The hook
A downtown alley in San Luis Obispo has both walls packed with decades of chewed gum, fifteen feet high and seventy feet long.
01Why it's worth it
Nobody's quite sure how it started, a high-school graduation stunt after World War II or a Cal Poly versus SLO High rivalry in the 1950s, but by the 1970s Bubblegum Alley was a fixture: a narrow passage off Higuera Street with every inch of both walls layered in gum left by people walking through. Shopkeepers had it scrubbed clean twice in the '70s and again in 1996, and the gum always came back. It's gross, and that's the point. People press on a piece, take a photo, and move on. A couple of other gum walls exist around the country, but this is the one that got the New York Times arguing over whether it's a landmark or a health violation.
02How to experience it
It's in the 700 block of Higuera Street in downtown San Luis Obispo, a two-minute walk-through, free and always open. Bring a piece of gum if you want to add to it, or just look. It's steps from the rest of downtown SLO and makes an easy pairing with the Madonna Inn across town.