The Grill

When you need a cheeseburger and a milkshake at 1 a.m., there is no better place to go than this classic restaurant in the Classic City.

Bulldog Statues

In a city that bleeds red and black, one should expect to see a Georgia Bulldog on every corner

Barberitos

If I took every Mexican food restaurant and placed them all on a plane of existence, this one would be the equivalent of Nirvana.

Wuxtry Record Shop

Athens is a musical city. Everywhere you look, you can see a place to go listen to live music. Some of these Athens bands made it big, like R.E.M and The B-52s. And while many bands are only locally famous, like the Drive-By Truckers, sometimes you need to be able to purchase their music. And there is no better place to buy their music than a retro record shop.

Sanford Stadium

Where else would you want to cheer for the Georgia Bulldogs? There is nothing like cheering with 90,000 of your closest friends.

The Tree that Owns Itself

Its name says it all. A white oak became the sole owner of itself, and the surrounding land, in the early eighteen hundreds. However, the original tree has fallen, so an acorn from the original was planted in its place.

Athfest

As a yearly music and arts festival in the center of downtown, it draws thousands of people every year and allows locals to continue to fall in love with this beautiful city.

City Hall

Where most of the important stuff happens, Athens’ City Hall is a beautiful building, with a copper roof, and the world’s only double-barreled cannon.

Ben Epps

The first man to fly in Georgia, Ben Epps, flew his first plane in Athens. He continued to build different planes, but tragically died from injuries sustained in a plane crash.

The Arch at the University of Georgia

The Arch is the most photographed spot on UGA’s campus, with good reason. The arch is a beautiful structure, and with its local superstitions, needs to be treated with respect. HINT: If you haven’t graduated from UGA, do not walk through it!

Memorial Park

My favorite park in Athens is complete with swimming pools, ponds, different ball courts, and a local zoo which allows you to come close to Georgia’s local wildlife.

The People

Many of the people in Athens might seem strange. With a bar located at every other building in Downtown, they like to get inebriated. Then everywhere you look you see a crowd, with a mixture of hipsters and fraternity brothers, who weirdly seem to get along. But everywhere you look, you see real down-to-earth people, who care about their city just as much as you, even if they are covered in piercings and obscure tattoos.