When Sarah and I were planning our trip to Seattle a few weeks ago, I asked one of the local Starbucks reps that we were working with to suggest a few off-the-beaten path things for us to do and visit while we were there. As soon as I saw her mention of Seattle’s gum wall, I was so in. I mean, visiting the Space Needle is a given. But a disgusting gum wall? Even better. Sarah, on the other hand, needed a bit more convincing. And that was before we knew it was voted the second germiest tourist attraction in 2009 (the Blarney Stone took top honors).
We knew the general area where it was, but not an exact location. As soon as I saw this graffiti-filled alleyway, I knew we were in the right place.
And I was right.
I thought it was awesome. In a disgusting sort of way. My inner germophobe might have been hurling just a bit, but it was just one of those fun things to cross off our virtual bucket list. Even though Sarah still swears this never appeared on her bucket list, I bet she’s secretly glad we went anyway.
It’s across the alley way from a little club, in the vicinity of a theater, and the start of a ghost tour (totally missed that! we’ll just have to go back). Back in 2008, Jennifer Aniston actually filmed a scene from Love Happens right by this very wall. If disgusting gum walls are your thing, there is another one in Cali that bears checking out. That one has been around a lot longer, with its inception dating somewhere around WWII. By comparison, the Seattle one “officially” started in 1999, after locals were unsuccessful in getting people to stop putting gum there.
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