Great Pub Crawls

[DeltAlum]

I went to school here in the 60's, and the tradition continues...

THIS WAS IN STUFF MAGAZINE

Athens is one of the best-kept secrets in North America, tucked away in the beautiful hills of Southeast Ohio. Home of Ohio University, every autumn this small town becomes packed with 20,000 co-eds and includes one of the most famous drinking streets in America -- Court Street (see Halloween Bash or Daylight Savings Time riots).

Court Street, also called uptown because every path leading to the street is uphill, is a 200-year-old brick-layered road that includes 19 bars within a two-block area. The bricks literally provide stumbling blocks for the impaired as they cross the streets to other bars.

Drink specials? How about quarter draft night? You can get drunk for as much as it costs to do laundry (and many times for the poor college student, it comes down to drastic decisions like that -- getting drunk or wearing clean underwear). Quad night is the highlight of the week. Four times the alcohol in mixed drinks for only two bucks. "Clearance" at the Pub is a
close second. Certain nights from 7-9, alcohol is "on sale" for half price. Oh, the Pub also offers "Aquariums". It's a great sight to see everyone drinking beer out of glass fish bowls.

Many of the bars have their own personalities: the sorority bars, the sports bars, the jock bars, the dance bars, the band bars, the microbrews, the preppie bars -- but all of them are full of good people and cold beer.

Famous OU alum bar patrons include: Matt Lauer, Arsenio Hall, Sugar Ray Leonard (his son played football at OU), Paul Newman, the guy who plays McGuyver, Piper Perabo (Violet from "Coyote Ugly"), Ed O'Neil (aka Al Bundy), and even Cooter from "The Dukes of Hazard" among others.

The Court Street Shuffle is the holy grail of pub crawls. They even sell T-shirts to commemorate the night. The shirts list each of the 19 bars where "Shufflers" are supposed to have a drink and a shot. Groups of shufflers gather, vote on a "name" for their shuffle (i.e. "The More I Drink, The Prettier She Gets Shuffle"), and begin the mission. Bartenders and patrons sign the shirts and as the night progresses, the shirts become more filled with messages. It is inevitable to end up with magic marker stains on the skin. I went "shuffling" with my girlfriend once and the next day she mysteriously had messages (and phone numbers) written on her stomach, back, legs and breasts from random guys. And no bar bathroom in Athens is complete without seeing a random graffiti listing of past "Shuffles" on the walls.

Late night munchies, like the bars, are also plentiful. Burger King, Wendy's, and Taco Bell (the world's largest Taco Bell) are all open late to satisfy the drunken hunger of bar patrons. Also, $1 slices of pizza are freshly baked and served at a local bakery on Court Street. The legendary Burrito Buggy -- literally a trailer that serves burritos -- is the king of late night snacking. Yes, ordinarily the burritos taste like they're made in a trailer, but at 2:30 a.m. it tastes like heaven.

The best part of all -- no drinking and driving. Nobody drives to the bars. Court Street is surrounded by housing, so a walk...er...stumble home is only 5-10 minutes. And since it's Uptown, it's much easier falling home drunk since its all downhill. In fact, Jefferson Hill -- a major pathway to dorms and apartments -- is one of the steepest hills you'll ever walk up (or down). It has been known to cause intoxicated people to tumble down it, scraping knees, bruising tailbones and yes, even knocking out teeth. (It's the same hill that Paul Newman once rolled a keg down as a student and was expelled.)

So if you're looking for a verdict in deciding where to find a night of cheap drinking, nice people, good-looking young women and fun, thousands of visitors and residents suggest taking the bar exam on Court Street.

NOTE: When I was a Delt Pledge, I was out one night with an Alpha Gam pledge -- it was snowing when we got to the top of Jeff Hill (see above), and she grabbed my hand and started running down the hill. I thought I was going to die...