Playing with the Moon

I got these uncredited photos in my email the other day. These are quite clever and seem to have a lot of thought put into them. (I discovered the artist/photographer is Laurent Lavender.)

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Bubblegum Alley: San Luis Obispo, CA

San Luis Obispo, CA, is located in the "central coast" region of California, it's the major town between Santa Barbara to the south and San Jose to the north.

It is home to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, a well regarded state school in California. SLO was also home to the world's first motel, the Milestone Mo-Tel (built in 1925). SLO is situated in a beautiful valley that's far enough inland that it's almost always sunny but not so far inland that it gets too hot in the summer. A gorgeous town, to say the least.

Its biggest claim to fame, in my opinion, is Bubblegum Alley. I had not heard of it prior to last year. On a lark, I searched for "odd roadside attractions near San Luis Obispo" - and Bubblegum Alley was the first place referenced. In fact, it was mentioned several times in the search results.

The photos I took from this year's trip don't really give you an accurate impression of how overwhelming this alley is in person. The alley can be easy to miss if you don't know what you're looking for - if you're in the area, it's a small alley connecting Garden Alley and Higuera Street. It's located a couple of doors down from Mother's Tavern (aka "MoTav"). (I'm purposely mentioning MoTav here because they were kind enough to let my dad use their restroom when his bladder was about to burst.) MoTav's address is 725 Higuera Street. If you walk a couple of steps north on Higuera Street from MoTav, you'll find the alley.

Summary: If you're ever in the SLO area, be sure to check out Bubblegum Alley. It's worth the stop.