Wickeds, continuing with our theme of hangouts and hideaways what was that place you hung out in during your early twenties? Noisy bar? Smoky coffeehouse? Fraternity/sorority? Describe it for us. (I’m not even going to ask about shenanigans for this one.)
Edith/Maddie: I stuck around near my college town (Irvine, California) for another year after graduation. Around the corner from the apartment I shared with friends in Costa Mesa was the Bull and Bush, a British pub. We would go over over in the evening for a pint, a plate of mash and bangers, and a few games of darts. It wasn’t particularly smoky, everybody was friendly, and we could walk home. What’s not to like? (And yes, the shenanigans, of which there were many, shall remain unnamed…)
Julie: I went to Boston University, and there were two hangouts. One was in the space my theater group had. Boston University Stage Troupe had an entire garage for many years, which was fab. Then we got moved up Commonwealth Ave to a still great space. I spent hours there, or in the theater during tech. I spent many other hours in the Dugout, the college bar. Many, many hours drinking Miller, smoking, and laughing.
Liz: I went to school in Salem, Mass. and I spent a lot of time in the coffee shop across the street from campus (no surprise there). But also, I spent a lot of time in town at all the woo-woo bookstores and other witchy shops – that was always my jam. I loved all the things – crystals, incense, oracle cards, spiritual self-help books, and all the Laurie Cabot-vibe stuff that was so prevalent in Salem.
Jessie: I am a huge plant fan, in my twenties and today so I spent a lot of time hanging around in greenhouses and garden centers. I also spent a lot of time in my own gardens, adding plants and cultivating those already in place.
Sherry: I went to college in the small town of Kirksville, Missouri–the same college my parents attended and where they met. If I wasn’t at the Sig Tau house I was at The Tap Room. The Tap Room was in the basement of this creepy old hotel. You went in through cracked cement stairs outside the hotel–think the of the steps to the TV show Cheers only scary. It reeked of old beer and smoke. The tables were carved with initials and an old shuffleboard table sat against one wall. We had a LOT of fun. But my favorite story comes from my parents. It was a particularly hot summer in Kirksville. Mom worked in an office with no air conditioning. Dad went to The Tap Room to “study” because it was one of the few places in town with air conditioning.
Barb: I went to college in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania was a 21 state, even in an era when most surrounding states had lowered the drinking age to 18. That definitely affected where my college hangout was. A bunch of my friends worked and hung out at a coffee house in the basement of one of the older dorms. I spent way too much time there playing bridge and pinochle and listening and singing along to songs played on the guitar, along with regular Wickeds reader Vida Antolin-Jenkins. I have many happy memories.
Readers: Tell us where you hung out in your late teens/early twenties.
I attended a commuter college, so once my classes were over, I headed home. We did have a student lounge that I hung around while waiting for my next class or friends.
We had a place like that on campus, too.
I worked after high school full time and then had my one and only child at 21 so I was very busy. Then 2 years later I decided to go to school at nights to get a degree in Business Administration. I got married and went on a honeymoon with my son too in that time frame also.
A busy time!
I went to Holy Cross in Worcester and had multiple jobs to afford my apartment. One of them was at a Korean restaurant downtown. It was there I met Tiny – who of course was the biggest guy with the biggest heart. After hours we would go to his tiny bar in a neighboring town and play pool, have a beer and hang out.
Now that is what I call a hangout.
I’m Scorpio, so I’m not telling you all that stuff. Like Liz, I went to school (high school) in Salem, MA, then, like Julie, went to Boston University. Hangout on campus there was the Hubba..
Hubba-hubba!
I spent a lot of time at a place called the Hilltop Tavern. It was a little neighborhood pub where my friends and I would go to watch a ballgame or hang out in their beer garden. Good times!
I’ll bet!
I went to St. Bonaventure University in Olean, NY – small town school. My friends and I bypassed the regular bars as too crowded and loud. We hung out wherever Mike and Jay lived. Mike knew a beer distributor in a nearby town (he lived in Bradford, which wasn’t too far away), so ever weekend we sent him with money and a shopping list, then hung out in the room.
Later, when we were all 21, we hung out at a The Birdcage, a bar way at the end of town. Very few students went there, so the locals eyed us with a healthy amount of suspicion, until they realized all we were there for was a few drinks, a round of pool, and maybe a couple games of darts. Then they were cool.
I think I’ve told you my son-in-law went to Bonaventure and his father taught there. (Just retired.) My grandfather was actually born in Olean. His father had an apothecary on the main street there.
What was the last name?
Donius. Robert Donius. Taught religion.
I didn’t have him, but I swear my son had a Donius for religion in the fall of 2020.
Entirely possible!
My favorite places to be on campus were the Union where there was coffee, food, friends and the bookstore AND the college library where I could research English papers. (Real surprise there, huh?)
Coffee, food, friends and a bookstore…who could ask for more at any phase of life…
I was at the University of Miami in the halcyon days of the early 1970s. Our main hangout was Peacock Park in Coconut Grove. People went to play Frisbee, meet like minded folks, and gather round guitar strumming cute guys with hair better than ours. Across the street from my dorm was a pizza place/bar named Bubba’s that offered live music and up the street was The Flick Coffeehouse, coffee, beer, and live music. Although we couldn’t see into the future, we were treated to the likes of Jimmy Buffett, Joni Mitchell, and and others some before they became household names, others testing the water for their songs.
So interesting! I was in college at the same time, but up north.
The south hills of Pittsburgh, Pa in the early ‘80s had a bar called “Down the Road.” On Friday and Saturday nights they had rock bands. Lots of fun, memorable, and not so memorable nights. We all had big hair and big dreams!
I love that–big hair and big dreams!
I went to a commuter college and worked full time so I didn’t hang out a lot but once in a while a few of us would go to the bar down the street for pizza and a beer.. The farmers would sit in the front room at the bar and the college students would take over the back room,
I love this image of the farmers and the students!
Barbara, very good memories of hanging out in college at the Gargoyle. Diet of doughnuts, some really good music, and a lot of card games. Not the cleanest place and lots of people smoking, because that was really a thing back then. I was one of the few non-smokers in the cabal. My other hang-out place was the library. I actually used a particular carrel on the fourth floor for most of my years there, and when I took a break, I just explored the shelves. Found my grandfather’s books and other writings there, which is pretty remarkable, considering that he was an author in Slovenia, pre-WWII.
Excellent memories. I, too, hung out at the library and even worked there on a work study job for a while, though for some technical reason I can’t remember I was in a weird work study category and they could never figure out what to do with me.
I guess I’m just not a big hang out person. Can’t think of any.
I wasn’t earlier in my life and I’m not now, but I was in that short period.
Liz: my daughter is into all of the witchy things you mentioned. I never thought about letting her in on your books. I will, I promise.
Barb: that same daughter also went to school in Philly. Temple U. She majored in acting/theatre. I know Broad St. all too well!
As for me, my shenanigans began in high school- not my 20s. I was a smoking in the girls room girl. Lol. I still smoke, but not in the lab anymore. 🙄😁 my hangout then was either our roller rink (I was a competitive roller skater) or a local bar called Diamondz. I met my wife there eventually.
It’s supposed to be lav not lab. 🙄😬
In my teens, we used to hang out at the local pizza joint, IHOP, or the movie theater. I went to Cornell for undergrad, and we used to make runs to Rochester and challenge each other to eat as many “garbage plates” at Nick Tahou’s as possible.
Student union and dining hall and library . . . until I learned about the “police action” in Vietnam. Then student anti-war group, demonstrations, bus to D.C.
I did not go out. I was and still am a home body.
Work, classes, work, study, sleep, repeat.