201d<\/p>\n Lauren Segal \/ For the S.F. Chronicle, Lauren Segal \/ For the S.F. Chronicle, , Lauren Segal \/ For the S.F. Chronicle,<\/p>\n \u201cFairfax: Mayberry on Acid,\u201d reads a bumper sticker at Fairfax Variety. Accurate.<\/p>\n San Francisco Chronicle Logo<\/p>\n Make us a Preferred Source to get more of our news when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n My first Fairfax email tip came from Chronicle reader Richard Pedemonte, who sold the city for its hiking and biking. I found a guide in Chronicle graphic artist John Blanchard, who bike commutes from Fairfax, with a lift from the Golden Gate Ferry\u2019s Larkspur line, nearly every day.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Blanchard created a bike map with a scenic route<\/a> from the Larkspur ferry landing to Fairfax, on winding paths filled with California poppies and benches facing Mount Tamalpais. \u201cI should just make this the story,\u201d I think, as I pass schools, churches and every good dog in Ross Valley.<\/a> Expecting big hills during the 35-minute ride, I change gears just once \u2014 over a small rise in a residential area near the beginning of the trip.\u00a0<\/p>\n Arriving in Fairfax, I\u2019m greeted by the 1950s marquee and neon tower of the Fairfax 6 Theatre, the city\u2019s most visible landmark. Ducking inside, it reminds me of the Cameo in St. Helena<\/a>: a fun-size cinema \u2014 the largest screen seats 92 people \u2014 for a town that\u2019s kept a steady population around 7,500 for the last half-century.\u00a0<\/p>\n (L-R) The Coffee Roastery in Fairfax. Customers order at the Coffee Roastery.<\/p>\n Lauren Segal, For The S.F. Chronicle, Lauren Segal, For The S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n From there it\u2019s all bikes and coffee, with a blend of buzzy newcomers and longstanding locales. On the way into town, I join the line at BoFax Coffee<\/a>, a popup window at new-ish cocktail bar Stillwater<\/a>, that sells just seven drinks, including a vanilla cold brew latte that seems designed for flagging cyclists in need of a sugar\/caffeine jolt. Down the street, Coffee Roastery is a funky-cool institution with coffee roasted in house, a mini-stage for local performers and a menu spreading across three walls.\u00a0<\/p>\n This coexistence is also visible around the corner from BoFax on Bolinas Road. The Potting Shed is an old wood building filled with succulents that looks like it sprouted in this spot hundreds of years ago along with the redwood trees. Next door is inviting vintage clothing and jewelry place Emma\u2019s Shop, established six years ago by Emma Rose, who makes jewelry in her Marin tree house<\/a>.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n It can all be a bit overwhelming for those living in less eccentric climes. But Fairfax\u2019s past is even more bonkers.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Potting Shed, a Fairfax mainstay that feels as if it sprung up from the ground.<\/p>\n Lauren Segal\/For the S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n The town was founded in the mid-1800s by Lord Charles Snowden Fairfax, a Brit-by-way-of-Virginia who said Fairfax reminded him a little bit of both. Some of the town\u2019s claims to fame, confirmed by the Chronicle archive:<\/p>\n Lord Fairfax\u2019s manor was the site of the last duel between two California politicians in 1861, when state assemblymen Daniel Showalter and Charles Piercy faced off with rifles over a dispute related to the Civil War<\/a>. (Piercy died, with a shot to the head after the first reload.) (L-R) Volunteers Connie and Joe Breeze, who made the first mountain bike prototype, at the Marin Museum of Bicycling in Fairfax. The museum is a destination for cycling fans.<\/p>\n Lauren Segal, For The S.F. Chronicle, Lauren Segal, For The S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n (Top-Bottom) Volunteers Connie and Joe Breeze, who made the first mountain bike prototype, at the Marin Museum of Bicycling in Fairfax. The museum is a destination for cycling fans.<\/p>\n Lauren Segal, For The S.F. Chronicle, Lauren Segal, For The S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n I\u2019m starstruck when Fairfax Variety owner Knox points out Breeze, in his 70s now, flying past on a bike. An hour later I find him in the Marin Museum of Bicycling, home to the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame and a must for any Bay Area bike fan, with hundreds of rides on display going back to the 1800s. Drop by on Fridays or Sundays when Breeze is on hand to point out the highlights and tell his best stories. (But be warned: On Sundays the bike crowds that flood that town can make the narrow streets a little too busy.)\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Looking outside the shop, the \u201cacid\u201d part seems a bit subdued, but the \u201cMayberry\u201d is in full swing. Down the road, patrons at the Good Earth grocery store wait for freshly baked baguettes to appear. Children passing by with cones from homemade ice cream shop Fairfax Scoop (another long line) could be from any of the last few decades.<\/p>\n \u201cThe kids still come in after school,\u201d Knox tells me. \u201cThey drop their bags, and go over to the candy counter. Some things don\u2019t change.\u201d<\/p>\n On Breeze\u2019s recommendation, I stop next door at Split Rock Tap & Wheel, which may be the most Fairfax thing: a combination pub and bike shop. I reluctantly pass on the dozens of local beers on tap and get some fancy pork tacos, sitting at a wood picnic table a few feet from a sale rack of bike jerseys. Later, I roll into bike-friendly Gestalt Haus, where visitors enjoy sausages and more brew\u00a0 with racks on the walls to hang your ride.\u00a0<\/p>\n (L-R) Cyclists break for a beer at combination restaurant\/bike shop Split Rock in Fairfax. Gestalt House is a welcoming destination for cyclists and beer enthusiasts as well.<\/p>\n Lauren Segal, For The S.F. Chronicle, Lauren Segal, For The S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n (Top-Bottom) Cyclists break for a beer at combination restaurant\/bike shop Split Rock in Fairfax. Gestalt House is a welcoming destination for cyclists and beer enthusiasts as well.<\/p>\n Lauren Segal, For The S.F. Chronicle, Lauren Segal, For The S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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\nThe Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane played an occasional Fairfax softball game. Herb\u00a0Caen in 1970 reported that the \u201cDead Ringers,\u201d with promoter Bill Graham pitching, beat the Airplane team 17-16. \u201cYou see there\u2019s more than one way to go on grass,\u201d Caen quipped.
\nThe second hot tub in the Bay Area was built in the 1960s by Fairfax woodworker Al\u00a0Garvey. Local Jazz legend John Handy and pioneering sex worker Margo St. James<\/a> were among the first to try it out.
\nAnd Fairfax resident Joe Breeze in 1977 constructed the first purpose-built mountain bike prototype, testing it at that year\u2019s\u00a0harrowing Repack downhill trail bike race<\/a>. Bike culture has only gotten stronger since here, with at least five shops in the small town, which has become a launching point for rides through Mount Tamalpais and rural Marin County.
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