Goodbye SLO

Last Tuesday, Megan and I decided that in order to say goodbye to SLO, we should go to and document various places and spaces that, for us, are quintessentially “San Luis Obispo." These places may not mean anything to other people who live or have lived in SLO, but for us they hold either meaning or memories. For example, while the Upham Porch holds both meaning and fond memories, the Gaslight is not the most meaningful landmark of our college experience; however, it most definitely reminds us of some great times.

            Our adventure began at 1624 Chorro St around four in the afternoon; we packed a couple beers to drink at various destinations, and hopped on our bicicletas (A special “thank you” to the loud neighbors and their peace offering of two Bud Lights, class act).

            Our first destination was The Stab, where Megan spent some quality time with Isaac on Garret’s couch, and Craig gave us big bear hugs…Thank you for all the Halloween extravaganzas, family dinners, and love…oh, and for letting me live with you for a month...you all are so dear to me.

            We then moseyed on over to the abandoned Upham Porch. We chit chatted on the railing, drank our peace offering, sank our bums into the most comfortable porch couch ever, and discussed all of the good times at Upham: Jessie Joy’s “J Party,” Nick’s very eventful birthday party, Alison’s birthday party and the destruction of the piñata (the memorial still hangs), the burrito dinner that turned into a concert on the porch, and the list goes on…

            Next Megan and I biked down to Garden Street and hung out in perhaps our favorite place in all of SLO (and beyond? I don’t know, it could be), Linnaea’s Café. We parked our bikes in the rack out front and hugged Ms. May and Mr. Alex who happened to be hanging out on the sidewalk. After taking a few pictures of May at the infamous dish station (where everyone tells their secrets), we waltzed on down to the Library and Frog and Peach.

            At Frog we sipped our gin and tonics for a good couple hours and watched the happenings of Higuera St. from the creeper windows. In SLO fashion, however, we weren’t alone for long and were happily joined by Will, Craig, Nick, and Lauren May.            

            We hadn’t planned to stay so long at the creeper window, and the sun went down before we got to many other memorable spots. We did make it to our beloved Palm Theatre and to Audria’s work…but no Gaslight, Mitchell Park, Pismo St, the one and only Curb, the Brizzolara House, Steinberg, or the radio station. All of which, we’ll just have to remember through real-deal memories and old pictures.

           The adventure, I think, was quite successful, but did nothing to express how much all of us girls truly love SLO. I don’t think we took it for granted while we were there either; we knew it was special and surreal.

            Simply put, SLO is magical, and after living in a Neverland it’s hard to be okay with the real world. I suppose we’ll just have to keep living in our dream world and embark on more adventures.

            So, I guess, we’re off to Neverland.