okay so i literally just got back from athens georgia like three hours ago and my laptop is still open from booking the bus home so here's everything before i forget or pass out

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Q: Is this place worth visiting?
A: only if you like music history, cheap beer, and feeling slightly haunted by college students. it's not a destination, it's a vibe.

Q: Is it expensive?
A: laughably cheap. i spent $40 total on food for two days. the bus was the expensive part.

Q: Who would hate it here?
A: anyone who needs structure, clean streets, or things to be open after 10pm. also people who don't like dogs everywhere.

Q: Best time to visit?
A: late spring when it's not humid as hell but before the summer heat makes you want to die. i went when it was like 18 degrees and honestly perfect.

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so the weather was doing that thing where it's technically nice but feels slightly wrong? like it was 18.3 degrees but felt like 17.62 which is basically the same but my brain couldn't accept it. the humidity was at 55% which sounds fine until you realize that's the kind of dry that makes your lips crack but also somehow you're sweating? i don't know. i'm not a meteorologist. a local told me "it'll rain in twenty minutes" and i didn't believe her because the sky looked fine and then IT DID RAIN IN TWENTY MINUTES so now i trust random georgia women with weather predictions.

*the music situation

look, i need to be honest. i didn't come here for the music. i came here because my friend said there's a bar where the b-52s used to drink and i thought that was funny. but then i got there and it's like... everywhere? there's posters everywhere. someone told me this town has more musicians per capita than anywhere in the south and honestly i believe it because i saw three different bands on one street in one night and none of them were bad.

food thoughts

i ate at this place called... honestly i can't remember the name. it was on college avenue and they had these meat trays that looked like something my dad would serve at a party in 1994 and i loved it. $12 for enough food to feed me and my friend who kept saying "we shouldn't get appetizers" and then got appetizers. the hot dog place near the university is also worth it. a local warned me not to get the pizza at the place next to the bookstore but didn't explain why so i got it anyway and it was fine actually? maybe they just hate that place.

the downtown area

here's the thing about athens downtown: it's small enough that you can walk everything but big enough that you'll get lost if you're not paying attention. there's these statues? like these white statues with yellow umbrellas? i don't know what they're for. i saw them and thought "cool, art" and kept walking. that's the athens experience honestly. you see weird stuff and you just keep walking.

a group of white statues with yellow umbrellas

safety vibes

i felt safe the entire time which is not something i say about everywhere. i walked back to my friend's apartment at like 1am and the worst thing that happened was a dog followed me for two blocks and i gave it my leftover hot dog. the police station is right there near downtown and i saw cops just... existing. not in a scary way. in a "this is a college town and everyone's too broke to commit crimes" way.

costs breakdown

okay actual numbers because i know that's why you're here:

- bus ticket from atlanta: $25 (greyhound, 1.5 hours)
- hostel night: $35 (shared room, clean enough)
- food: $40 (four meals, two drinks)
- random thrift store shirt: $8
- total: $108 for a weekend which is actually insane

i heard from someone at the hostel that you can do it for even less if you don't eat as much as i did but i refuse to be responsible about food.

the university area

the university of georgia campus is right there and it's huge in that way that makes you feel like you should be doing something with your life. i saw students walking around with coffee looking stressed and i felt that in my soul. there's this street - ullman street? - that has all these vintage shops and i found a jacket for $15 that i now own. a girl told me "oh that's from the 90s" like that was a bad thing and i said "that's the point" and she walked away. we are not the same.

things i didn't do but heard about

people kept mentioning this place called "the grave" which sounds scary but apparently it's just a bar with good drinks. someone told me there's a ghost tour but i don't believe in ghosts so i didn't go. the botanical garden is supposed to be nice but i ran out of time. there's also this coffee shop that's supposed to be amazing but i don't drink coffee so i went to the place that had good tea instead.

nearby stuff

atlanta is literally an hour away by bus so you could do both if you're crazy. i heard there's hiking up in north georgia but that requires a car and i don't have one of those. the drive to athens from atlanta is apparently pretty so if you have wheels, take them.

final thoughts

would i go back? yeah probably. it's the kind of place that doesn't try to be anything and that's refreshing. it's not pretty in a way that's performative, it's just... there. existing. being a college town. having good music and cheap food and weird statues.

if you're into music at all, this is worth it. if you're into cheap living, this is worth it. if you're into anything else, maybe check it out anyway.

links because apparently i have to include these:*

- https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g29485-d2633670-Athens_Georgia-Things_To_Do-In_Athens-Georgia.html - tripadvisor list of stuff
- https://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=Restaurants&find_loc=Athens%2C+GA - yelp for food
- https://www.reddit.com/r/AthensGeorgia/ - reddit thread i lurked before coming
- https://www.visitathensga.com/ - official tourism site
- https://www.atlantamagazine.com/athens-georgia-weekend-itinerary/ - another guide i used
- https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/12/travel/athens-georgia-music-scene.html - actual journalism about the music scene

okay that's it. i'm going to sleep now. good luck.

Athens, Georgia: A Broke Student's Guide to This Weird Little Music Town

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