Ever since I found out last week that Junkman’s Daughter’s Brother in Athens is closing, I have been listening to R.E.M.’s Out of Time and feeling that lovely combination of nostalgic and depressed, which is a little weird because R.E.M. actually predates my time in Athens. Nonetheless, I did spend four years trying to spot Michael Stipe around town and was the only one of my friends that never did. Very disappointing because I had the perfect line to approach him since my initials at the time were R.E.M. He would have been charmed, I’m sure.
Another significant Athens business closing? I really can’t take it. I’ve yet to recover from the loss of the greatest coffee shop I’ve ever known and the hits just keep on coming. I know everyone thinks their era was the best, but I can assure you, it was all about 1998-2002.
Blue Sky. Oh, Blue Sky. Admittedly your Mocha Freezes weren’t always consistent, but the way we’d smell after studying there for a few hours sure was. The walls were always covered in original art that ranged from amazing to downright terrifying at times. I was there to hate on the new Starbucks when it showed up next door and while all the silly freshman who didn’t know any better trekked into that corporate box, we Blue Sky patrons packed the house and basked in the comfort of knowing we were better and smarter. Sometime after I graduated, you decided to expand and serve alcohol in addition to being a coffee shop. My heart sank a little as you betrayed your true calling, and soon you were gone from us forever.
Mexicali. You were basic, standard Mexican food and almost fully staffed by students, or at least people in that age range. You were so busy that a portion of your staff was dedicated to “chipping.” Yes, just making sure the tables had chips. But you left it to your young staff to make the pitchers of margarita instead of using professional bartenders. And for that, your hammered patrons thanked you.
Caliente Cab, you were awesome outdoor eating. Incredible Cuban sandwiches and we could bring our own booze or run into the gas station next door. I hear you may still exist in some form somewhere else, but I don’t have to go to know it’s not the same.
One of my favorite freshman memories is of the 80s disco at Georgia Theatre. It was from 2 am to 4 am on the weekends after concerts cleared out. On those rare occasions we weren’t in the mood to go out at our usual hour of 11 pm, we’d set our alarms, take a nap and wake up at 1 and get ready. Then came the new closing time ordinance. Might as well have become that little town in Footloose the way it hurt so bad to lose our weekly dose of Prince and Michael Jackson. Of course, Georgia Theatre isn’t actually gone, despite a major fire that gutted it in 2009. But it’s all clean and colorful outside now which makes me fear that the interior no longer properly reeks of stale beer or boasts a floor you wouldn’t sit on even if both your legs were broken.
Molly O’Shea’s Irish Pub. Your Amaretto Sours live on in my heart.
The Winery. But NOT the recently closed Broad Street location. I liked you before your plastic surgery makeover — the original and smaller location a couple blocks away. Once you moved to the main street, everyone from Milledge Ave. found you. And ruined you.
“I think you ladies are in the wrong bar!” was how we were once greeted walking into Lunch Paper, the punk bar. It was understandable confusion since most of us looked like we had walked out of a dressing room at Express or Old Navy. But we still loved you. I even remember how we used to go every Monday to watch the new episode of The Osbournes which you always took care to have on the TV. Kids these days probably don’t know that the first season of that show was super awesome and beloved before the family was crammed down our throats from every conceivable angle and Sharon was on six shows at once (not hating, just saying).
I didn’t actually realize at the time that Five Star Day Cafe was new when I was a freshman. But damn, fifteen years of that that mac and cheese.
Farewell, Schoolkids Records. Damn you, technology.
Now my guilty pleasure. The place that probably won’t show up on many, okay any, best of Athens lists. AMF or Athens Music Factory came about after I started school with cheap drinks and dancing. You have had about a hundred names — Fifth Quarter before you became AMF, Last Call after. I can’t even find one picture of you online. But you are burned in my memory. Sort of. Actually it’s kind of hazy. You actually sold liquor drinks to minors for a quarter with a fallible wristband system. We saved them all and had every color in our purses ready to go. I don’t know why. I don’t think you really cared. But you did give us Thursday 80s night in a beguiling attempt to fill the hole left by Georgia Theatre.
And oh, what they’ve done to my dorm with their renovations. Those kids. They don’t know the true Myers Hall. The true Myers Hall didn’t have air conditioning or fancy, modern “up to code” features. Reader, you may wonder why I would choose such a dorm. The reason was my inability to read between the lines back in 1998 during my senior year of high school. The other buildings in the community were described in the brochure as having AC, while it was pointed out that Myers housed the air-conditioned computer lab. You see, it did not occur to me — IN 1998 — that a dorm would not have air conditioning. In Georgia. In August. When I discovered my blunder, I waited to be murdered by my friend since 8th grade, Giovana, who was to be my roommate and trusted me to make the decision since she didn’t give a crap and I was obsessed with the matter. Fortunately, she missed all my major arteries and we went on to have two great years there. No AC meant everyone’s door was always open and it attracted an interesting array of people. But these kids now are living in chilly asbestos-free suites, never to know the amazing feeling of kicking your sheets off in the middle of the August night and turning your window fan to high. This generation will be so entitled.
I guess nothing lasts forever. And sometimes that just sucks.
So, The Grill, don’t even think about it. Ever. Seriously. My heart couldn’t take it.
College pics…just cuz.
The Good
The Bad
And the truly ugly…with some beauty.
Mixed Up Mommy 
That was a terrific post. Thanks for the inspiration.
Thank you so much! And I got your amazing e-mail. Haven’t had a chance to respond yet 🙂
OMG, I was there from 2000-2004 and lived in 4N. This brings back so many memories it hurts. Thank you!
Thank you for reading! I had no idea how big this post would be!
You forgot about the Cookie Shoppe – which had the best chicken cashew sandwiches. And Uptown Lounge. I came in 1998 for school, but stayed after graduating. I hate to see the old businesses close, but we do have a few new ones that are awesome.
Oh yeah! I can’t say I really ever went to Cookie Shoppe, but I remember it. Oh, Uptown Lounge. I went a couple times and had fun. They were famous for their lax IDing and freshman girls on the bar 🙂
It was Cookies & Company 🙂 I worked there for 3 years. I lived in Athens from ’93-’02. Sad to see that it closed.
Oh that’s right! I thought Cookie Shoppe didn’t sound quite right. Now that I think about it I think I did buy a box lunch there a few times. It was pretty good. I don’t know why I didn’t eat there more.
I miss their house sauce terribly! I was so sad when they closed taking their delicious sauce with them. Any clue what the recipe was?
No! I wish I did though. John made the sandwich stuff and Lanie did all the cookie mixes. They food was delicious considering we made it with 2 sandwich presses and the tiniest kitchen you can imagine.
Thanks for the reply despite the bad news that you don’t have the secret recipe 🙂 John and Lanie had a great thing going. They need to release a cookbook! Miss that house sauce (and the cookies and sandwiches)!
Seven years later and I can still see Lanie and John behind the counter at Cookies and Company. You can count my business The Loft Art Supplies (1975-2019) as yet another business that disappeared from the landscape.
Cookies & Company…the place I always went back to see. I miss that place so much. It was the first place I ever ate in when I arrived in Athens for the first time…way back in 1989. I loved the turkey melts.
That is right – Cookies & Company. I would love to have the chicken cashew recipe.
…anyway you can share that chicken cashew sandwich recipe? just thinking about it…mmmm…i’m drooling!
Any idea what was in the house sauce? I couldn’t get enough of that stuff and have been so sad that I may never taste it again!
I wish! That was a VERY closely guarded secret.
Cookies and company cafe below the chocolate shop, circa 1985+
OMG! The Cookie Shoppe had the best sandwiches! I lived off of their fruit, provolone, warm croissant and cookie box lunches.
Becky, a friend from UGA shared this post with me swearing she saw me in your dorm pictures. Hey, that IS me and, what do you know, a familiar face from Myers 4North! It is so great to hear about how you are doing! I’m a speech therapist now in Atlanta and your boy is PRECIOUS! I hope you are well! Great memories of Myers 4N with all the ladies! 🙂
Lindsey (Mueller) Hall
Lindsey! So good to hear from you! That is so awesome that you are a speech therapist (I have a vested interest in that field these days 🙂 I am doing well and I’m so glad this found you!
I lived in that dorm room on 4 North in 2001, the last year before the renovation. Could not have asked for a better place to live. Thanks for the lovely ode to Myers.
Thanks for reading! It really was the best hall 🙂
Great post and thanks for sharing your photos…I was there 1998-2002 and even recognized some of the faces…I had almost forgotten about the hot dog man…but I lived off his fare during my freshman year.
I didn’t eat a lot of hot dogs at the time, but I went to him a couple times just because it felt wrong not too. I’d probably go every day now!
The hot dog man (John Gundaker) used to be my roommate in 1979-81. We shared a house on North Avenue just before the bypass. Last I heard he and his family had moved to Prince Edward Island in Canada.
Oh cool! Thanks for commenting 🙂 Hope he’s well. He was a beloved staple!
Great article! I have shared it and gotten so many likes. Apparently we lived near each other. I was on 3S in 1998. I couldn’t believe there existed a form with no AC! Thanks for a trip down memory lane.
Thanks for reading and sharing! Was Quentin your RA?
Haha. I also lived on 3S in ’98. Good times! Remember when we painted the walls. I also noticed the girl that worked in the mail room in some of the pics. I think her name was Serena. I had a huge crush on her! I used to ask my mom to send me packages just so I had an excuse to talk to her. Haha. Great memories!
Ha! That’s hilarious. I still talk to her. She will get a kick out of that.
This touched me. I was there 1993-1996 and I miss Athens every day. The Mel and the Party Hats tickets…damn.
Right! I couldn’t believe it when I found those again!
So glad you mentioned the original Winery, the one on Clayton across from the Junkman, so neat and funky, with outdoor seating before the smoking ordinance made the front of every bar a crowded mess. Many a night I Normed it up with Bowman, Amy, Chris, Rick, DuMont, Frtiz and the whole crew, drinking premium tequila and munching on brie and bread before the greeks rolled in with their date night girls. Those were the days.
That was my favorite! I saved it for last on my 21st and didn’t make it there!
We were there from 94-99. Loved The Grit, Weaver D’s, Peppino’s for Italian, and cheap movies at the theater on campus.
We had two Stipe spottings – one at The Grit and one at Guaranteed, which is no longer there.
Tate Theater…wow that place ruined a few movies for me by bringing back 80s classics. Sometimes things are best left to your memory haha! But I loved catching movies there.
One Sunday we went to The Grit for brunch and took my dad along –he’s an old hippie in some ways–and lord if we don’t get there and Stipe is inside eating. My dad nearly freaked! He kept saying he wanted to go talk to him and say what a fan he was….I assured my dad that this would be the biggest faux pas ever in existence–no one approaches Stipe!! He didn’t and all was good….anyway, great memories.
Can i add a little something? I wasn’t a student at UGA, I moved here after college. Zaxby’s was started here in Athens, yes? Gone are their eclectic collection of signs and antiques gracing their walls. Now they have benign, stale, boring FRAMED pictures of their FOOD! All matching and dull. We are eating the food, why do we need to stare at pictures of it? I wrote a letter to the main office stating that, and all they did was send me a coupon for 5 free chicken fingers. What happened to them? They were iconic, now they’re just like every other franchise out there. 😦
Oh that’s a bummer! I never actually ate there then but I do now. Of course, I always go through the drive through so I haven’t seen the decor.
Zaxby’s was started at Georgia Southern. The way I heard it, The founder wanted to open a franchise of Guthries (fried chicken fingers, just like Zaxby’s was to become) in Statesboro, but Guthrie said no. So Zaxby went on and did his own thing. The original was called Zax. Now Zaxby’s is huge and everywhere, but Guthries may not even exist anymore.
Well don’t be disheartened because REM will still suck ass 100 years from now when their early 90s annoying anthems ring through the halls of a classical music class. Junkman’s will always resonate with nasty hippie incense inside my nasal cavities from the last time I walked in there in 2006. I’m also sure the insurance company helped renovate the GA Theater and actually give it a nice balcony overlooking the city. Life changes
You sound like loads of fun.
Fantastic article! So many gone-but-never-forgotten Athens staples. You absolutely SHOULD try Cali-N-Tito’s!! It is absolutely as yummy as Caliente Cab was (I have been a patron of both). It’s over on Lumpkin and still BYOB, and there’s still a gas station next door, and it’s still awesome outdoor eating – you won’t be disappointed!
Next time I’m up there I may just do that 🙂
What might have become a full-blown chuckle at the recency of such nostalgia stopped short at an understanding smile. I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve spent with my parents talking about Athens, GA. That place where girls got their shoes dyed to match their dresses for dances in the 1950s was right around the corner from that basement place a friend of mine opened where I sometimes got lunch in the late 1980s and early 1990s. And I took calculus above the spot where my folks saw big band performances in an open-air amphitheater. Mom took biology where I took political science. Dad stood right *there* by the Arch during the lead-up to his Biftad (… Biftad, I love Biftad) initiation, and so did I.
So yeah, no chuckle. But while there’s absolutely nothing wrong with feeling a bit (or overwhelmingly) wistful about the changes, it helps, perhaps, to know that change is the constant. Athens is no less yours, my sister, for the change. Your Athens–everyone’s–is more deeply yours–and ours–for it.
Very true. I can only imagine what a current student would say about the old lady writing this…:)
I almost cried reading this article. Five Star closing was the ultimate blow!
I was so shocked. It always seemed so busy, but I’m not sure why it closed. Maybe the owner just wanted to move on.
I completely agree! 1998-2002 was THE time to be in Athens at the University of Georgia!!
Thanks for reading!
Awesome Awesome post!!! I was there form 99-04 (5 years..lol) I didn’t want to leave. this brings back such great memories. The Grille can’t go my entire family ate there in August of 1999 the day I moved into Russell Hall 5N. I miss those Athens days!!!!
I tried to tack on a second minor to extend my stay but my parents weren’t having it LOL
I was there until ’97. Don’t forget Guthrie’s, Blue Moon Books & that sweet calico cat they had- Cecile?, Washington Street Tavern, the Cookie Shoppe, Steverino’s, when The Gap was downtown, the Top Hat…
Oh how I miss our old haunts.
Great post; thanks!
Haha! I actually have a pretty amusing memory from Washington Tavern…but I probably shouldn’t blog it haha!
As a Myers resident from 1998-2002, I completely and utterly identified with this post. (I was on the second floor next to the stairwell on the front side next to the guitar players) It just isn’t the same. Myers has air. How will the kids bond without having to camp out in the cross breeze of the lobby? Without junk mans, blue sky and the other haunts of downtown, what will they do between classes that isn’t just like any other college town? It’s so sad.
It seems like the retail portion of downtown is dying which stinks. I love bars and restaurants but a mix is what makes it special.
Someone posted this on FB and I couldn’t help but click. I left Athens 3 years ago and I almost started crying at my desk at work. So many things are gone. I worked at Cookies & Co. for years on that corner and it nearly killed me when it closed. Five years of my Athens life revolved around that little corner.
I worked there for 3 years (’95-’98)! I was just telling my daughter about it this weekend. Those were THE BEST chocolate chip cookies.
I should have eaten there more! I don’t know why I didn’t.
By any chance do you know the recipe for the house sauce? LOVE THAT STUFF!
Cookies & Co team forever!!! I still crave Cinnamon toast cookies! Miss it, miss Lanie, and miss you Gary!!! ❤
Took me back. I finished UGA in 2003. I love and miss Athens.
Oh and I shot the shit with Stipe at the Globe one evening while ordering a drink at the bar…he was grabbing a bottle of vino. Nice dude. Never let on that i knew who he was and i didn’t bring up music or anything. Just had a regular conversation.
That’s awesome! I love The Globe! Haven’t been in forever, but I need to know it still there.
Don’t forget Lobby Rats and their lobby love dramas.
They were the best! We even had special nicknames for some of the major players.
Very nicely done. It’s always interesting to see how much changes with Athens through the years, the restaurants, shops and campus. The Junkman’s opened my Freshman year and a number of places you listed didn’t exist between ’86 – ’93 (Grad School Too). And places we knew like the original Steverino’s, Charlie Williams Pine Crest Lodge, O’Malley’s, China Express,the old single movie theater about where Junkman’s ended and the UGA bookstore being downtown, were no existent for others. But through it all Athens remains a jewel in the heart of many and the home that binds us all back together.
Steverinos!! Best hawaiian pizza ever.
It really is amazing how quickly things change there. Steverino’s is the only name I recognize on that list…
What an awesome trip down memory lane! Thanks for the huge smiles you put on my face. I don’t know which I miss more…buying most of my wardrobe and housewares at Junkman’s, eating the chicken salad at Five Star Day, dancing/watching movies at The Theatre, eating in the tropics at Caliente Cab or being a “chipper” at Mexicali!! Ah, those were the days!!
Thanks for reading!
I laughed…I teared up and I reminisced. I was there from 2000-2005 and was so shocked the last time I visited I made a YT video of it! Hilarity ensued as I realized there was a Waffle House downtown and that downtown was transformed. Enjoy my ride down memory lane if you have 7 minutes to spare! 🙂 http://bit.ly/1lNYVpb
Thanks for reading! I will check it out.
While my time in Athens predates yours by 3 years, these places were also near and dear to me…particularly Mexicali, Blue Sky, The Grill, and disco night at Georgia Theatre. I will always remember my time there fondly. Thanks for your piece, it warmed my heart!
Thank you for reading and commenting!
Although I am much older, lived in an athletic dorm, spotted and maybe harassed Michael Stipe (details, details), ate at the Grill only once (nasty), only saw about two actual football games at Sanford and didn’t drink even one coffee during my time in Athens, I just love this!!!
Headed back this weekend even…wonder what else will be gone.
It’s funny…to read this you would think I’m a football fan, but I actually hate it. But it was fun to be part of the crowd.
You’d probably die to hear that Cookies & Company is now a Subway & they’ve completely defaced the beautiful historic building front. Do you also remember Noodle Head & Rocky’s Pizza??
We would skip school & go there for lunch all the time. Miss them.
When Helix closed it left a huge gap in finding funky gifts/clothes with Lotus & the jewelry stores gone too.
Those are good ones. I didn’t buy much but I did love to wander through those stores.
For those of us who were here before you (I came in the mid 80s), we could add many more to the list. The Downstairs (cinnamon coffee! mushroom soup!); Cookies & Co. (Vegwedge!); Barnett’s Newsstand (Carl!); Hobbit Habit; Chocolate Shoppe; Yudy’s; Rocky’s; Ruthless Records; Classic Triple Cinema downtown; Junkman’s on Broad; The Loft on Jackson – I could go on and on and on. This is a town that constantly reinvents itself, which could be considered a good thing, but it sadly leaves many great and wonderful places behind in the process. 😦
It’s pretty amazing that every few years it’s a completely different list of favorites.
Wow–you really made me smile–and also be kinda sad–with this piece. I lived in Athens for 15 years…..went to school (twice), got married, had babies, divorced, and still stayed on….what an amazing place. In my heyday, it was Gyland’s…and later my fave place was The (original) Winery….and of course Rocky’s, The Grill, GA Bar, and there was a great shop downtown I loved–Local Color. I worked at the downtown Gap so Five Star Day was my fave place to go. Man, I miss Athens. 😦
Thanks for reading!
Great post. Brought back lots of memories. Rocky’s was a big one too that was lost but not forgotten. 😉
I remember going to Rocky’s freshman year, but not much after that. What year did it close? I can’t remember…
My husband and I miss Rocky’s! That was one of our favorite places to go.
You are missing out by not checking out the new GA theater yes the stick to the floor and the duct taped movie theater seats are missed but it is beautiful inside and the sound system is much improved. Also Cali N titos isn’t as good as Caliente Cab but it is still better than most places and has a boat and other playground/yard art/? for the kids to play on. Barnett’s book store is my most missed but there are still planty of good ones Jackson St, Agora, Wuxtry, Low yo yo records, go downtown and support them.
I haven’t had the chance to see anything at the new Theatre but I wouldn’t rule it out…I’m sure they did a great job! I usually hit Wuxtry just for old times sake.
Wow. I can relate to just about all of these – I was at UGA the same time as you!! I remember parking in the paid Tate lot before it became the Student Learning Center and New Tate. Thanks for the walk down memory lane 🙂
I had such a complex about ever paying for parking at Tate. Then again, that was when I thought Barcode’s $6.95 for a Long Island was expensive. Miss those prices!
I lived in Myers in 2001, got kicked out to O-House, and was in the first group that came back to the rebar-littered wasteland of a quad (and admittedly decadent central air conditioning) in 2003. There were enough of us transplants on the 3rd and 4th floor to keep the pre-AC conviviality alive, but with each new semester you could feel the community get a little more closed off. I’m sure the people there now love it, but it hurt to see it fade before your eyes.
Thank you for the trip down memory lane. Remember Tasty World? 🙂
I am actually really regretting leaving Tasty World off this list…But I’m glad I wasn’t there to see Myers change. That would have been too much!
I grew up in Athens, went to highschool and college there. Your article certainly brought back bittersweet memories of skipping school and drinking coffee in the Blue Sky downstairs. Thank you so much for sharing your pictures and memories. Most especially, thank you for pictures of the 9/11 memorial at the arches. Looking at them, transported me back to that day, where my girlfriends and I stood and looked at the makeshift memorial. At the time I never would have thought to snap a picture. Thanks again for sharing!
All the time I spent at Blue Sky I think I only went downstairs once or twice. It was smoky wasn’t it? I think that was why. Thanks for reading 🙂
Wow! This brought back so many great memories! I was a freshman in ’98 in Rutherford and my old boyfriend was in Myers. So many great times in the quad and Downtown. I hate that it’s changed so much every time I go back. Look forward to being back this month for Twilight Criterium!
I haven’t made it back for Twilight in a few years, but I hope to again.
PS – I wored at Compadres and Wild Wing when I was there…two more businesses from “back in the day” that have closed :0(
Those are good ones, too!
Currently in South Georgia after 12 years in Athens (UGA 2001-2005) and I miss that place like crazy! I watched a lot of places change names and still add something to the uniqueness of Athens but Junkman’s, Helix, the old Ga Theatre, and Weaver D’s are irreplaceable! BTW, the hotdog man was banned from Jackson St. due to some lame rule about selling stuff on campus/incorrect vendors license etc. Five Star Day’s Chicken n dumplings was a staple lunch when my classes were on North campus. Athens sure has changed and its not exactly how I remember but it sure feels good to go back …until you sit in all the traffic and everything is beyond crowded. Not the laid back, slow pace I fell in love with when I was 18. Ha ha 🙂
They banned him? That stinks!
Love this post – brings back so many good memories of UGA…and of Myers 4-North! Imagine my surprise when I was tagged in someone’s FB post swearing there were pictures of me buried in this blog – and sure enough, there I am (with some ROCKING hairstyles from back in the day 😉 ). So many good memories of being an RA came from having all of you on my hall! So great to read your blog and see pictures of that sweet boy of yours! Hope you are doing well. 🙂
Hi Heather! Good to hear from you! I had no idea this post would be so well received and shared, but it has been so much fun to hear from so many people about their Athens experience, as well as hear from people I haven’t seen since 🙂 Lindsey Mueller commented earlier, too. I’m doing well and I hope things are good for you. Still in Tennessee?
I miss Myers so much. 😦 and davincis pizza deserved a shoutout! Lol!
I’m not sure if I ever ate at Davinci’s though I definitely know of it. There are a few places I regret not hitting up more!
I lived in Myers my freshman year from 1996-97, and ended up staying in town until 2003 when I graduated from lawschool. I still go back here and there, but, man, all these comments are bringing so many fond memories back. I lived on the second floor in Myers and overlooked the quad. I don’t think I ever wore a short in my dorm from Sept-Nov and March-June. Also, a couple of years after graduating, I realized that Danger Mouse had been our RA in Myers that year. I cannot believe 5 star closed down. When I was a broke law student, I would indulge myself once a week and have dinner there alone with a PBR on the patio. Man, those were surreal times.
I had no idea about Danger Mouse! How cool.
Great piece. I lived in Myers my junior and senior year, despite the lack of air conditioning and an elevator (I was on the 4th floor in a private room) because I really loved the feel of the place, as your photos demonstrate. I placed the main characters from my book MAHOGANY SLADE in Myers for this reason.
I was just checking out your book on Amazon. I love that it starts with a mention of the science library. I worked there my junior year. I love the cover with the tape film (is that the right word, film?) too 🙂
Thanks! My friend Lee Heidel (also a UGA alum) designed the cover.
Those are awesome throwback pictures
Thanks for reading!
Half Moon Pub. Gone but not forgotten. Met my husband there 20 years ago next year! I even named my graphic design business Half Moon Designs. If the Globe goes, I’m kicking someone’s ass!
Oh if the Globe goes…no I can’t even think about it.
Half Moon is gone?? Sigh. 😥
The Taco Stand used to rock some huge, delicious burritos in the 80s & 90s. Been there a few time since and they are now tiny and tasteless. Also, Bluebird Cafe was best breakfast in the country. Great memories of Myers Hall, 2nd floor.
A lot of people loved Taco Stand. I went a few times, but it just wasn’t for me.
Sniff. Sniff. Lived, loved, managed to graduate. In five years.
I wish I could have tacked on a fifth year 🙂
Excellent article! I was their a few years before you (92-96), but I shed a few tears reading and reminiscing. Thanks for the walk down memory lane!! 🙂
Awesome post. Really takes me back to Athens. I live in California now, and every time I go back to Athens to visit friends something has changed. First, the parking deck behind the GA theater. Now, the condos behind The Globe. Athens is growing up, and unfortunately losing the small-town charm it once had.
Those are nice throwback photos =)
Great post. I graduated in 1984 and could add so many more establishments. O’Malley’s, The Fifth Quarter, George Gibson’s, B&L Warehouse, Abbot’s, Bubba’s, Five and Ten….
Long live The Varsity and 40 Watt.
This about blew my mind! I was in Athens at the same time, lived in Myers (I think the 2nd floor. I can’t remember. Ha, ha. My roommate sophmore year may have been the one who played guitar that someone else mentioned. She also had an alarm clock that you could hear from the other end of the hall.) Sounds like we could have a reunion! I was obsessed with blue sky, even though I can’t stand cigarette smoke and it was so stupid to have the smoking area beneath the non-smoking, with vent holes in the floor. Ha! Those parties on the quad were the awesomest. I remember sliding down the bouncy slide then grabbing the whole candy bars. Such a dream come true! I am about to graduate from UGA with a degree in speech therapy (quest that someone else from Myers is one, too) and it is not the same! It was so word at the 10 year anniversary of 9-11. All my classmates had been in elementary or middle school at the time.
I was a regular at Lunch Paper when it first opened and I loved that place. Blue Sky was where I would often stumble in to try to get alert enough to make the drive home. I always did. Excellent column.
Even though you were there way after me (81 to 85), Athens and Myers were a GREAT place to be. Of course we didn’t go to school until late September so the heat wasn’t QUITE so bad without the AC! Thanks for a great trip down memory lane!
I graduated in 1998 and LOVED Blue Sky. I still hate Starbucks for opening right next door. Great post. Brought back a lot of memories.
Wow! This post brought back so many great memories. While I was a student a few years before you, your description of Myers reminds me of my year in Reed Hall, pre-renovation. The only gone but not forgotten locale I would have added would be Lowery’s…many silver coins were traded for plastic cups filled with cheap elixirs on Thursday nights. I went back to Athens a few weeks back and took my family to a game between the hedges. My ten year old son rang the chapel bell after the game and I’m pretty sure my alma mater made it to the top of my 14 year-old daughter’s college list. If that don’t get you and make you shed a tear as a dad…nothing ever will.
1993-1997 (plus one year of dating a grad student and visiting on weekends in 1998): Loved Blue Sky, Mel & The Party Hats and Mexicali.
When some sweet young thing called the other night to ask for money for the Georgia Fund, she suggested I come visit campus since I hadn’t been in a while.
I don’t think the campus I’d visit today would do justice to the time I had back then.
Also, a side note: when kids from campus call and ask me for money, I enjoy telling them that I went to the journalism school, therefore I don’t make any money. It’s mean, but not entirely untrue.
Junkmans Daughters Brother in Athens is back open. Its where the Greyhound Bus Station was.
Is it really?! I’ll have to look for it.
I was on 3N of Myers 1998-1999. So many memories. Stumbled upon this when looking up Molly O’Shea to find out when it closed.
Rum Runners, Mean Bean, Sons of Italy, Bluebird Cafe, Yudy’s, Nowhere Bar, and of course Sky’s. I was there 93-97.
And now, The Grill is gone….😢
My bandmates and I flew over from the UK in 2004 to play at Athfest with local act Left Front Tire. My brother and I got banned from the Globe on the first night for fighting (not our proudest moment 😬).
We were only there for a few days, but the owner of the Globe came to the gig, at the Roadhouse, and told us we after we had played he thought he had better come to check us out, as if we fought that hard we should play pretty hard… he said he wasnt wrong and we were welcome in his bar anytime 🤘
Spent loads of time in Compadres too.. I think the bartenders name was Jess at the time, she was from NJ