This is one side of the downtown in my hometown. Yes, one side. There are four. We call it the square, and it is wonderful. You know you wish your downtown was as happening as this one. :)
On this side alone there are two restaurants, a bookstore that also serves lunch, two gift shops, a drugstore, an artist's studio and quite possibly one of the neatest dry goods store around.
During the Storytelling Festival, there was no need to leave downtown. The streets were partially blocked, so we could walk freely. We ate in downtown at our favorite deli, shopped for books, and enjoyed the courthouse lawn.
If you're ever close to Athens, you simply must spend an afternoon in downtown. :)