If you’re like me, you’re reading this now because you don’t like football. You enrolled in one of the biggest football schools in the SEC, but it was for the educational programs and not the sports. And now, you’re here, and you don’t know what to do on Saturdays. While everyone else is getting ready for the big game you’re chilling in your room and scrolling through your phone to find something to do. Scroll no further because we’ve got you covered with the top seven things to do in Gainesville on game days.
1. Explore Downtown Gainesville
One of the great things about game days is that everyone’s at or around the stadium. The rest of Gainesville is your oyster! Take some time to go downtown and explore. It cost nothing except for maybe the price of gas or riding the bus to go downtown. Plus, parking restrictions are lifted almost everywhere downtown, so you don’t have to worry about being towed. Aside from not-so-cliché coffee houses and trendy thrift stores, downtown is riddled with unique restaurants and shops. My favorite thing to do on game-day Saturdays is to grab a snack at Karma Cream and then browse the record stores for great finds. Downtown also holds events that you can attend for free, like farmer’s markets, indie fleas and art walks.
2. Trek through nature trails
Gainesville is known for being a college town, and it’s also known for its beautiful campus. But it’s not just the campus that’s beautiful. Nature trails and parks are hidden gems throughout the city that often go unmentioned to college students. In total, there are 25 nature reserves in Gainesville. Each nature area has its own hours, rules and parking restrictions. All nature parks are free, except for Sweetwater Wetlands Nature Park. Some have additional features like playgrounds or pools and even host their own events.
3. Try Cacaoga
You can take a yoga class almost any day of the week on campus, but if you’re off-campus on the weekends, try Cacaoga. Cacaoga combines ingesting melted cacao (raw chocolate) with exercises in heart-opening yoga and meditation. Cacaoga classes are specialty courses held throughout the U.S. and during yoga retreats. For those of us who don’t like football but don’t mind the heat, there are classes held in Gainesville and surrounding areas, like St. Petersburg, on Saturdays. Entrance into classes are mostly by donation, and extra cacao is sometimes available for purchase.
4. Visit the Harn Museum
The Harn Museum is the perfect spot if you’re into art more than sports. The university’s Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art has a plethora of art-viewing opportunities. The museum hosts temporary and permanent exhibitions, so there’s always something new to see. You can take a tour with others or roam around by yourself with the art as your guide. Each month there’s a calendar of different events that include museum nights, workshops, symposiums, film screenings and more. Admission is free, and so is parking on the weekends.
5. Afterward, visit the Florida Museum of Natural History
If you’re already visiting the Harn Museum, then why not take a walk down the road to visit its all-natural sister? The Florida Museum of Natural History houses exhibitions involving biology and cultural heritage. Exhibits on wildlife, insects, tribal clothing styles and plants frequent the FLMNH. It’s also home to the Butterfly Rainforest where you can walk with the butterflies as they flit through the air and sometimes land on you. The Butterfly Rainforest typically costs extra, but it’s free for UF students with their IDs. General admission tickets are also free, but if you’re interested in a special event then check for the pricing ahead of time.
6. See a show at the Hippodrome
The Hippodrome is the place to be for live theater in North Central Florida. It’s in the center of downtown, so it’s convenient if you’re spending the day off campus. Multiple productions take the stage throughout the weekend, but all for a limited time. The Hipp screens first-run foreign films, limited-release films and avant-garde films, too. Every so often the theater holds different events including talks, special performances and karaoke nights. If you really enjoy theater, the Hipp also has a variety of programs that involve acting classes, courses coinciding with current productions and talkbacks. As an extension of theatrical arts, sometimes there’s an art gallery in conjunction with the headlining production. Pricing ranges anywhere from $7.00 to $45.00 depending on the production and/or the event.
7. Spend a day at Lake Wauburg
Lake Wauburg is about eight miles south of campus, but worth the drive. It’s divided into two sections, North Park and South Shore, so there’s plenty of room for activities. Whether it’s boating, swimming, volleyball, climbing walls or just relaxing. There’s even Cypress Lodge available for housing if you plan on staying the weekend and have at least 50 people with you. If you don’t have 50 people then you might not be able to stay overnight, but at least you can bring four guests for free during the day. Because the lake is a part of UF RecSports, you have to make reservations for any activities on the UF RecSports website. Admission is free with your Gator 1, and so are most of the activities.
Game days don’t have to be fun just for sports fans. From nature to shopping, arts, theater and more, there’s so much to do. Now that you have some ideas and venues to explore, your weekends in Gainesville will never be boring.
Do you have any favorite Gainesville weekend getaways we forgot to mention? Let us know in the comments below and on social media!