Middle Georgia State University campus
Things To Do for College Students in Macon
Macon, GA is home to a lot of colleges and college students. Middle Georgia State University, Mercer University, Wesleyan College, Macon State College, Central Georgia Technical College, Virginia College, and Miller Motte Technical College – Macon are all in Macon’s city limits. While the bigger colleges on the list have plenty of student activities on campus, both students at the bigger universities and the smaller ones can find themselves bored and in need of a change of scenery.
And Macon has changes of scenery in spades. Macon is known for its great music scene and is surrounded (literally) by great parks, as well as plenty of things to do when you need a break from studying (or the bars).
Here are a few of our favorite things to do and visit that we think are great ideas for off-campus college student activities in Macon.
Lake Tobesofkee
When Macon was founded in the early 19th century, its founders designed it to be “a city in a park“. While the park system was in disarray for a while, Macon’s renaissance is finally helping it realize the potential of the city in a park.
Talk to any Maconite about things to do, especially in the summer, and they’ll mention Lake Tobesofkee. There are so many parks, places, and things to do in Lake Tobo that we could write a whole blog article about it (actually, we may just do that…). But here are a few of our favorite picks.
Covering 1,800 acres with a beach that stretches 35 miles, and attractions including beaches, softball and baseball fields, a disc golf course, volleyball, tennis courts, picnic areas, camp sites and more, it’s practically an outdoor paradise. Lake Tobesofkee is the perfect spring and summer hangout spot when you need a break from studying. It also has 3 different public parks: Claystone, Sandy Beach, and Arrowhead Parks. Arrowhead and Claystone Parks have camp sites with electrical and water hookups, boat ramps, and even bath and laundry facilities. From camping, fishing, kayaking, waterskiing and anything else outdoorsy, you can find it all at Lake Tobesofkee. It’s also home to the Sandy Beach Water Park, where admission for the day is only $14. One of our favorite places is Fish N’ Pig, a fantastic barbecue joint on Lake Tobesofkee, that has bands playing every Friday and Saturday night, and the music is free to enjoy.
Lake Tobesofkee obviously stretches miles, but if you’re plugging it into your GPS in general, use 6600 Moseley Dixon Road.
Macon Dog Park
Macon Dog Park is a huge, fully-fenced dog park with separate areas for small and large dogs, with plenty of room to walk or run around. It’s one of the nicest dog parks in Georgia, with an open environment that is always kept very clean, and is a fantastic idea for an off-campus college student activity when you need a break from campus. The pet parents tend to be responsible with well-behaved fur babies, and usually don’t mind if you sneak in a petting session or a kiss. It features a small stream for the dogs, an agility training course complete with obstacles, pavilion, picnic tables and park benches, a “borrow-a-book” library, a footbridge, and water fountains (for both people and doggos).
Whether you have a dog or not, dog parks are a great place to unwind and be around man’s best friend. What’s more relaxing than petting dogs and watching puppies run around having a blast? Plus, the dogs love playing and running in the water.
From May to October, Macon Dog Park even has a “Yappy Hour” event on Thursday evenings sponsored by local businesses. At Yappy Hour you can find live music (like anywhere else in Macon), beer and wine, and lots of pet parents, dogs, and onlookers enjoying the park, music, and drinks.
Macon Dog Park can be found in College Hill Corridor at 831 Adams Street in Macon near the I-75.
The Crazy Bull
The Crazy Bull is a relative newcomer to Macon, but has proved to be one of Macon’s most popular nightlife spots to students looking for a drink, dance, or concert. Crazy Bull is a giant, true country bar reminiscent of Nashville with a mechanical bull, frequent country music concerts, giant dance floor, excellent sound system, and multiple bars and rooms inside. Speaking of Nashville, a lot of country music artists come from Nashville to play at The Crazy Bull, and they’ll even be hosting the the 2018 Georgia Country Music awards on November 9th. Crazy Bull is also one of Macon’s few non-smoking bars, with a clean, open-air environment. There are multiple floors, multiple rooms and multiple DJ’s for people that aren’t fans of country music. They also host beer pong and cornhole games, with 1 cent beers, $5 well drink pitchers and $1 cover charges on Thursdays. It’s a great time for college students – just remember to drink responsibly!
Crazy Bull is on 473 2nd Street in Macon, GA.
The Hummingbird Stage & Taproom
The Hummingbird is a unique Macon bar spot, with a laidback atmosphere, cheap drinks, variety of great live music, dart boards, pool tables, cornhole, and all-day Tuesday happy hour. The ‘Bird is a dive bar without being a dive bar. They also have great drink deals with $1 Pabst Blue Ribbon cans and $5 pitchers, and even $5 bottles of wine. On the weekends, they have some fantastic live bands with a dance floor full of lively fans. Every Wednesday at 7PM they host Happy Hour Trivia & Karaoke night; with 3 rounds of trivia, the team that wins a round gets a free pitcher, and the winning team gets a bar tab for the rest of the night on the house!
Smoking is permitted at The Hummingbird, so depending on whether you smoke, this may be either a pro or a con, and it can get a bit smoky the later the night gets. The smoky, tavern-type bar with a lot of Southern charm may not be your cup of tea, but people who like it tend to love it. The bartenders are friendly and chatty, and will not leave your glass empty for long. The Hummingbird definitely doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not.
The Hummingbird hosts a variety of fun events from Halloween concerts, to Gatsby-themed parties, to album release parties. They’ve even had a Valentine’s Day “Stoplight Party” where you dress depending on your relationship status. They also regularly host karaoke and trivia nights. If you’re looking for an upscale bar to dress up for and listen to pop music, this probably isn’t your spot. If you’re looking for a fun, relaxed atmosphere of friendly and real people, good yet cheap drinks, and a bar that stays true to its authentic self despite a gentrified Cherry street corridor, and you don’t mind the smoky air, The ‘Bird is your bar.
The Hummingbird Stage & Taproom is located at 430 Cherry Street.
Society Garden
One of Macon’s newest gems, Society Garden is an outdoor beer garden and wine bar that features 8 taps of craft beer. With plenty of adult drinks, as well as a place for kids to play, you’ll find people of all ages there – it’s not just for people 21 and over. They have food, ice cream, shaved ice, alcoholic slushies, popcorn, hot chocolate in the cooler months, and other snacks and treats. Since Society Garden is mostly outdoors, and they don’t have lunch or dinner, people are encouraged to bring their own food or grab a slice of pizza next door at Ingleside Village Pizza. They are in the process (at the time of this article) of adding an indoor lounge for the cooler or overcast nights.
Every first Saturday of the month, Society Garden hosts the Macon Makers’ Market and Food Truck event, that showcases the work of Macon crafters, artists and artisans, with plenty of great food and drinks from the food trucks, with live music that starts at 8PM. The owners of Society Garden suggest you don’t leave without trying their blackberry wine slushy (if you’re 21+).
Society Garden is really a beautiful and unique place to enjoy the outdoors. It’s great for students that aren’t yet of drinking age to hang out
Society Garden can be found in Ingleside Village at 2367 Ingleside Ave.
Reboot Retrocade & Bar
Reboot is an old-school gaming nerd’s dream come true. With 35 arcades, 7 pinball machines, a total of 50 games, a console game lounge, and a nerdy art gallery, at Reboot you can embrace your sentimentality with pinball machines from the 70’s and arcade games from the 90’s, while enjoying nerd-themed cocktails, beer and food from the bar, as well as music. If older games aren’t your thing, they have current games in the console lounge. There’s also an area for table and board games (which are free to play). There’s even an indoor lawn where you can play lawn games like bocce ball, croquet, and other lawn games.
Reboot hosts a variety of events, including Thursday night movie bingo; tournaments for games both old and new like Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Mario Kart, and Madden; silent discos for music from the 80’s and 90’s; television and movie trivia night; and unique parties like “Onesie Party”, movie viewing parties, Halloween costume parties, scavenger hunts, and a ton of other original events that happen several times a week.
Board and table games are free, and with a tab open, lawn games are also free, and arcade games only cost 25 cents. Reboot Retrocade & Bar is located at 566 Cherry Street.
Situation Room
You didn’t think we would write an article about things to do in Macon without including ourselves, right? At Situation Room, an escape room in Macon, you work with your team of friends (or new friends) to work against the clock to solve puzzles to escape the themed room. At the time of this article, our current themed escape rooms are Stellar and Red vs Blue.
In Stellar, you “awake” in your spaceship after colliding with an asteroid. All systems have failed, and your life support can keep you alive for 60 minutes. You are on lockdown, with no power, and your only hope of survival is to follow your original mission: make it to a remote and distant planet to start a new colony with your space exploration team.
In Red Vs. Blue, you are on your way to the front lines of a war between two sides that has raged on for years. You arrive with your team to your military camp that is already under attack by the enemy. With defenses crumbling, inevitable defeat or capture awaits you unless you can find a way for your unit to escape to safety for extraction.
Situation Room is Macon’s newest and only unique escape room experience. In fall of 2018, Situation Room will have our first Virtual Reality multiplayer gaming experience that we are very excited to bring to Macon.
Situation Room is on 427 Poplar Street in Macon, and offers 10% discounts to active military and college students.
Oliver’s Corner Bistro
You didn’t think we would write an article about things to do in Macon without including ourselves, right? At Situation Room, an escape room in Macon, you work with your team of friends (or new friends) to work against the clock to solve puzzles to escape the themed room. At the time of this article, our current themed escape rooms are Stellar and Red vs Blue.
In Stellar, you “awake” in your spaceship after colliding with an asteroid. All systems have failed, and your life support can keep you alive for 60 minutes. You are on lockdown, with no power, and your only hope of survival is to follow your original mission: make it to a remote and distant planet to start a new colony with your space exploration team.
In Red Vs. Blue, you are on your way to the front lines of a war between two sides that has raged on for years. You arrive with your team to your military camp that is already under attack by the enemy. With defenses crumbling, inevitable defeat or capture awaits you unless you can find a way for your unit to escape to safety for extraction.
Situation Room is Macon’s newest and only unique escape room experience. In fall of 2018, Situation Room will have our first Virtual Reality multiplayer gaming experience that we are very excited to bring to Macon.
Situation Room is on 427 Poplar Street in Macon, and offers 10% discounts to active military and college students.
The Rookery
The Rookery doesn’t just serve good food, they are the epitome of a Macon restaurant, with items like Allman Burger nodding to The Allman Brother’s hometown. The Rookery is known for its great burgers, old-fashioned milkshakes and floats, “adult milkshakes,” and craft beers, all of which can be had on a college student’s budget (you can get a sandwich for $10 and a burger for $11).
Like most places in Macon, they have an outside patio with frequent live music.
H&H Soul Food Restaurant
Like they say on their website, H&H Restaurant is “a Macon institution woven into the fabric of Macon’s history”. Founded in 1959, the H&H owners were good friends with the Allman Brothers Band and other bands that got their start in Macon, and they’ve been featured by Wall Street Journal and called “Georgia’s Most Iconic Restaurant” by Thrillist. You can see their history with the Allman Brothers with the wall-to-wall Allman Brothers memorabilia that looks like it hasn’t changed since the 1970’s. Even Oprah Winfrey filmed an episode there as one of “Oprah’s Favorite Things”.
H&H has all the southern comforts a soul food restaurant could ask for – fried chicken and catfish, macaroni and cheese, country fried steak, cornbread and collards, homemade lemonade. The servers are friendly, enthusiastic, and proud of their food. They serve only breakfast and lunch.
If you’re going to college in Macon, and want a taste of traditional southern cooking while eating in what is nothing other than a Macon historical
