By Christen Webb & Tyris Nelson
Athens has many new and exciting things to do and see! With a growing downtown, this small town offers many amenities for students, young couples, and life-long residents. This list offers five places where you can eat, drink, and spend time with friends and family.
The Blue Front is a new coffee shop here in town. Located down the street from Tennessee Wesleyan University, they are a fresh welcome to the block. This coffee shop offers many creative flavors and combinations to choose from. Along with their sweet volunteers, they have lots of sweet treats as well. Student discounts are available with your Wesleyan issued student I.D. Their hours are 7 a.m. – 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. on Saturdays.
Jenkins is a quirky restaurant with a fun and friendly environment where former and fellow Bulldogs work. They offer sandwiches, fry baskets, soups, desserts, and some of the best appetizers in town! It is a great place to have meetings and social gatherings for school or work. This establishment also offers a student discount.
What is a town without a movie theater? In 2015, Athens became the home of Athens Movie Palace. This movie theater shows the latest movies and has some of the best snacks and staff around! The 2020 pandemic impacted movie theaters around the nation, and Movie Palace is no different. With social distancing procedures and mask requirements, they have stayed open during this difficult time.
And, now more than ever they need community support to remain open. They have been selling their concessions for curbside, lowered their movie ticket prices, and offer a new experience letting customers rent an entire theater and pick the movie they want to watch! Customers can bring a DVD copy of their favorite movie or choose from the options available at Movie Palace.
Go show them some support!
Summer and Spring are just around the corner! Athens Regional Park offers many activities for the local community such as redoes in August and fishing events for kids. There are many beautiful trails for walking that wind through the hills and along the waterways of the park where disc golf is available for anyone looking to learn a new hobby. Soccer can be played freely when official team games are not going on, and this also extends to the baseball and softball fields.
The Dairy Barn in Athens is the place to go for a sweet treat. They are opened Tuesday through Sunday. Sunday hours are 2pm – 9pm, and Tuesday through Saturday hours are 11am – 9pm. They have so many flavors and topping of ice cream you can imagine. They also have grill food as well. Prices vary for each thing, but they are not unreasonable. When you’re in the mood for a sweet treat, head on over to the Dairy Barn. You will not be sorry.
The Bulldog Beat 