Must see spots in Athens, GA (Atlanta, Jackson: real estate, apartments, condos)

[jmacha]

I'll be visiting the Athens area in December and early January. Any suggestions as to things I should check out? I do mean anything. Scenery, restaurants, clubs, stores....etc. I am a 35 year old so I probably would want to stay away from the places the younger crowd would be at. I'm thinking of moving to the area, specifically Watkinsville(heard it's good if you have children) and I am trying to get a real feel for the area. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated

[rxlynn]

Originally Posted by jmacha

I'll be visiting the Athens area in December and early January. Any suggestions as to things I should check out? I do mean anything. Scenery, restaurants, clubs, stores....etc. I am a 35 year old so I probably would want to stay away from the places the younger crowd would be at. I'm thinking of moving to the area, specifically Watkinsville(heard it's good if you have children) and I am trying to get a real feel for the area. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated

I visited Watkinsville this summer (also thinking about relocating there). Not a lot to see in Watkinsville itself - the county was still much more rural than I was expecting (which to me is a good thing). It does have one little shopping area (grocery, post office, strip mall, some restaurants and drugstores, etc.) We were very impressed with the real estate available, although I do think you need to be primarily looking for single-family houses on a reasonably large lot. If condos/townhomes/apartments are more to your taste, then I think you would have to look to Athens.

I was also pleasantly surprised at how quickly you could get to Athens, especially the west side where the "big box" shopping and mall are from Watkinsville. I assume it's a bit more difficult during the week when there's more traffic, but compared to where we are now (metro Atlanta) I think it would still be fine.

[ReturningWest]

Watkinsville in Oconee county is still semi-rural, lots of horse farms out there. It is a lovely place to live. As you said it's easy to get to things in Athens.

Keep in mind Athens is a college town BIG TIME. I'm not a "bar/pub" person but they cater to the college crowd...it's their bread and butter.

I live outside Athens in Jackson Co. and go to Athens to shop. There are certain times you don't want to be in Athens...football day when the crowd is going to or from the stadium. During the game is a great time to go shopping the town is empty...LOL.

There are plenty of eateries but keep in mind that during the school year they are very crowed.

As far as sights to see in Athens, it would be the college campus, much of it's quite old. You are close to the "mountains" and it's quite a drive and lots of pretty areas. There aren't any "big" things to see there like a zoo or museum. For that you will need to go into Atlanta.