BALLARD: Bloomington, Ind., features elaborate campus, staple downtown scene

Much like Lincoln, Bloomington, Ind., begins in a very unassuming way. As you drive down Route 37, signs start to appear for Indiana University Bloomington, just the way that big green sign appears on I-80 West for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Then, there's nothing really to look at for the next 20 miles.

"Is this it?" I said to myself, wondering where the hell I was. Maybe this was a state school like the University of Connecticut, which is really the only point of interest in Storrs, Conn. But as we drove further, life began to emerge. There's a gas station. There's a McDonald's. Finally, a traffic light.

When we finally made it to Bloomington proper, it was pretty imposing. The large buildings of the Indiana University campus were impressive, if not medieval feeling: The gates and towers and landscaped design felt much like a castle. Unlike UNL, one knows exactly where the Indiana campus ends and downtown begins, the boundary demarcated with stone walls and ornate archways.

After a brief driving tour through the winding roads that allow access, however treacherous, to the middle of campus, I was overwhelmed with the facilities. The student union looks more like the Four Seasons — with international flags waving and an elaborate overhang — than any place students would want to study. And I wasn't wrong in thinking that: Just weeks ago, the Dalai Lama had stayed in the high-class hotel rooms of the Biddle Hotel, in the upper levels of the building.

The Indiana University Art Museum is a wonder, especially in the evenings. The exterior glows in different colors that illuminate the center of campus. And the architecture is something to behold as well, as I'm told the building was designed to include no right angles. How this is achieved, I couldn't tell you, but it must be interesting walking up the stairs.

What was most impressive, and I'll admit that I am biased on this one, was the print media building near the edge of campus. Not only does the student newspaper, the Indiana Daily Student, have stalls everywhere in Bloomington, but it has its own building. This was a breath of fresh air for a writer who has spent three years in the basement of the Nebraska Union, which lacks the kind of accommodations the Dalai Lama requires in his rider.

But inside was not dissimilar from the Daily Nebraskan offices: crazy people working way too hard with little to no recognition or pay, complaining about other sections, other publications and their lack of funding. It was nice to be among friends.

And, much like some on the DN staff, these journalists know the importance of drinking.

Just a few blocks from campus, Bloomington boasts Kirkwood Avenue, the equivalent to O Street. Although the design of the town and streets is more reminiscent of the East Coast — the mixing of different architecture styles and periods jumbled together to somehow create that small-town, Main Street aesthetic — it still houses the Midwest college staples: Jimmy John's, Chipotle, Noodles & Co.

But one major difference one notices downtown is the lack of compartmentalization. Save for a few exceptions, I couldn't tell you what bars are specifically Bro bars, Hipster bars, Old People bars or Yuppie bars. Much like the feel of the downtown, it all basically runs together, depending on your taste.

We began the night at Nick's English Hut, 423 East Kirkwood Ave., for its famous blend of American and Italian food, as well as one of the more ridiculous restaurant traditions: Sink The Biz. Although I've heard of this game — an homage to C.S. Forester's novel about the Allied attempt to sink the Nazi battleship Bismarck — in the context of North Bottoms parties (and parties of that caliber), I'd never seen it so accepted in public. At the table next to us, sorority girls were playing it with their families.

For those of you not in the know, Sink The Biz is a really simple game played with a bucket, a double shot glass and a lot of beer. You place the shot glass in a bucket full of beer, and by the laws of physics, it bobs there. Then, in a clockwise fashion, everyone at the table pours a little beer into the shot glass. When the glass becomes too full of beer, it sinks to the bottom of the bucket and whoever was the last to pour drinks the double shot of beer.

The reason it's not traditionally played in public is the fact that it gets a player quite drunk reasonably quickly. As a note, it's difficult to comment on the aesthetics of a downtown bar scene when the night begins with two games of Sink The Biz, but continue we did.

We continued to the Upstairs Pub, which is on top of a Jimmy John's. The interesting thing about Bloomington bars is that they're all deceptively large. Nick's looked like a little hole in the wall, until we got inside and realized it could comfortably sit probably 400 people. Upstairs Pub was no different.

What was nice about Upstairs Pub was the eclectic mix of ambiance and people. This is what Applebee's is trying for with its random knick-knacks. As such, this bar was mildly reminiscent of a darker bastard child of Duffy's and Brothers with the clientele of O'Rourke's: a lot of wood, plenty of distractions and a bizarre mix of ages and socioeconomic statuses. Also, for the smokers out there, there was a great patio deck to sneak away.