George R.R. Martin, the author of the worldwide-bestselling fantasy series A Song Of Ice And Fire, the basis for HBO juggernaut Game of Thrones, is a widely noted Deadhead. If you’ve read his books or watched Game of Thrones, you’ve probably noticed a reference or two to the Grateful Dead. According to Martin, the books are riddled with nods to the band, from the ferocious “Dire Wolves” the Stark kids keep as pets to the sacred “Weirwood” trees in the North and the knight, Gerold Dayne, who is also known as “Darkstar.” Martin even refers to his home as “Terrapin Station”.

In a 2015 interview at New York’s 92nd St. Y, Martin explained, “I’m certainly a fan of the Grateful Dead, I’ve attended Grateful Dead concerts…My wife Paris is perhaps more of a fan of the Grateful Dead than I am.” In the same interview, he noted, “I do have Grateful Dead lyrics always rattling around in my head…‘Ripple’ is one of my favorite songs of all time…’There is a road, no simple highway.”

So it’s no surprise that when latter-day Grateful incarnation Dead & Company hosted their inaugural Playing In The Sand destination event in Mexico earlier this month, George and Paris Martin were in attendance. As is customary at these types of events, the Martins milled around with the rest of the crowd and band including ESPN Radio host Stugotz, as pictured together below:

I took a stroll with @Stugotz790 and then he showed me the picture of him and George RR Martin at a Dead show in Mexico pic.twitter.com/ja5NTpwPh8 — Stephen Asian Smith (@PabloTorre) February 27, 2018

George and Paris also got a chance to hang with Oteil Burbridge and his wife, Jess, in Mexico. As Oteil gushed in a Facebook post about the trip, noting “Getting to meet George R.R. Martin and his lovely wife Paris was pretty mind-blowing! We are big-time Game of Thrones fans in the Burbridge House. He gave us money from frigging Westeros! And Paris gave us a pin of the Sigil of the Brotherhood Without Banners. Too cool!”

You can see Oteil and Jess Burbridge pictured with George at Playing in the Sand below via Oteil’s Instagram (Note: bonus points to George for the skull suspenders). Scroll right for a photo of their “Westerosi” gifts from the Martins.