Athens, Georgia restaurants and attractions
January 10, 2024 6:52 PM Subscribe
We're going to Athens, Georgia for 2 or 3 nights in mid February. Do you have recommendations for restaurants and attractions in and around Athens? We will have a car, and have one night away from Athens as well. Where would be a good place within a couple of hours drive for one night? We've been to Atlanta, but could of course go back. Is an overnight to Augusta worthwhile? Or Macon? Mrs. Fnorde and I are adventurous eaters and like history, art, birds, geology, quirky museums, and landscapes.
My first thought would have been "the Georgia Guidestones", but morons destroyed it about a year ago. Well, more like some morons damaged it, and then the good ole boys in power immediately finished it off.
2nd thought: see a band at the 40 Watt club, which might not be your style but it's a good rock club. Not the original club from days of yore but still. Drive-By Truckers are doing a multi-night stand there around then and tickets are pricy as one might expect (and it'll probably sell out).
Seriously though .... The old Georgia state mental hospital campus in Milledgeville is incredible, but the guvner has apparently decided to raze the place. In Spring 2020, prime pandemic, we toured the place (driving and walking) using a GREAT audio tour as our guide. Unfortunately that audio doesn't exist anymore, but here's a nice video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmsz7iV9MVU EDIT: but wait! they are doing "trolley" tours of the campus now!
posted by intermod at 8:34 PM on January 10 [1 favorite]
2nd thought: see a band at the 40 Watt club, which might not be your style but it's a good rock club. Not the original club from days of yore but still. Drive-By Truckers are doing a multi-night stand there around then and tickets are pricy as one might expect (and it'll probably sell out).
Seriously though .... The old Georgia state mental hospital campus in Milledgeville is incredible, but the guvner has apparently decided to raze the place. In Spring 2020, prime pandemic, we toured the place (driving and walking) using a GREAT audio tour as our guide. Unfortunately that audio doesn't exist anymore, but here's a nice video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmsz7iV9MVU EDIT: but wait! they are doing "trolley" tours of the campus now!
posted by intermod at 8:34 PM on January 10 [1 favorite]
You aren’t too far away from the mountains… I would drive up through Clarksville towards Clayton. See Talluluh Gorge and end up having a meal at the Dillard House in Clayton. Tool around Lake Burton, it’s the bougie, super secret lake of the 1%. That would make a lovely day trip. Enjoy your visit!!
posted by pearlybob at 2:13 AM on January 11
posted by pearlybob at 2:13 AM on January 11
Echoing Five and Ten is a great (pricy) restaurant. It's in Five Pointa, which is a pretty older neighborhood for walking around in. The downtown Broad/Clayton/Washington area is also really fun to walk around on and browse. Unfortunately, a lot of my favorite weird little restaurants in that area have closed in the past few years and been replaced by chains. And yes, if you have any interest in music, a 40 Watt show is always an experience.
UGA has two museums that might be interesting to you. The Georgia Museum of Natural History is primarily a research institution for folks needing to look at preserved specimens, but they are open to the public weekdays and have some Georgia nature exhibits y'all would probably find interesting.
The Georgia Museum of Art is small and the collection a bit eclectic, but it's interesting for an hour or two. The cafe there is a pretty good place to get a sandwich.
I would echo others suggesting to head towards the mountains for your night away. Clayton and Tallulah is a fun trip. Black Rock Mountain State Park is also in that area, and has some pretty hiking and amazing views.
Or if you prefer weird kitsch, there's always Helen, GA, which does have nearby state parks and national forest scenery as well.
posted by hydropsyche at 5:02 AM on January 11
UGA has two museums that might be interesting to you. The Georgia Museum of Natural History is primarily a research institution for folks needing to look at preserved specimens, but they are open to the public weekdays and have some Georgia nature exhibits y'all would probably find interesting.
The Georgia Museum of Art is small and the collection a bit eclectic, but it's interesting for an hour or two. The cafe there is a pretty good place to get a sandwich.
I would echo others suggesting to head towards the mountains for your night away. Clayton and Tallulah is a fun trip. Black Rock Mountain State Park is also in that area, and has some pretty hiking and amazing views.
Or if you prefer weird kitsch, there's always Helen, GA, which does have nearby state parks and national forest scenery as well.
posted by hydropsyche at 5:02 AM on January 11
It's stretching your "couple of hours" a bit, but for foodie history types, it's really hard to beat Savannah. It's more like 3.5 hours, so the drive might not be worth it, but it's a historic port town with completely amazing food.
posted by griffey at 5:27 AM on January 11
posted by griffey at 5:27 AM on January 11
For exploring outside Athens, I'd echo the great recommendations above, notably that going towards the mountains is probably the best option for a 2-ish hour drive. Definitely don't go to Augusta. That's a boring drive from Athens, and at the end . . . you're in Augusta. (If you're willing to do that, you're better off spending another 30 minutes in the car to go to Aiken, SC which has an appealing little downtown, all types of historical equine related areas, and a large in-town forest in Hitchcock Woods that is great for strolling.)
The State Botanical Gardens are fantastic. Something easy is to poke around the north side of UGA's campus, right from downtown, starting at the Arch. You can get lunch at The Place across the street from the Arch. 40 Watt is a great rec for a music venue that still clings to an older Athens feel. Georgia Theater is another fun venue, and of course there are many others.
Find a free copy of Flagpole for all the town's music offerings and much more.
5&10 is good fine dining. Puma Yu's is a super cool Thai place, tho at similar prices as 5&10. In the Five Points area, Bar Bruno is a fun place for cocktails and snacks. ZZ & Simone's has great Italian food nearby. If the weather's nice and you want barbeque under the trees, White Tiger in the Boulevard neigborhood. Also good barbeque downtown at Dawg Gone Good.
If you're into breweries, Creature Comforts downtown has the best quality and variety. Athentic in the Normaltown area is smaller and more chill (read: less fratty, more local vibe) and has dedicated parking, unlike Creature. Note that because of Georgia state laws, breweries can't also be restaurants (or something confusing like that), so if you want more than snacks at a brewery, look to their social media for posts about food trucks. Or bring food from elsewhere; the breweries don't mind.
Oh and as an Athenian, I think I'm contractually required to mention The Tree that Owns Itself.
posted by cyclopticgaze at 6:04 AM on January 11 [3 favorites]
The State Botanical Gardens are fantastic. Something easy is to poke around the north side of UGA's campus, right from downtown, starting at the Arch. You can get lunch at The Place across the street from the Arch. 40 Watt is a great rec for a music venue that still clings to an older Athens feel. Georgia Theater is another fun venue, and of course there are many others.
Find a free copy of Flagpole for all the town's music offerings and much more.
5&10 is good fine dining. Puma Yu's is a super cool Thai place, tho at similar prices as 5&10. In the Five Points area, Bar Bruno is a fun place for cocktails and snacks. ZZ & Simone's has great Italian food nearby. If the weather's nice and you want barbeque under the trees, White Tiger in the Boulevard neigborhood. Also good barbeque downtown at Dawg Gone Good.
If you're into breweries, Creature Comforts downtown has the best quality and variety. Athentic in the Normaltown area is smaller and more chill (read: less fratty, more local vibe) and has dedicated parking, unlike Creature. Note that because of Georgia state laws, breweries can't also be restaurants (or something confusing like that), so if you want more than snacks at a brewery, look to their social media for posts about food trucks. Or bring food from elsewhere; the breweries don't mind.
Oh and as an Athenian, I think I'm contractually required to mention The Tree that Owns Itself.
posted by cyclopticgaze at 6:04 AM on January 11 [3 favorites]
For coffee, lunch, or interesting snacks for the road, check out recently opened specialty foods market Birdies. You can get a sense of what they carry here and their lunch menu is here.
posted by jocelmeow at 8:09 AM on January 11 [1 favorite]
posted by jocelmeow at 8:09 AM on January 11 [1 favorite]
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posted by HoraceH at 7:40 PM on January 10 [1 favorite]