This week marks the annual rush of thousands of students that rampage the street of Kirkwood. During the summer, the street remained calm and stagnant with the occasional boom of tourists, summer school students, numerous band camps, cheerleading camps and orientation programs during the summer months.\n"You get a different clientele during the summer -- a lot of out-of-towners" said Brett Hayden, an employee of Tracks.\nEven though summers on Kirkwood may be slow, the street gets turned upside down when school starts.\nKirkwood Avenue is the main drag that starts right at IU's Sample Gates and runs west toward the newly constructed Kirkwood Apartments. Kirkwood has been called the melting pot of culture in Bloomington. The streets are lined with clothing shops, cafes, restaurants, bars, banks and churches. It's the part of Bloomington where students find themselves wandering down the street, day or night, looking for a good time. \nMany changes have taken place on Kirkwood over the years. Now new hangouts have emerged. The Jungle Room, aka Upstairs at Fester's, opened just last semester and attracts a diverse crowd. Many students go there to play pool, sit and drink at the bar or dine on the food unique to the Jungle Room. One of the main attractions of the Jungle Room is the balcony that looks down on People's Park and the sidewalk.\nSituated right below the Jungle Room are the newly opened Tacos Don Chuy and Falafels. Both restaurants add to the cultural melting pot of downtown Kirkwood with Mexican and Israeli cuisine. Tacos Don Chuy is great for their hot and fast Mexican food that allows you to eat quickly and get back to your daily Kirkwood activities. \nFalafels has authentic Israeli cuisine and is adjacent to Tacos Don Chuy. \nKilroy's is the first bar seen when you hit Kirkwood from the Sample Gates. Many students say it's the hottest bar on Kirkwood. Senior Ryan Small enjoys his visits to Kilroy's on Kirkwood. He says he likes going to Kilroy's on Friday nights for the Bladder Bust. Bladder Bust is a popular drink special on Fridays at 9 p.m. During Bladder Bust, the bar serves 25 cent drafts to a table until someone gets up to use the commode.\nWhile other people like going for the drinks, many people like going for the atmosphere. Senior Gordon Sang comes to Kilroy's to people watch. \n"I come here because of the (ladies)," he said.\nNick's English Hut is the oldest bar on Kirkwood located just up the street from Kilroy's. Although they don't offer drink specials, Nick's has four bars including a bar in the attic. Ironically, it's not as popular with the students as it is with graduates. \n"Its reputation precedes itself," said Steve Mendoza, recent graduate and Nick's employee. "You can guarantee that you'll find a 21-and-over crowd."\nNick's is well equipped with the front bar where older people sit, a back bar for anybody, a bar up front where the pool room is located and the attic where many students come and play "Sink the Biz," a popular drinking game. \nFor all the students under 21 years of age, Kirkwood has an abundance of leisure-time activities. Coldstone Creamery, at the corner of Kirkwood and Indiana Avenue, is the coolest new joint on the strip. Recently opened in early June of this summer, Coldstone adds many new flavors to Bloomington with their cakes, shakes, malts and smoothies. \n"Our most popular flavor this summer is cake batter," said Tessa Sturgeon, employee and junior at IU.\nAnother leisurely activity on Kirkwood is shopping. With more than 13 different clothing stores including Pitaya, Urban Outfitters, Cha Cha and the Fountain Square Mall, featuring designer clothes such as Lilly Pulitzer, students under 21 are well accommodated.\nSenior Danielle Tasman, who enjoys shopping on Kirkwood, said she thinks the most popular store would have to be Pitaya, "because they cater more toward local fashions in Bloomington." \nOther stores such as the Den, Greetings and Steve and Barry's are places not to be overlooked.
Kirkwood is not just the Mecca for beer, clothes and food in Bloomington, but also home for a select few. Many students have apartments and lofts above businesses along the strip. The newest additions to Kirkwood are the Kirkwood Apartments located west past the railroad tracks on Morton by the Crazy Horse restaurant. The Kirkwood is a luxury-sized building that holds its own fitness center and an exclusive membership club called the Kirkwood Club.\nWith an estimated 10,000 students who moved in last weekend and approximately 20,000 moving in by next weekend Kirkwood will definitely be the place to be. \nJay Wilkin, store director at Steve and Barry's said, "I often tell people that as soon as I get sick of the students, they leave and as soon as I miss them, they come back"
