Some students had to deal with their parents' uptown antics this weekend.
When Paul Filippi came to Athens to visit his daughter for Parents Weekend, all he wanted was to treat her to a nice meal.
But at 9:30 p.m. Saturday night, Filippi, his wife and his daughter were standing outside of the Pigskin Bar and Grille on Court Street dinnerless.
“I pay $60 thousand to send my daughters to this place where I can’t even eat,” he said.
“Dad, it’s a burger,” Sarah Filippi, a sophomore studying criminal justice said. “Chill out. Go to Wendy’s.”
For many students, taking their parents uptown is a staple of Parents Weekend.
But for others, the responsibility of dragging their parents around is just a hassle.
“It’s crazy,” Sarah said. “I hate having my parents here. This is why.”
Elizabeth Harris, a senior studying strategic communication and political science, said having her parents in town was embarrassing at times, but that she was ultimately happy they were there.
“It’s their last Parents Weekend and they’re excited to be here,” she said. “I’m lucky to have parents that have come down for every Parents Weekend and Moms Weekend and Dads Weekend.”
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Her mom, Kelly Harris, a 50-year-old from Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania, said this year’s Parents Weekend had been a memorable one.
“(We’ve been) drinking,” she said. “We karaoked, went to a tailgate party. ... We made some new friends. It’s been fun.”
Carl Hambleton, from Lima, Ohio, said this was his fourth year coming to Athens for Parents Weekend.
“I’m not going to get trapped in the middle of the 110 on Court Street this year,” he said. “That happened to me last year. It freaked me out a little bit.”
Frank Gilbert, a 51-year-old from Glen Dale, West Virginia who was drinking at Pawpurr’s Bar on Court Street, said he liked having at least one weekend to unwind and party like a college student.
“I love it,” he said. “I wish I was my daughter’s age.”
Some sets of parents were on their second round of partying Saturday night.
“We were out until 3 o’clock last night,” Chas Keeley, a 59-year-old from Dublin, Ohio, said. “We stay up late.”
He said some of the highlights of the weekend were getting Goodfella’s Pizza and eating it in College Green.
“I don’t have any problem with it being named number one party school, as long as he (my son) gets good grades,” Keeley said.
Romie Casey, a junior studying early childhood education who was working as bouncer at Red Brick Tavern on Court Street, Saturday night, said the weekend was busy for the bar, but not as wild as some other weekends.
“I think some of the parents kind of keep their kids in line,” he said. “But Moms Weekend always gets crazy.”
Mindy Lewis, a 46-year-old from North Carolina and an OU alumna, said she’s excited her son, Dylan Lewis, is a freshman.
“I think he’s liking it so far,” she said.
Mindy said she, her husband and her son didn’t have any definite plans for the night, but that they were considering going bar-hopping.
Dylan, who is studying business, said there were some pros and cons to having his parents in town.
“It’s a bit of a 50-50 kind of thing,” he said. “It’s 50 percent weird, but the other 50 percent it’s nice being able to show them around. But I decided to take them out and let them relive their college years.”
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