A Glimpse of Downtown Champaign

A Glimpse of Downtown Champaign Hey guys, Ive spent four years living in C-U, and thats given me time to explore the area to its fullest. Before graduating,  I thought I would  leave incoming students  with a  list of  some of the most distinct places to visit in one of my favorite off-campus spots: downtown Champaign! Cream  Flutter Cream  Flutter This place melts my Instagramming heart. I’m a huge fan of chocolate cupcakes sprinkled with an element of surprise, and Cream  Flutter  knows how to get  experimental with desserts. If youre looking to satisfy your sweet tooth, its the  perfect place to treat your Registered Student Organization or hang with your group of girlies. Might I suggest their signature red velvet cupcakes? Art Theatre This theatre is a special place for movie lovers! The cooperatively owned  art-house cinema hosts film festivals, puts on special programs and events, and streams foreign and independent films year round. Recently, they announced a  tribute showing  of Purple Rain in honor of the late Prince, and Im planning on purchasing my ticket soon.   Snow Meets Coffee   News Gazette Bubble tea is really popular on campus, but “snow bing” could be the next big thing. Snow Meets Coffee serves up this cool (dairy and dairy-free!) treat popular in Taiwan. The  super tasty offspring of shaved ice and regular ice cream is served by shaving off layers of a frozen ice cream block. Indulge in a bowl and check out coffee’s life cycle painted on the walls.   DESTIHL Restaurant Brew Works What could possibly make bacon better? Deep frying it, of course. At Destihl, entrees average from  $10 to 15, so they’re not too hard on your budget. Indulge in some beer-battered bacon, all on its own or on a ginormous beer-battered bacon and egg burger. During brunch on the weekends, dive into some genuinely beautiful vanilla-cinnamon baked French toast and try not to shed a happy weekend tear :). Jane Addams Book Shop   Flickr The Jane Addams Book Shop could be the setting for an indie rom-com meet cute. Floor-to-ceiling books of the rare, used, and out-of-print variety fill all three stories, as does a really enticing smell of something like old paper and unadulterated knowledge. It’s especially fun (and bizarre) to flip through books on the third floor and wander through what appears to be a once-upon-a-time  apartment above the storefront space. Jenny Class of 2016 I'm majoring in Creative Writing in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. I'm from the north side of Chicago, an artsy neighborhood along the lakefront called Andersonville. I plan to pursue a low-residency MFA program in Fiction Writing with the hope of becoming a published author.