It's 3 p.m. on a Friday afternoon and a familiar group is shuffling into the Cat's Eye Saloon, 12 N. Court St. Over at Tony's Tavern, 7 W. State St., the crowd is getting larger because the festivities began two hours ago with free nachos and hot wings and $.25 off drinks and pitchers. At the Pub, 39 N. Court St., aquarium glasses are being washed and the staff is preparing for the 4:30 p.m. "attitude adjustment."

These are what bar patrons refer to as "the good times." The time when a sense of camaraderie and fellowship draw just as many paying customers as drink specials. This is happy hour. Happy hour in Athens starts as early as 1 p.m. and can last beyond the wee hours of the afternoon up to the 9 p.m. usurpation of the evening.

But what is the true attraction of happy hour? Why do certain regulars break off into mutually exclusive groups on weekend afternoons to blow off scholastic steam and engage in time-honored tavern traditions such as billiards, dancing and darts? Diversions dispatched a crack team of happy hour veterans to pinpoint the mystique of a lost Friday afternoon.

Tony's Tavern

Our favorite uptown happy hour is by no chance of fate the longest happy hour. Happy millennium (1 p.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays) starts early at Tony's but it also gets packed earlier. You won't find a more faithful crowd than Tony's regulars, and the Guiness Stout mirror on the wall really does say it all.

Of course, loyalty is not all that Tony's has going for it. Every week Tony's distributes free wings and loaded nachos.

Known mainly as the best bar for people over 30 in Athens, Tony's offers great afternoon consumption fun for bar-goers of all ages. The bathrooms are five times cleaner than the competition's and the hole-in-the-wall atmosphere allows customers to be something that many of the more pretentious bars don't - relaxed. Isn't relaxation what this is supposes to be about anyway? Other great features are the front booths that offer an optimum view of State Street for late afternoon people watching. It's better than the zoo.

The Cat's Eye Saloon

And it really is one. This is not a tavern, a pub or a bistro. It's a saloon. If it were weather-acceptable, "The Eye" probably would have swinging old-west style doors. The jukebox-played sounds of Metallica, Guns 'N Roses and the Pearl Jam's ilk fill the air every Friday at "Progressives." Signs sporting slogans such as "light beer is dank as hell, dog!" light up the seedy interior and even if everyone doesn't know your name, they have at least seen your face before.

The progressive part of this happy hour has nothing to do with dancing, although some of that does occur around 6 p.m. (see Zachary's for more on that). Miller High Life, known to regulars as "the champagne of beers," costs $.25 a glass on draft at the beginning of happy hour. The price goes up by one nickel per hour as the night progresses until happy hour ends at 9 p.m. If you want to beat the system then simply buy your beers by the pitcher for the flat rate of $2 per high-on-life round. More beer for your buck.

"I come in here every Friday," senior Greg Slatkovski said. "All these guys do. I can't really explain why. We just do."

Slatkovski plays a mean game of billiards and has been known to put on pool clinics on either of the Eye's two tables.

"People just want to have a good time on Fridays in the afternoon," progressives bartender Matthew Hollingsworth said.

Guys just want to have fun at the Eye's happy hour, although there is a growing faction of x-chromosome happy-hour attendees as well. This is truly an in-happy hour and one of Athens' best-kept secrets. The prices beat nearly every Uptown happy hour of comparable value (see The Nick) and at 5 p.m. the loyal are treated to free hot wings. You better be there on time, though. No joke, these wings really fly.

The Eye unites its customers in uniqueness. Many people may not like to watch "Sportscenter" in the afternoon on a giant projected television. But oh my, if you do!

The Nickelodeon

The Nick, 42 W. Union St., has a new approach to happy hour. The offer is cups of draft for $2.10 for the first and and a dime for every cup thereafter. This "Dime Draft" happy hour lasts the traditional time of 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The Nick also has the advantage of more space than most other Uptown establishments. This is one of the most popular happy hour's but the large crowd doesn't fill the place up like some smaller bars. Jukebox selections also rule the airwaves until happy hour is over and dancing becomes a priority.

The Nick's happy hour is definitely a steal and worthy of its crowd.

The Pub

The Pub is a communication bar. The booths are always filled during Friday's "Clearance" sale from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. and the tiny bar starts to fill up much earlier during the 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. "attitude adjustment." Many patrons come for the fishbowl-sized troughs o' draft known as aquariums.These gargantuan glasses go for $1.75 for Miller Lite or Bud Light and $2.00 for George Killian's Irish Red during attitude and $1.25 and $1.75, respectively, during clearance.

Whether whistling in the Pub's Mayberry Corner or debating the latest news at the bar, talking is a premium at the Pub's happy hour. The music even seems secondary to catching up with friends. This is a much more heterogeneous crowd than most bars pull in. Although the crowd is filled with fairly frequent visitors, the Pub always draws some new faces.

"There's a mix of different people in here for clearance," bartender Nicole Stephens said.

Skipper's

Skipper's, 22 W. Union St., has Senior Class happy hour 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursdays as well as its normal 4 to 9 p.m. happy hour. All domestic drafts are $.75 and Jim Beam, Jack Daniels and Captain Morgan drinks are all $2.00.

Other notable favorites:

Zachary's: 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Mon. through Fri. $1 Off every drink on the blue board. 5 to 9 p.m., Mon. through Fri., Heineken $1.50, Amstel Light $1.50 and Strawberry Daiquiris for $2. A nice place to segue your happy hour into nighttime dancing.

Night Court: 5 to 8 p.m. (sometimes 9 p.m.) Mon. through Fri. $1 for domestic bottles.

Buffalo Wings and Rings: 4 to 9 p.m., Mon. to Fri. Noon to 9 p.m. Sun. Sunday: $.75 draft of Bud Light/Amber Bock and $1 draft for Killian's. Monday: $4 and $5 pitchers, respectively. Tuesday: Domestic bottles for $1.25. Wednesday: Imports for $2. Thursday: Frozen drinks for $2.

The Junction: $4 pitchers of domestic draft.

The C.I.:$3.25 pitchers of domestic draft and $4.25 for Killian's.

What I've learned about happy hour

The true happiness of happy hour has very little to do with drinking at all. A circle of friends and an agreed upon favorite watering hole seem to be the keys to a happy afternoon and the games and drinks are secondary at best. If you're feeling the finals crunch yourself, you might want to take some good advice - go where everybody knows your name.