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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 9, 1983)
College Station can become a dull place after a few weeks. You may become frustrated and bored with the nightlife here. Fortunately, it has an ideal loca tion: an hour and a half from Austin and Houston and three hours from San Antonio and Dallas. We strongly recommend a road trip to cure your ennui and to provide a break from study ing (if you've done any). Get in the car and head for excitement in the big city — any big city. Take a small car that gets good gas mileage and stay with me iend. If you keep down your intake of alcoholic beverages and take our advice about cars and places to stay, a weekend road trip may cost under $50. Deciding where to go may be confusing, so here are a few tips on places to go. Be adventurous. Take a road trip. Houston by Scott Griffin and Rebeca Zimmermann Battalion staff If you've ever felt marooned in the cultural desert known to many as "Aggieland on the weekends," don't give up hope — there's an oasis of entertain ment just two hours away. The oasis is known as Hous ton, but it can only be conquered by the truly brave souls — those who want to get down to some serious partying, come hell or high water. The first thing a person needs for this type of road trip is moti vation. If you're extremely bored, motivation is usually spontaneous. You just get up and go. The best time to travel is late afternoon, when the hot Texas sun is waning. Your "manual A.C." probably works best at this time. Getting there: You can take the easy-to-find route — High way 6 to 290. This route has some drawbacks: lots of traffic and flat, dull scenery. A more scenic and less crowded route is Highway 105 to Interstate 45, then south to Houston. Pine trees and gently rolling hills make you think you're in far East Texas. Driving in the city: An ob vious objective when motoring through "Indy West of the Mis sissippi" is survival. Make sure you have a competent navigator and no obnoxious backseat driv ers. Don't trust city maps — the makers of those things assume that you already know exactly where you're going. Watch out for Loop 610. It saves time but swallows lost motorists. A place to stay: Stay with a friend — hotels are expensive. You might even be able to get some meals out of the deal. A local buddy who knows the ropes can be an invaluable guide. A couple of night clubs: There are lots of clubs in Hous ton, and two popular ones are the Rocksy and Faces. The Rocksy provides the se rious party-er with a large dance floor and an endless sea of mul ti-colored lights overhead. When a live band isn't playing, a DJ mixes up some good dance numbers to keep the place hop- pin'. The sound system is hot, but there's a sign on the DJ's booth that keeps things at a cool level — no slam dancing. And even when crowded, the barten ders quickly serve up some tas ty, potent treats. Faces wasn't quite up to par with its competitor. Bad musical mixing and bad drinks were the name of the game at this joint. But they did have a huge video screen behind a cool multi-level dance floor. The screen is the best part, especially when you've "downed a few" and you need some entertainment. Late-night munchies: As all party animals know, the "late- night munchies" are simply in evitable. Marlowe's is a great place to go when you really need to munch. They'll serve you breakfast, lunch or supper at 2 a.m. With a Hollywood atmos phere, reasonable prices and good service, Harlowe's is a winner. Bars: Let's face it, most bars are just that—bars. Butacouple of more enjoyable places are Grif's and La Carafe. Grif's is a good ol' Irish pub with a good drinking atmos phere. Football posters, baseball pennants, bumper stickers, old license plates and other oddball objects line the walls. A jukebox with everything from Joan Jett to Jerry Jeff provides the tunes at a tolerable decibel level. It's possi ble to talk to the person sitting next to you. La Carafe is another comfort able suds-sucking establish ment, but don't sit down — the chairs are old. This bar's claim to fame is a sign that reads: "It is generally accepted that Sam Houston once slept here." Shopping: Before you leave Houston and head back to Col lege Station, the Galleria needs to be on your list of places to go. You don't want to miss some of the bizarre shops. The Go Round and Coming Attractions are two shops that specialize in black sweatshirts, leather pants, dog collars and other items not generally available in College Station. If you're clothing tastes are more conservative, GQ-type men's shops, Neiman-Marcus and Marshall Field's are some of the stores with your styles. Also, a wide variety of re staurants is in the Galleria. And the Galleria houses an ice- skating rink on the first level (not something you generally find in Texas). Let's go to Austin by Angel Stokes and Rebeca Zimmermann Battalion staff Anyone who has been at Texas A&M for a semester realizes the lack of "popular culture" and places to go in the Bryan/College Station "twin cities." Take heart. Escape is only a tank of gas and 90 miles away. Austin houses the state Capi tol, but it's also the home of 6th Street — a place for partying and people-watching. 6th Street is a watering hole for preps, punks and anything in between. A trip to Austin isn't com plete without dinner and the notorious margaritas at Jorge's (pronounced hor-haze). Every thing you ever heard about Jorge's margaritas is true. In fact, Jorge's recommends drink ing only two in one sitting, but one may be plenty. The next stop on your trip should be 6th Street. Don't let the crowded parking lots dis courage you — finding a park ing place within walking dis tance to 6th Street is chal lenging. Bars, shops and people of all types line 6th Street. Be sure to walk up and down the side walks, comparing the variety of places. Street musicians, mime artists and belly dancers can be seen performing for money. But watch out because they may snarl at you if you don't donate to the cause. Flowers are sold at every corner. If you're in the mood to shop, Henry's Memrys is a used- clothing store specializing in nostalgia. It has hats, gloves, purses and men's and women's clothing. The best bargains are the $1 hats, but for larger budgets there are extravagant, sequined dresses and other dressy apparel ranging from $20 on up. Although you will never be more than 15 feet from a drink ing establishment, getting in side is difficult. Rita's, a side walk-cafe-style bar without air- conditioning, looks inviting but crowded. Speedy's is a sing- along piano bar that must be fun because it's impossible to enter. If you're looking for some thing a little more sophisticated, Juan Goldstein's may fill the bill and empty your wallet a bit. Steamboat Springs is a club with live music and a dance floor near the stage. Live broadcast ing to two television screens provides patrons with easy visi bility. To save on expenses, be sure and have a free place to stav. Of course, you can't always be choosy about the conditions. Look out for wooden floors and take blankets — just in case the air conditioning is hyper. Gaso line expenses may be as low as $10; costs vary with gas mileage you get on the 200-mile round trip. Cruising 6th Street isn't the only entertainment available in Austin. The Frank Erwin Center is an excellent concert facility. But, try to get seats in the arena area. The upper decks are about as high as Kyle Field's third deck. The worst part may be finding a parking place and then finding the car after the concert. Traffic can be really heavy, and cars don't always stop the way they do at Texas A&M. The center offers a variety of musical styles. Men At Work, Diana Ross, Robert Plant and Sheena Easton will perform in September. Rick Springfield recently gave a successful concert at the cen ter. His concert appealed to everyone from teenage groupies to General Hospital fans. Some families attended together. Springfield's acting talent and dramatic entrances created a high-energy atmosphere for most audience members. His