Athens is a college town full of activities and delicious food that provides endless study spots and memory-making locations for you and your best gals! Here are a few you may or may not know about.
- Hodgson’s Pharmacy $1.25 Scoops of Ice Cream
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Thankfully, the weather is finally cooling off and you don’t look like a crazy person wearing a sweater to morning classes. But just because it’s not sweltering hot outside, it doesn’t mean we stop craving ice cream. Ice cream season is all year round, people. This hidden gem has changed my life in recent months. An older and wiser UGA student told me about the adorable pharmacy that is a hot spot for cute Athens families because of their delicious ice cream cones that don’t break the bank. The Pharmacy is located in Five Points near Jittery Joes and, if you go, you’ll probably run into me because I have become a regular of the cute little gem of a place. Unfortunately, our favorite ice cream scooper, Steve Harrington, is nowhere to be found. Scoops ahoy, anyway!
- $5 Tuesday Movies at Beechwood Cinemas
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Athens movie theaters always have the latest films showing and keep us cheap college students in mind! Beechwood Cinemas off of Alps Road offers $5 movie tickets on Tuesdays, which is especially enticing to Grady students like myself who are always trying to keep up with the latest movie references. If that theater isn’t convenient for you, the AMC movie theater on Lexington offers $6 tickets to students any day of the week at any time if you have your student ID! And as always, University Union shows some amazing films FOR FREE with your student ID in Tate Theater. They just had a full showing of “Mean Girls” in honor of Oct. 3 and even gave out pink cupcakes for the occasion. University Union really does the most for us and we are so appreciative. You better believe my roommates and I were in the theater. Get out of your dorm and go see some movies!
- $1 Coffee at Dunkin Donuts After a Dawgs Win
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This might be common knowledge among UGA students because everybody loves a bargain, but just in case you weren’t aware of this amazing deal, here you go! The day after a Dawgs win, any Dunkin Donuts in Athens gives away $1 hot or iced medium coffees if you’re a part of their rewards program! Whether you’re on your way to church or spending the day catching up on homework, a $1 coffee is a great start to any Sunday. Thank Kirby, Fromm, Swift, Hot Rod and all the other Dawg players while you sip your yummy drink!
- All the Nail Places in Athens
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We know we speak for a lot of UGA students when we say that getting one’s nails done is such a wonderful occasion. Life can be a whole mess, and then you get your nails done and it feels like you have everything a little bit more together. Game pictures are cuter with festive-colored nails and even mundane activities like typing an essay are more fun when you see your cute, put-together nails clicking away on the keyboard. Athens does not disappoint when it comes to having an abundance of places to go to get your perfect nails! Prince Avenue, the Barnett Shoals shopping center, the Target shopping center off of Atlanta Highway and many other hubs of Athens have amazing nail prices with incredibly talented technicians and even student discounts!
- Avid Bookstore
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There are two Avid Bookstore locations in Athens. One is located off of Prince Avenue and the other is among the other shops and restaurants in Five Points! The shops are full of amazing book options for every genre and every kind of reader. There is nothing like walking into a shop with that book smell, aesthetic walls full of hardback and soft cover novels. Not to mention, cute little bookmarks, buttons and stationary. The bookstores even have a few different book clubs you can sign up to join! Find a book you love and read it just for fun!
- Amazing Japanese Food in Athens
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Teriyaki chicken, Yum Yum sauce, veggies, fried rice and sushi are all delicious foods you can get at one of Athens many Asian cuisine restaurants. Inoko is a Japanese restaurant with a couple different locations in town that serves delicious, filling meals that are easy on your wallet! Choo Choo’s is a Japanese/Korean eatery that delivers food until late into the night if you ever want some of their amazing fried rice after a late night football game or study sesh.
- Cali N Tito’s Life Hack
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This hidden gem goes out to my roommate, Rachel, who came out of her room to go to Cali N Tito’s in their very own merch. My jaw dropped at the beautiful apparel and then she told me the even more amazing news: If you buy a shirt from the restaurant and wear it on your visits there, you receive a 15% discount on your entire purchase! Everything on the menu is delicious, but we are bit biased toward the quesadillas and queso! If you’re a regular at the beloved Athens hot spot, you might wanna consider investing in one of their cute shirts.
- The Georgia Center Is the Perfect Study Spot
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An often underappreciated part of campus sits at the top of Lumpkin’s infamous hill. While climbing the monster is not what anyone would prefer doing, the Georgia Center is an amazing place to get work done. It’s quiet, SUPER fancy and has plenty of comfy chairs and spots to set your laptop. It’s an extremely popular spot among Wesley students for their discipleship time because of its comfy cozy vibes. Next time you want to get stuff accomplished on campus, but the liveliness of Tate is too distracting and all the MLC study rooms are full, consider this nice study spot!
- Bubble Tea and Other Snacks in Athens
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Listen, we realize a lot of these hidden gem/life hacks have to do with food, but Athens is a place for amazing food! And what better time to indulge yourself in all the yummy treats than in college? I received a recommendation from my roommate that the Bubble Cafe downtown is perhaps a little difficult to find with its somewhat underground location, but it’s totally worth the trip! It has multiple flavors of tea, pearls and other savory food, like dumplings. Downtown Athens is full of cute, little snacking spots for ice cream, edible cookie dough, smoothie bowls and more! Take a break from studying and satisfy your snack craving.
- Beautiful Parks That Are Perfect to Spice up Homework Time
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Sometimes your regular homework spot gets a little old and uninspiring. There’s no better way to inspire new motivation than finding a new setting to write that essay or study for that test. Athens provides us with so many beautiful places to be in nature and be productive. Bear Hollow, Watson Mill State Park and the Botanical Gardens are all gorgeous and serene places to go instead of the same-old-same-old study space. With the weather cooling, the outdoors seems even more inviting. Grab a blanket, some friends and head to the park!
It’s time to attack the day!