"SAN LOO-is oh-BIHS-po, not SAN LOO-ee... " a San Luis Obispo Travel Page by DoroTheExplorer

Driving down or up 101, you may not even notice San Luis Obispo except for the "Next 8 Stops" sign. High shrubbery obscures one's view of the town so, unless you were already intending to visit SLO, you would have to stop and get gas or food before realizing it was a cute place.

I love this town. It's home. For now, anyway. By the way, we all call it SLO as in slow, not ess el oh. And, compared to the places (cities) most of the college students come from, it is a less hurried lifestyle. However, it has been slowly growing in the last seven years I've been here [and much quicker in just this last year]. I'm not sure if I like that yet. Still, it's remained calm and quiet enough for me and most everyone is good people.

I don't really believe San Luis Obispo is a place of which anybody says, "I simply must go there," unless they are trying to get into the university, of course. However, you may one day end up here as a visitor very randomly. And you will wish that you knew of something to do. On my page, I will write about the old favorites in this town, but I will also be adding tips about all the new places that are opening soon. Mind you, I am writing of activities done on a student's budget, although this student occasionally splurges on a fancy night on the town.

[If you are planning on visiting this town for a romantic getaway, feel free to contact me about things to do and places to eat. Although, most of the info I can give will probably be hearsay.]

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Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo is a well-regarded public university, especially in the areas of engineering, architecture and agriculture.

Murder By Numbers starring Sandra Bullock, Ryan Gosling and Michael Pitt was partly filmed here.

The town is home to UFC fighter Chuck Liddell's SLO Kickboxing School. It seems to be a breeding ground for great fighters. I don't really watch that stuff, though.

News of the 2004 Mardi Gras Riots was wired all across the country and even broadcasted on CNN (I don't get my news from CNN and I heard that from someone else.) Some people just believe that they gotta fight (dun dun) for their right (dururururun) to paaaaaaaaartay!

Oprah invested in the Art Café in 2004, after tasting a curried chicken salad sandwich from there, saving it from closing--without
even visiting the shop itself. It was publicized on her show, her magazine and the Today show on NBC.

Weird Al Yankovic attended Poly as an architecture student. He recorded his parody of The Knack's "My Sharona"--his being "My Bologna"--in a campus bathroom.

A little bar called McCarthy's, with a maximum occupancy of around 50, sells more Jameson Irish Whiskey than any other bar in the country. Or some statistic like that.

Oddworld Inhabitants has their development facility here. They make console games like Abe's Oddysee and Stranger. (I'm pretty sure they've closed up shop or else are in the process of doing so to move on up to Berkeley and work in TV and movies.)

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It's right in the middle of a bunch of other towns and regions, which themselves have various activities and sights that may appeal to your travel wishes--except if you seek the metropolitan lifestyle.

To the North
Morro Bay
Cayucos
Cambria
San Simeon

To the South
Avila Beach
Arroyo Grande
Pismo Beach
Shell Beach
Oceano

To the Southeast
Edna Valley