Athens, Georgia

Almost immediately I realized that Athens was a college town. I didn't know what school was there, but I knew it was close, and in session. Now I had pretty much been hanging out in the college parts of towns since Charleston, but I was beginning to think that hanging in the college parts may be the most fun for this trip, but its not a place that I want to live. College was a lot of fun, I'm glad I did it, but I certainly don't need to relive it. With that being said, there was a lot of cool record stores, and bars. I found a little coffee shop with free wi-fi and I went to work to getting some lodging.

I managed to pull of a Best Wester 3/4 of a mile from the Downtown. It was Sunday night, which meant:

1. In Georgia, no liquor can be sold, unless the establishment is also selling a certain proportion of hot food. I.E. restaurants only, no bars were open, and no purchasing beer/wine/liquor from convenience stores.
2. It was the Super Bowl

I decided to spend the first half in my hotel getting ready to go out, and then during the Bridgestone Half-Time special featuring the Black-Eyed Peas and a whopping serving of who-gives-a-shit, I would walk downtown and find a place to watch the second half.

Pretty much the only place that was open (see 'Sunday Night' #1) was a large pizza chain called the Mellow Mushroom. I found a seat at the bar, with a nice view of the TV, and ordered a beer. Before finishing the first beer I became engaged in a conversation with the couple next to me. They were some of my favorite people I've met on this trip: Lori & LaMorris. The bright couple was from Atlanta, and was in Athens for their honeymoon. After dropping in unconscionable amount of money the night before at some VIP nightclub (including bottles of Patron, a VIP table, and apparently a moment in then night when Lori was throwing money onto the crowd below), they were pretty much broke. But what are honeymoons for? So myself, and the group to their right was buying they some drinks. LaMorris (pictured below) was an Army Ranger medic who had done 2 tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. He was one bad-ass dude, who switched in conversation from his favorite foods to being under heavy fire and using a catheter to exchange blood on the field to a dying soldier while shooting donkeys, like it was the same thing. 

LaMorris and Myself - very strong

Needless to say, I didn't pay much mind to the second half of the game. I tried to attempt to watch it, but their conversations kept pulling me away. It was all well and good until Greenbay took the game. The group to Lori & LaMorris's right was a mother-daughter combination with some of the daughter's friends. The mother had a cheese hat, and hulk gloves (pictured above). After the victory, the very tipsy mother proceeded to do a jig (see video below). The rest of the night took on a similar manner. She was almost too drunk to stay in the bar. She began throwing her cheese hat and hulk gloves around the bar. This is when LaMorris and I got a hold of the gloves and cheese hat. At this point I saw an amazing feat attempted by the intoxicated gentleman attempting to court the daughter in the duo. He tried to ask the mother if it would be alright if he took her daughter home. I was amazed at such a display of courage and stupidity. I don't think it went over too well. The mom didn't freak out, as she was a bit of a strange one herself, but, to his dismay, he went home alone. After that, I was pretty much tuckered out, and retired back to my quarters for the evening.

The next day was Monday, which meant that Megan, the girl that I had met in Savannah would be returning to Athens and had graciously accepted my offer to take her out somewhere nice. As a lone traveler, there has been many eateries that I didn't dare eat at alone. It makes me sad, and I'm pretty sure it depresses everyone else for a guy to be eating a nice dinner out in a restaurant alone. So she found some nice place called the 5 and 10 that we went to. After the restaurant she took me to some really cool local bars. I drank some really nice Belgium beers in a place called Trapeze. They even had mead on the menu! So I had to try this historic beverage. After that, she took me to the bar that she worked at, which sadly, was closing its doors this Saturday. So most of the regulars in this bar were bummed out that this was so. Other than that, it was a pretty fun time. After that, I retired to my quarters. I woke up the next day, and set out for Atlanta, which is only about an hour and a half from Athens.