Best place to eat on campus:
As was the case with FSU the recommendation from students was that I go to the place that offers quick food and somewhat of a variety. At Clemson this place happens to be the Fernow St Cafe which has sandwiches, sushi, and pizza available quickly and at minimal cost. I am going to take things a different direction though and suggest '55 exchange. It is an ice cream joint located on the side of the Hendrix Student Union and reminded me a lot of the famous Penn State creamery. It may not be a whole meal, but you can never go wrong with great ice cream anytime of the year.
Best place to eat off campus:
If you are with a crowd of people and are all in the mood for something different I suggest that you go to Ancheaux's located right on College Ave. They offer great burgers as well as options for herbivores such as a grilled zucchini sandwich, but if you want to eat like a Tiger then order up a newborn baby sized handmade burrito. If you are dining dainty and want to try something from the Pacific, or if it's Tuesday and you want to have an all you can eat sushi eating contest with friends, then hit the Blue Heron. It is also on College Ave. and was first on the list of all the ladies I surveyed, so heads up fellas, and is reasonably priced so do yourself a favor and mosey over there.
Best places to stumble home from:
Tiger Town Tavern is a spacious bar that seems to have something for everyone (especially those who are fans of alliteration!) whether you like pool, air hockey, pinball, car racing arcade games, or just sitting at a bar drinking pitchers of beer ($5.75). The triple T has plenty of booths and stool seating and had lots of Clemson memorabilia aligning the walls. A place just off of College Ave. is a cool bar called Backstreets. It offers a more laid back type of environment with a great selection of beers both on tap and in bottles. The walls were covered in random stuff, kind of like a Fridays but not mass produced, you can tell someone collected the half red wings half devils hockey stick, or the stuffed squirrel. The back has a nice area for darts and they serve food until 11:30 at night. If you get the beer munchies I'd suggest a dozen chicken wings with Big Bear's Dank Hot Teriyaki sauce, a good amount of burn going down but tasty nonetheless.
Athletic events:
Memorial Stadium aka Death Valley was one of the places that I was most excited to see along this trip. I just think the whole tradition of rubbing Howard's Rock and then running down the hill is one of the coolest traditions in sports. It was actually my first stop on the campus and I reached my arms through the gates to take a better picture of the whole thing. The stadium itself is huge and just standing there looking at the very last row in the back corner gave me chills, it really is an amazing place. All the students I talked to said that getting tickets on game day was easy as long as you didn't wait until the last minute, but if you are a non-student you better know early which game you want to go to and you better order them way in advance.
I was less impressed with Doug Kingsmore Stadium, the place where the Tigers play baseball, but it was still a nice place to see. From the outside the stadium looked nice, but when I got in there and started poking around it just seemed like the stadium was a little worn in places. I did like all of the signs that said, "Next time I'll wear orange" that were prevalent all over, I'm a big fan of uniformity in sports crowds and I think Clemson does this as good as anyone.
Other activities:
This can best be summed up by my conversation with an older Clemsonian:
Me: Excuse me, aside from the things the college offers, what else is there to do in town?
Kind elderly Clemsonite: hmmm let me think (awkwardly long pause) fish!
Me: Oh, I saw the lakes, fishing is a big hobby for people around here?
Older tigress: yes, fish and walks, people walk here.
My point is that if you are going to visit Clemson you are going to the school, because there is not much else out there. It is a beautiful area and I went and looked at the lakes and they truly are beautiful but the college is pretty much the whole shebang. That being said though there is the Astro which is located on College Ave. and shows movies for $2.
Miscellaneous:
Clemson has a beautiful campus with an amazing lawn in front that I saw many students using to play Frisbee, read, or teaching their dog to shake hands on. The campus was easy to navigate and enjoyable to walk around. The Hendrix Student Union is a great place with conference rooms and computers for students to use. On game day I think there are few places in the country that can rival the atmosphere that Death Valley provides.
