Foot traffic is picking up. Live music is pouring out of bars. Underclassmen are crossing College Ave in hordes. Athens is abuzz.
First bar has a Mardi gras theme. Beads adorn the walls, it's unclear if they are decoration or last night's mess. Lots of Polo and khaki and New Balance. Natty Lights are $1 (Brian buys the first round with a five spot, this amazes me). We're feeling talkative and make a few new friends. Freshman from Augusta, freshman from Macon, freshman from Charleston. We head to the next bar.
Sideways is the quintessential college dive. Pretty girls negotiate the crowd in stilettos (a little overdressed? I ask Jonathan, our all-knowing guide. "Lot of competition here." Agreed). Guys in raggity bar hats are making aggressive advances. People are drinking with reckless abandon. A cover band is busting out frat anthems, breaking strings on their stratocasters. Everyone in the vicinity of the stage is holding up a fist, squinting, screaming. Whooooaaa.... we're halfway there! This is awesome. This is exhausting.
Onto the next place. En route, we pass at least 30 bars, all at capacity. We buy pizza from sorority girls raising money for a cause. I attempt an athletic maneuver that rips the back out of my jeans. It's that kind of night.
At 8E's, another classic dive, I'm feeling a little self-conscious dancing to Journey with my wardrobe situation and decide instead to observe the scene from the corner. These people are partying. I estimate that no one in this bar has any plans before 1pm tomorrow. And I realize, neither do I. Robby comes over and we line up a shot.
To college. To life. To Athens.
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