San Marcos offers places, ventures to explore

Jun 15 2009 - 1:03pm | Garrett McSpadden

A hearty welcome to new students at Texas State. Your wheels have landed on the tarmac of education and it is time to hit the ground at full speed, get caught up in the San Marcos life style and discover what it truly means to be a member of this great community. These attractions are defining characteristics of this, your new zany stomping grounds.

Get to Commons Dining Hall if you like waffles. I think they have the best cafeteria grade breakfast on campus, rivaled only by Harris. Unless you live up at the Blanco, San Saba or San Marcos Halls, though, Harris will not worth the challenging slopes of this hill country campus.

If commercial foods are more your bag, the Lair and Den provide a wide variety of mass produced delights like Chic-Fil-A and Einstein Bagels. Until you get the hours of operation memorized for all of these eateries, don’t proceed on your carnal missions without checking online to make sure they are open.

If you ride a bike or are interested in becoming a pedal-pusher, the Bike Cave is a non-profit, student-run used bike exchange and garage.

There you will find knowledgeable bike gurus to help you on your ascension into the lifestyle. The bike cave is located to the right of the music building.

Check out city life and support local businesses. San Marcos offers a unique sprinkling of coffee shops and independent, home-grown locations run by some of this town’s finest.

The Coffee Pot on The Square is the place to be for studying or procrastination. If you like vegetarian dishes and a laid back atmosphere, occasional live music could co-mingle your studies at Tantra Coffee House. Did I mention a Sunday unicycle football game on the parking lot adjacent to Tantra? Oh yes my friends, and a better time will not be found than cheering on your new favorite sports team from the side lines.

Local restaurants worth giving a taste include Cedars Café for Mediterranean, Valentino’s, Zen’s and D’ Blazio’s for some of the best pizza pies around, Gil’s Broiler and Gordo’s for burgers and Grin’s for good home style cookin’. There is also a smattering of chain restaurants if you’re hungry when the sun isn’t shining.

You will no doubt need to buy something in the future. The Hemp Store, Vagabond, High Times, Paper Bear, The Hub, Texas Skate offer different and locally run services from clothes swapping to bike and skate retail. Chatting with native entrepreneurs will delight and enlighten.

Finally, no resident of San Marcos can call this place home without dipping into the pane-glass clear waters that bubble out of the Edwards Aquifer and form the San Marcos River. Sewell Park hosts spots for tanning, basketball, slack-lining, ultimate Frisbee, jamming tunes and for the most daring, a game of disc with one of San Marcos’ most pivotal characters, Frisbee Dan. Dan can be found up at the river, lobster red and kicking back on his lawn chair or playing a game of Frisbee with dang near anyone who will oblige him.

Welcome to Texas State.

Explore.

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