College Hill- Where Art Thou?

When I hear someone say "the Hill" I always tend to think about the night scene, the bars including: Beck's, the Other Place, Social House, Ginger's, the Octopus, SudsUpstairs, the Hydrant, Sharky's, etc. but the Hill has so much more to offer than just the night scene aspect.

Since we all know the Hill is code for "Are we getting drunk tonight or what?" I will start this blog off with talking about some of my favorite places to go on the Hill, back in 2011 and now.

I remember my Freshman year like it was yesterday... Oh the joys of the Hill back in 2011. Walking through campus late at night when it's empty and quiet, except for the faint sound booming from SudsUpstairs, Beck's, ICE, Sharky's, Mojo's, the OP, etc. The Hill was lit up and alive with people anywhere from Freshies to Super-Seniors to Alumnis. The best thing about the Hill back in my day as a Freshman was that there were more options for underaged students to get in. For instance Mojo's and ICE were two of the infamous hang outs for those who had to sneak in water bottles full of alcohol because they weren't old enough to buy it themselves. Times sure have changed since then though.

After Mojo's and ICE closed, the Hill was definitely lacking in places for night life activity (especially for youngsters) so for most of my sophomore year I would make my way on the drunk bus down to Main. Ginger's and Social House (where Mojo's and ICE used to be) opened up around the same time which brought life back to the Hill. The only stipulation with those two bars is that they are 21+ bars. Since the Hill was transforming with these two new bars opening up, Sharky's,19+ bar,  sort of fell from being the popping bar all upperclassmen went to now to a place where most underaged drinkers gather. The Hill never fails to provide us all with great times, with great friends, and leaves us with great memories.

 Now don't get me wrong... The Hill is not all about the night scene, the partying, the drinking. There are also many helpful places that you as students may need to reference in the future. For instance, CopyWorks is a super helpful place if you needed something to be printed out in color, in bulk, or a different size than the normal 8.5x11 the campus printers provide us with. It's located right by the University Book and Supply and is super inexpensive when it comes to colored copies.

First Class Cell Phone Repair is another useful tool that may come in handy to any of you that have technology devices. They do screen repairs along with a lot of other "techy" services one may need if say your computer crashes, or you drop your iPad and shatter the screen.

If you're not looking for a bar type setting to eat at, the Hill has other options to offer you. Sidecar is a great little coffee shop where you can sit and enjoy the out door seating while the fall weather still permits and work on your homework. A good ol' cup of Joe beside you while you're busting out those midterms, projects, papers, etc. may just help you stay awake long enough to get the job done.

Sub City and Jimmy John's are both on the Hill and Jimmy John's as we all know delivers, but there is just something about a Sub City sandwich one can just not describe. So I am encouraging all of you to get out of the comfort zone of Jimmy John's being delivered to your dorm and take a nice stroll on down to Sub City for a sub that will blow your freaking mind

(P.S. Sub City also delivers but the service is great and they even slice the meat and cheese right in front of you.)

Mohair Pear is a trendy store where you can find vintage, retro, or even new modern apparel. They also do body piercing at a low rate of $20. If you stop in around this time of the year they even have Halloween costumes. Right next to that is the Octopus which is a modern, edgy bar that is booming with live music and tons of different events to attend. Check out their Facebook page for all the event information.

I only got to take you through a couple of the wonderful businesses the Hill has to offer us as students but take time out of your day to tour the Hill in all it's glory for yourselves. Help keep our College Hill alive and booming by visiting the different businesses, bars, restaurants, stores, and more!