Road trip season is here, and as road trippers we're always looking for unique and fun attractions in various cities that you won't find anywhere else. These kinds of attractions always help break up long hauls in the vehicle while moving from one destination to another, and of course are great photo opportunities to share with friends.
In the heart of Pike Place Market lies one of the most disgustingly awesome attractions I've come across while road tripping, the Seattle Gum Wall.
We were recently down in Seattle for my annual birthday weekend road trip, and of course couldn't miss visiting the Wall. With an entire pack of Hubba Bubba in hand, we headed prepared to spit our own wad of gum on the Wall and leave our mark.
For those of you who've never heard of this wall of gum before, it started life as a brick alleyway just under Pike Place. Starting in 1993, passers by began apply gum, and it has become a popular tourist attraction. The Gum Wall now spans several walls down the street, and even reaches at least 2 stories high in some places.
Fun fact: the Gum Wall has been named one of the germiest tourist attractions, alongside the Blarney Stone.
One of the most fascinating things about the Gum Wall is seeing the amount of art created out of gum. You may think this is just a place where people spit their old chewing gum onto a wall, but in fact people actually spend quite a bit of time being creative, even spelling various names out of chewing gum.
We weren't ambitious enough to make some sort of artwork. My goal was to eat an entire pack of Hubba Bubba gum, then place the blob of gum on the Wall somewhere.
Here's my work of art.
Things to bring with you to the Gum Wall:
• Some sort of wet nap to wipe your hands with after. I brought a wet makeup remover sheet, but a baby wipe can also work.
• Different colored pieces of gum. It's more fun to create artwork with different pieces of gum, rather than gum from the same pack.
• A camera. This is a pretty impressive attraction, and you'll want to capture the fun of the gum wall for great travel memories.
If you're going to head to the gum wall with your children, make sure to keep an eye on them. We saw several kids eating pieces of gum from the wall when their parents weren't looking.
Can't make it to Seattle to visit the gum wall? You're in luck; there is another gum wall in San Luis Obispo, California which is the original gum wall in America.
Have you visited the gum wall before? What did you leave behind?
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